Thursday, July 18, 2013

News from Nutfield ~ July 2013


NextGen Genealogy Network Utilization
I recently joined the NextGen Genealogy Network Facebook page.  According to the website “The NextGen Genealogy Network exists to foster the next generation’s interest in family history and engagement in our community through digital channels which virtually connect members throughout the world.”  You can follow the conversations also on Twitter @nextgennetwrk
 
I love this group because I started my genealogy research as a teenager.  I remember when I thought I was the only kid interested in family history, and I would go to events and be the only one who arrived by bicycle because I was too young to drive!  And when my daughter was younger, I ran a Girl Scout special interest group for genealogy.   We had classes and organized field trips to NEHGS and other repositories in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  Young people have a great interest in family history, and can be enthusiast researchers.  I was glad I started early on my family tree, because I was able to interview people who had memories and stories of the 1800s, including remembering their own grandparents who had been in the Civil War, or who had passed through Ellis Island.  Today’s kids find our memories of JFK, hippies and Vietnam, September 11th and disco music just as fascinating!

 Just recently I was shocked to realize that I no longer was the youngest genealogist in the room at any given genealogy event.  When did the past 35 years creep up on me so fast?

Londonderry Historical Society Acquisition
Lots of news from the historical society!  A thirty foot section of rail and a switch will be moved from North Londonderry to the Morrison House museum complex on Pillsbury Road.  The new rail trail being constructed and paved in that section of the old railroad bed meant that many miles of rail are being removed.  The Iron Horse Restoration Company will remove, move and re-install the track and switch at no cost to the historical society.   Also, a bowl from the Morrison family was recently donated to the historical society and will be on display inside the Morrison house.  I helped out with the genealogy research on this donation, and hope to do some more work on the genealogies of the three different Morrison families who were original Nutfield settlers here.   Read more about the railroad story here: http://nutpub.net/londonderry_times_newspaper/railroad-artifacts-to-be-placed-at-historical-society/


Wedding Instability and Renormalization
Yes, we had a wedding! – well, two wedding parties on two continents!  I tried to keep up with the blog by pre-posting three weeks of posts and stories ahead of time.  It’s been difficult to catch up now that all the hullabaloo has died down, and life comes back to a normal pace. I haven’t been able to keep up with comments and email, and some correspondence was lost when I tried to log on from Spain during this absence.  If your questions and comments were not answered in the past month or so, please resubmit your queries and I’ll try my best to keep up.
 
Other things I have caught up on since we returned from Spain.
1.    I successfully migrated all my favorite blogs from Google reader to Feedly. This was a good time to weed out blogs I no longer follow, blogs that have stopped posting, and to add in new fresh blogs.
2.   Started organizing my desk area after being inspired by the new Facebook group “The Organized Genealogist”.  Started doesn’t mean much.
3. Finally planted my containers and window boxes three weeks after Memorial Day. Late, late, late…  the tomato plant already had ten tomatoes, three bigger than three inches when it was attacked by a tomato hungry chipmunk.
4.   Put the sweaters in storage and got out the shorts and sandals… just in time for a heat wave.
5.    We had a vacation to recover from our vacation, a nice short weekend in Vermont
7.   I started a new series of blog posts on “20th Century Americana” , the first two posts were on the CCC and a WWII museum. Stay tuned for more…
8.   Coming soon, my 4th Blogoversary on July 27th


“Postcard from a Stranger” Implementation
Three years ago I posted a story about a postcard http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/03/post-card-from-stranger.html .  During World War II my grandmother wrote a letter to my uncle, who was serving in Guam, but she dropped the envelope in a department store.  A stranger found the letter and posted it for Nana, and was also kind enough to send her a postcard telling her that the letter was safely on its way.  Last month a niece of the stranger sent me an email.  The kind stranger was still alive (in her 90s) and was thrilled to read my story online.  This is not exactly a “cousin connection” but I was just as thrilled to receive this email! 


New England GeneaBlogger News

http://nhgenealogist.com/blog.html  Amylynne Baker Santagate of Hampstead, New Hampshire has started her new blog “NH Genealogist” and also posted information about her genealogy business.  Good luck to Amylynne!

Coming soon!  There will be a panel discussion of four New England GeneaBloggers on October 26th at 10am, at the Nevins Library in Methuen, Massachusetts sponsored by the Merrimack Valley Chapter of the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists.  Yours truly, Marian Pierre Louis, Bill West and Cynthia Shenette will be on the panel to discuss our genealogy blogs, how we started, why we enjoy blogging, and to answer questions.  It should be an interesting topic for discussion, and I hope to meet readers and perhaps some new folks interested in becoming GeneaBloggers?!

Congratulations to New England Geneablogger John D. Tew!  His blog “Filiopietism Prism” was featured at NEHGS’s “Weekly Genealogist” newsletter online on June 12th.  You can view this online at this link: http://www.americanancestors.org/enews-2013/   John’s blog is only about six months old, but he has a lot of fans and followers already. 

Catch the latest New England GeneaBlogger news at the Facebook group at this link:

Collaboration Catalyst
I just noticed I was getting lots of hits on my blog from this page at Boston.com:


Thanks to the mystery person who put Nutfield Genealogy on this list for the “New England Blog Network”!

"New to Me" blogs I am following:

50 Shades of Genealogy----  http://50shadesofgenealogy.tumblr.com/ 

Photo Sleuth        ----------  http://photo-sleuth.blogspot.com/

An Historical Lady  --------  http://anhistoricallady.blogspot.com/
 
And This is Good Old Boston  http://goodoldboston.blogspot.com/

FREE STUFF
Ancestry.com is offering FREE access to their New England records until July 21st!  And here is a link to their new guide to New England genealogy research...
http://c.mfcreative.com/offer/us/newengland_vital/NEvitals-ResearchGuide.pdf

These free records include:
Mass. births 1840 - 1915
NH births 1659 - 1900
Mass marriages 1840 - 1915
NH marriages and divorces 1659 - 1947
Mass deaths 1841- 1915
NH deaths and disinterments 1754 - 1947
Conn. Hale Cemetery inscriptions 1675 - 1934
RI State Censuses 1865 - 1935
VT vital records 1720 - 1908
Mass, town and vital records 1620 - 1988
Mass, Masonic membership cards 1733 - 1990
 

New Projects Added to Family Search Indexing (of interest to New England researchers)

US (Community Project) Rhode Island - Naturalization Index of the District Courts (1906 -991)
US, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Index 1881 - 1939
US (Community Project), Massachusetts, Boston, Crew Lists, 1891 - 1957
US, Maine - Vital Records Prior to 1892 for 80 towns
US, Massachusetts - State Vital Records, 1841-1920 (Part B)

Projects Completed, to be published at FamilySearch.org in the near future

US - Index to Volunteers of the War of 1812, 1812 - 1815
US, Massachusetts - State Vital Records, 1841 - 1920 (Part A)

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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo


3 comments:

  1. Heather:

    Thank you VERY much for the mention in today's post and your kind words -- much appreciated!

    John

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  2. Heather, You do so many genealogy tasks at once that it astounds me! Maybe it's because you started with a teen-ager, but it looks like a full-time job to me. The fact that you interviewed early and learned the memories grandparents had -- that must be such an advantage! My last grandparent died when I was six years old. I remember him, but of course don't remember anything he said, just how kind he was to me.

    Through you, my impression of New England is that it's the best location for genealogy research.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, no matter how many times I get frustrated or hit brick walls, I still think New England is a great place for genealogy!

      Delete