Christmas Books from Santa 2016!

Santa Claus outdid himself this year. Every year I post the genealogy books I receive from Santa (at least on the years when I was a good girl!).  This year I received a varied bunch of books.  Some were purchased from the New England Historic Genealogical Society holiday catalog (the best gift catalog for genealogists!), the Blas Bleu website, and some from used book stores.  One was a family heirloom passed down from generations of family members in Spain.  You might find one or two that interest you, too.

In no special order:

HISTORIC HOUSES

OF

EARLY AMERICA

by Elise Lathrop

TUDOR PUBLISHING CO

NEW YORK  MCMXXVII

This page has a photo of Retire Becket's house in Salem,

which is now located in the courtyard of the museum of

The House of Seven Gables.  See below for more about 

Retire Becket, a member of my family tree. 

I have also seen plates inside this book of the Fairbanks

and Whipple houses, both built by my ancestors. 

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF

Benjamin Franklin

EDITED BY LEONARD W. LARABEE

RALPH L. KETCHAM, HELEN C. BOATFIELD

AND HELENE H. FINEMAN

YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1964

New Haven & London

I've always enjoyed this book by Benjamin Franklin because he and I share ancestors.  His mother, Abiah Folger Franklin, and my 7th great grandmother, Bethshua Folger Pope, were sisters.  In his autobiography he explores his genealogy, and even describes a trip to England to trace his Franklin roots.  I love reading his notes about Peter Folger and Mary Morrill (his grandparents and my ancestors), who lived on the island of Nantucket.  This is a very nice edition of his autobiography, with a lovely slip cover.

GRAVEN IMAGES

New England Stonecarving and its Symbols

1650 - 1815

by ALLAN I. LUDWIG

WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY PRESS, MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT

A Guide to Massachusetts Public Records: Parishes Towns and Counties

by Caroll D. Wright, originally 1889

a reprint by NEHGS 2014

The Stranger in My Genes

by Bill Griffeth, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2016

I missed seeing Bill Griffeth speak about this new book at several NEHGS events this past fall.  This book topped my list for Santa.  

The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens who made England

by Dan Jones, Penguin Books, 2012

I've been reading quite a few books on the Plantagenets.  I have several "Royal Lineages" from Puritan immigrant ancestors that go back to the Plantagenets, including Richard Lionheart and Eleanor of Aquitaine.  

Santa got me a subscription to The Mayflower Descendant, which is published by the Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants.   This is not the same journal as The Mayflower Quarterly. 

Santa Claus was very sneaky with these two books from a used book store in Massachusetts called "Manchester by the Book".   My distant relative, Retire Becket, of Salem, built this impressive yacht Cleopatra's Barge in 1816 for America's first millionaire, George Crowinshield, Jr.   Later the yacht was sold to King Kamehameha II of the Kingdom of Hawaii.  So much of the history of this ship touches American history, and my own family history!  

The first book (white cover):  Cleopatra's Barge: The Crowninshield Story, by David L. Ferguson, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1976. 

The second book:   George Crowninshield's Yacht Cleopatra's Barge by Walter Muir Whitehill and a Catalogue of the Francis B. Crowninshield Gallery, published by the Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachusetts 1959. 

This tiny book is smaller than a stick of lip balm.  My mother-in-law from Spain gifted it to me for Christmas.  She remembers her mother and her grandmother both reading prayers from this book.

MEDITACIONES

PARA EL SANTO SACRIFICIO

DE LA MISA:

Y ORACIONES

PARA LA CONFESSION Y COMUNION.

Su author Pablo Minguet

-------------0-------------

BARCELONA

POR MIGUEL Y TOMAS GASPAR

1828

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Christmas Books from Santa 2016!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 30, 2016,  ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/12/christmas-books-from-santa-2016.html: accessed [access date]).