Every year I post the books that Genea-Santa brought to my Christmas tree. The photo above shows the genealogy and family history books I received this year. Last year my haul of gift books was heavily slanted towards the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower. This year the list is well rounded, and includes two books of historical fiction. Thank you, Santa!
I hope you find a few books on this list for yourself and your family history research, too!
First Yankee: David Thomson, 1592 - 1628 - The Story of New Hampshire's First Settler, was published in 1997 by Ralph and Matthew Thomson. Santa bought this edition at the gift shop at the Science Center at Odiorne Point State Park, the location of David Thomson's fishing colony in 1623. David Thomson is my 9th great grandfather, and husband to Amyes Colle. She was married to two of my 9th great grandfathers - Thomson and also to Samuel Maverick of Boston. I can't wait to read this book!
This is the sixth edition of the Genealogist's Handbook for New England Research, edited by Rhonda R. McClure and published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. I've owned every edition of this book, and find it invaluable for New England family history research. This edition updates lots of contact information, new resources, and things that I've been waiting for (such as the probate information from Connecticut missing from the last edition). It looks wonderful, the true test will be actually USING this book for some upcoming projects.
For a change of pace, I've included two books of historical fiction on this blog post because BOTH have to do with some of my family history. J. Dennis Robinson, the author of Point of Graves: A New England History Mystery, has always written some of my favorite books, articles and short stories from the New Hampshire seacoast region. Now he has written a mystery, and I can't wait to read it! The Point of Graves is one of my favorite cemeteries in New Hampshire, and is featured in the title and on the cover. I'm looking forward to reading this!
This little volume was put together by my daughter with highlights of my granddaughter's sixth year on the planet. She actually makes one of these every year, and I should have included it in previous blog posts.
This large format book (380 pages) The Mayflower Quarterly Diamond Jubilee Edition was published by the General Society of Mayflower Descendants in 2012. It was originally sold for $50, but Genea-Santa saw it for sale at the GSMD board of assistants meeting in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is still for sale for $15 at the GSMD website, so don't miss out on this lovely book that features a compilation of the "best of the best" from the journal produced by the Mayflower Society.
This very heavy book (printed on glossy photographic paper and 453 pages) Made in America - The Pilgrim Story and How It Grew was written by James W. Baker, former historian from Plimoth-Patuxet museum (formerly known as Plimoth Plantation). I've enjoyed his previous books, and this one I started on Christmas night and read straight through to the end! In this volume he doesn't explore the history of the people known as "The Pilgrims" but he delves into the phenomenon behind their becoming myth and legend. Very interesting, and very historical in its own way!
This is another historical novel, Bound For Gold: Novel of the California Gold Rush, by William Martin. He is the author of many of my favorite historical fiction books such as Back Bay, Cape Cod, and Harvard Yard. He wrote this book in 2019, but I have not read it yet. I'm interested not only because I enjoyed his earlier books very much, but because I had an ancestor leave Boston for California as a '49er (he actually returned with a nugget or two!). This book should prove to be very interesting because William Martin does such meticulous research on his subjects. I follow him on Facebook, and look forward to reading Bound for Gold.
This is volume 2 of Early New England Families 1641 - 1700 edited by Alicia Crane Williams. I own volume 1 and used it a lot for my research, and look forward to having this book on my shelf. It includes sketches with several surnames from my family tree - Carter, Fairbanks, Glover, Maverick, Stone, etc. These are families that arrived AFTER the Great Migration and are not include in Anderson's series. These sketches are also available online at the database at AmericanAncestors.org
I'll let you know later what I think of all these new books! It will take me some time to read them all!
Christmas Books 2019
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To Cite/Link to this Blog Post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "What did Genea-Santa Bring? Christmas Books 2021", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 6, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2022/01/what-did-genea-santa-bring-christmas.html: accessed [access date]).
