Genea-Santa came early this year!

A Christmas scene by New Hampshire's Tasha Tudor

Here are some major genealogy gifts I received this year.  I was amazed when I looked through my blog posts from 2011 and I found ten big discoveries or experiences that enhanced my genealogy research:

1. The maiden name of my 4x great grandmother In The Batchelder, Batcheller Genealogy by Frederick Clifton Pierce, 1898 she is known as just “Nancy”.   I never found a death record for her .  I finally found her daughter’s marriage and her daughter’s death record, which named her as Nancy Thompson.  She married Jonathan Batchelder on 11 February 1822 in Belmont, New Hampshire, but that record doesn’t give her parents, Darn!  Stay tuned… this one isn't a post quite yet!

2.  I got to go to the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree!  Yahoo!  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-hampshire-yankee-at-jamboree.html

3.  The City of Beverly helped me to find my 3x Great Grandfather’s military records, and his death in June 1862 in Saint Charles, Arkansas during a battle which sunk his vessel, the USS Mound City a Union iron clad ship.   http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/11/healey-square-beverly-massachusetts.html

4.   Thanks to Thomas MacEntee and Flip-Pal to receive a portable scanner as part of the Simple Gifts Genealogy Blog Hop promotion. http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/11/flip-pal-blog-hop.html   I had fun creating some heritage Christmas gifts, and also scanning dozens of family photographs!

5. I discovered a great genealogical resource at the Hampton Historical Society Library http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/10/another-new-to-me-repository-of.html  and I plan to visit often to check out the books and materials on their shelves.

6.  I enjoyed my second visit to the Mayflower Triennial Congress in Plymouth, Massachusetts and met dozens of Mayflower cousins, heard some terrific lectures by leading Pilgrim researchers http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/09/women-of-mayflower-project.html, and got to visit Plimoth Plantation again http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/09/visit-to-plimoth-plantation.html, and the Jabez Howland House for the first time http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/09/howland-spoon.html

7.    Made a cousin connection for my husband through my blog http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/01/gracias-eduardo.html when a second cousin recognized a photo I had posted of their great grandparents.   It was a fun international reunion!

8.  In October I was invited to meet up with the Legacy 2011 Genealogy Cruisers when they had their port of call at Boston, and we had a fun day at the New England Historic Genealogical Society  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/10/legacy-genealogy-cruise-hits-boston-and.html

9.  The New England Geneabloggers had their first Bash at our home in August, and we missed Hurricane Irene!  It was a wonderful gift to meet lots of bloggers I had only previously known online. http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-england-geneablogger-bash.html

10. I had a chance to visit the National Archives in Washington DC, but didn’t get to see the document I wanted to view in person.  But when I blogged about my experience, the archivists relented and sent me a fine high quality digital image of my ancestor’s discharge from the Revolutionary War, signed by George Washington http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/04/national-archives-they-read-my-blog.html   Yahoo, again, for the power of blogging!

Also, I discovered lots of books, blogs, websites, and genealogy friends online and at the Hudson Genealogy Club that meets every first Friday at the Rogers Public Library in Hudson, New Hampshire.  It’s been an amazing year! 

Thank you Genea-Santa Claus!

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo