What’s Open for Genealogy Research in New England

Some great news!  We’ve all been mostly cooped up inside using the internet, writing away for documents, and waiting for some archives, libraries and repositories to open.  Here is the latest information.  Caveat:  Please contact these locations for the latest information about their hours and availability during the pandemic.  Things sometimes change overnight and local conditions and regulations may not be reflected in this blog post! 

New Hampshire State Library, Concord, NH

The American Ancestors Research Center (The New England Historic Genealogical Society at 99 – 101 Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts) will reopen on June 22^nd by appointment.  Schedule your visit at this link:  https://www.americanancestors.org/visit   For the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center (inside NEHGS) visits and appointments, see this link:   https://jewishheritagecenter.org/

For the American Canadian Genealogical Society, 1 Sundial Avenue, Suite 317N, Manchester, New Hampshire, is now open for business on Wednesdays only from 9am to 6pm.  No appointment is necessary, but masks and social distancing are required.  https://acgs.org/   

And there is more!

American Antiquarian Society, 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester, Massachusetts  https://www.americanantiquarian.org/  Is working on a plan to reopen the reading room soon.

Boston Public Library There are 24 branches of the Boston Public Library.  The Central Library at 700 Boylston Street in Copley Square, and neighborhood branches are now open for limited services, and more services are returning soon.  https://www.bpl.org/  and https://www.bpl.org/news/reopening/

Connecticut Historical Society, one Elizabeth Street, Hartford, Connecticut 860-236-5621  https://chs.org/  The Edgar F. Waterman Research Center will reopen on September 8^th.  The exhibit galleries are open.

Connecticut Society of Genealogists Library 175 Maple Street, East Hartford, Connecticut  (860) 569-0002 https://csginc.org/   Open to the public Tuesdays through Fridays 11am to 3pm.  Masks are optional.  News!  The CSG Library is now a certified Family History Library Affiliate, too.

Connecticut State Library 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut  (860) 757-6500 https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/home  Open to the public Monday through Friday 9:30am – 4pm by appointment only.  Call for an appointment.

Maine Historical Society 489 Congress Street, Portland, Maine  (207) 774-1822 https://www.mainehistory.org/   Open Wednesdays through Saturdays.  The Brown Research Library is open by appointment only.  Masks are optional for fully vaccinated guests. Members free, non members $10 a day. See this webpage for more information:  https://www.mainehistory.org/library_visit.shtml 

Massachusetts State Archives  20 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, Massachusetts (617) 727-2816 or fax (617) 288-8429 https://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/ Open to the public for research Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm.  Call ahead to see if what you are researching might be available online.  Masks are required. Free parking. The nearest MBTA station is one mile away (JFK/UMass red line) and the shuttle bus is not running at this time.

Massachusetts Historical Society 1154 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts (617) 536-1608 https://www.masshist.org/     The MHS library is currently closed until further notice.  The reference team is available to assist you remotely.  Please see this page for more information:  https://www.masshist.org/library/visit  The MHS has been holding several online events every month, and their card catalog is online.

Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records (records from 1926 to the present – births, deaths, divorces, and marrriages) at  150 Mount Vernon Street, Boston, Massachusetts  (617) 740-2600 https://www.mass.gov/orgs/registry-of-vital-records-and-statistics  There are limited in-person services at the Registry of Vital Records.  The Public Research Room is closed. Please use the forms for mail-in requests and web requests.  The Public Service Counter will have limited in-person services Monday to Friday from 9am to 4:45pm.  See the website for more information.   UPDATE 14 July 2021:  https://www.mass.gov/alerts/update-to-in-person-services-at-the-registry-of-vital-records-and-statistics#1922996    

Mayflower Society Library 4 Winslow Street (behind the Mayflower Society House), Plymouth, Massachusetts (508) 746-3188, ext. 11 or email the librarian library@themayflowersociety.org  or support@themayflowersociety.org and please include “Library Appointment Request” in the subject line. See this website for more information  https://www.themayflowersociety.org/visit/gsmd-library  The GSMD library reopens in July 2021 by appointment only for members.   

National Archives at Boston (NARA), 380 Trapelo Road, Waltham, Massachusetts https://www.archives.gov/boston   The research room is closed currently.  You may experience a very long delay to your requests and Freedom of Information Act requests or appeals.  https://www.archives.gov/boston/research There are many online research tools available.   

New Hampshire Historical Society Library 30 Park Street, Concord, New Hampshire  (603) 228-6688 https://www.nhhistory.org  and also https://www.nhhistory.org/Research/Using-the-Library  Open by appointment only Thursday, Friday and Saturday 9:30 to 12:30pm, or for 1:30 to 4:30pm.  Masks required.  Email research@nhhistory.org or call 603-228-6688 to make a reservation.  The society also offers research services for a fee.

New Hampshire County Registry of Deeds https://www.nhdeeds.org/   The registries of deeds are open to the public.  Face masks are encouraged, or required and available upon request.  Each county registry has different safety requirements, and limits on the number or individuals allowed access to the records, please check the website. 

New Hampshire State Library, 20 Park Street, Concord, NH, https://www.nh.gov/nhsl/  The library opened to the public on 7 May 2021.  Masks are strongly encouraged and available at the entrance.  Open Monday to Friday 8am to 4:30pm.  You can schedule an appointment for a time with a reference librarian by calling 603-271-2144. 

New Hampshire Vital Records and Archives 9 Ratification Way (Formerly 71 South Fruit Street), Concord, New Hampshire, 603-271-3242.   

During the COVID-19 pandemic the Archives and Vital Records are closed to walk in traffic.  The public is encouraged to use the website.  You may call 603-271-2236 with urgent business or email info@sos.nh.gov  For more information see the website https://sos.nh.gov/archives-vital-records-records-management/archives/genealogy/  

Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum, 306 Newburyport Turnpike, Rowley, Massachusetts.  Open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – noon or 1 – 4pm.  Appointments must be made 24 hours in advance. Masks are required.  Only three researchers are allowed in the reading room each day, and appointments are required by contacting research@pem.org   See this blog post for more information: https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/07/genealogy-research-at-phillips-library.html

Rhode Island Historical Society 10 Benevolent Street, Providence, Rhode Island  (401) 331-8575  https://www.rihs.org/ The Robinson Research Center currently closed to the public.  Contact the staff at reference@rihs.org  for research assistance.    

Rhode Island State Archives 33 Broad Street, Providence, Rhode Island  (401) 222-2353 https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/state-archives and email statearchives@sos.ri.gov  Appointments must be made for a two hour slot weekdays at 10am or 2pm.  Requests for appointments must be made three days ahead of the requested date. 

Rhode Island State Library 82 Smith Street, Room 208, Providence, Rhode Island  (401) 222-2473  https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/Civics-And-Education/state-library  The state house reopened to the public on 1 June 2021 with limited hours 9am to 3pm.  The public may visit, and the reference staff will answer requests by phone and email from 8:30am to 4:30pm.  There is a catalog available at the website.

Rhode Island Vital Records, 3 Capitol Hill, Providence, Rhode Island 401-222-5960 or the website  https://health.ri.gov/records/   Walk in service for vital records is closed until further notice.  See the website for ordering records online. 

UNH Dimond Library, 18 Library Way, Durham, New Hampshire.  See this web page for information on building access and online assistance  https://library.unh.edu/blog/2021/06/covid-19-phased-return

Vermont Historical Society Leahy Library,  60 Washington Street, Suite 1, Barre, Vermont  (802) 479-8509.  Open by appointment only.  See this page for COVID-19 safety procedures:     https://vermonthistory.org/leahy-library-covid-19-procedures

Vermont Vital Records and Archives 1078 Route 2, Montpelier, Vermont (802) 863-3208 or email vitalrecords@vermont.gov  or sos.archives@vermont.gov   The vital records office is currently closed to walk-in services, but curbside services may be arranged in advance. The reference room is available by appointment for researching records in the state archives https://sos.vermont.gov/vsara/research/ 

---------------------------

Cite/Link to:  Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "What’s Open For Genealogy Research in New England?", Nutfield Genealogy, posted June 17, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/06/whats-open-for-genealogy-research-in.html: accessed [access date]).  

The Sneaker King, Marquis Mills Converse

Kristen Stewart
wearing Chuck Taylor sneakers
on the red carpet in Hollywood
UP photo 2009

When I was just a teen aged kid, I started tracing our genealogy.  I had some help from a night class I took, and then I was on my own in the genealogy stacks of the reading room at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts.   I was lucky because it was the mid-1970s, and I had interviewed my grandparents, who had been born in the 1890s.  They knew all about their own parents and grandparents, which took me right to the “Tan Books”.  In those days (pre-internet), anyone doing Massachusetts ancestry used the Tan books, which are the published vital records for most of the towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.   The Tan books cover from the beginning of vital records in the early 1600s up to 1850.

I was also lucky because the AAS had, and still has, a great collection of compiled genealogies.  I was able to find a book on my MUNROE ancestors, and my EMERSONs, and then the CONVERSE family.  I carefully compared all the notes and dates to vital records.  I was sure that I was on the right track. However, the CONVERSE family had information on the family going back into the eons of time in England.  I took it all for granted and added it to my family tree.  There was no way of checking information pre-1620 in the Massachusetts Vital Records.

Still on the hunt for proof of my CONVERSE line led me to check the information I previously found with some books on heraldry and peerages.  All the Converse information matched, except for the leap from England to Massachusetts in the 1600s. Which is exactly where I found my first case of “trimming the family tree” a few years later.  As I advanced in my genealogy research experience, I learned about genealogy journals and using the latest available research.  The CONVERSE book I had read was published in the 1800s. Newer information in the NEHGS Register later in the 20thcentury straightened out the line and trimmed off my noble CONVERS line which had led to the knight Sir Roger de Coigneries, companion to William the Conqueror. 

Fast forward  - in the year 2001 a book was published called The Name’s Familiar II, a second volume of a book by Laura Lee which gives biographies and family histories on the inventors or historical figures who lent their names to brands, inventions, and other commonly used words.  This is the book for you if you are curious about the people and names behind CliffsNotes,  Bunker Hill, or Converse athletic shoes.   You can read this book online at Google Books.

The very first line of the sketch on Marquis Mills Converse, founder of the Converse athletic shoe company,  states “…was born October 25, 1861 into a family that traces its lineage all the way back to Edward III of England…”.   I wondered if they used his noble heritage in any early advertising.  And hey, that CONVERSE name sounded familiar?  Marquis Mills Converse turned out to be a relative. To me.  Not to any noble King in England.  If a fifteen year old could figure out that family history, why couldn't a book author?  (Did his parents name him "Marquis" after a mythical royal lineage?)

Did you ever wear a pair of Chuck Taylor basketball shoes? This is the same Converse shoe company, founded in 1908 in Malden, Massachusetts.  Our common ancestor, the Puritan Deacon Edward Converse first came to the New World and settled in Charlestown, and then Woburn, Massachusetts.  Malden was a great place for this famous sneaker factory since it is right in between the two towns where Deacon Converse lived in the 1600s.  These shoes are probably now made in China, but I don't know for sure.  Converse sneakers were wildly popular with both basketball players and teenagers in the 1950s and 1960s, until designer athletic shoes became the rage in the 1970s and 1980s.  The company is still making athletic shoes, and they are more popular today with skateboarders and red carpet actresses in Hollywood than with NBA athletes.

Here’s the real story!

The Converse Family genealogy:

          Richard Convers d. 1542 in Navestock, Essex, England m. Margaret Unknown

                                                               I

                                         John Convers m. Joan Fuller

                                                               I

                                         Anthony Convers m. Clemence Spady

                                                               I

                                         Deacon Edward Converse m. Sarah Parker

                                         b. 1590 Stanford Rivers, Essex, England

                                         d. 10 August 1663 Woburn, Massachusetts

                              I                                                                   I

James Converse m. Anna Long                                     Samuel Converse m. Judith Carter

                              I                                                                   I

James Converse m. Hannah Carter                              Samuel Converse m. Dorcas Pain

                              I                                                                   I

Robert Converse m. Mary Sawyer                                Thomas Converse m. Abigail Fay

                              I                                                                   I

Susanna Converse m. Caleb Simonds                           Joel Converse m. Elizabeth Bixby

                              I                                                                   I

Ruth Simonds m. Andrew Munroe                               Marquis Converse m. Electa White

                              I                                                                   I

Luther Simonds Munroe m. Olive Flint                        Peter Mills Converse m. Mary Spear Clement

                              I                                                                   I

Phebe Munroe m. Robert W. Wilkinson         Marquis Mills Converse m. Alice Houghton Sargent
                             I                                                   Founder of the Converse Shoe Company

Albert M. Wilkinson m. Isabella L. Bill                         

                              I

Donald M. Wilkinson m. Bertha L. Roberts

                (my grandparents)

Slightly inaccurate source:

The Name’s Familiar II, by Laura Lee, Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Company, 2001.  (See pages 83-84 for the sketch on Marquis Mills Converse)

Better sources for CONVERSE genealogy:

NEHGS Register, Volume 146, pages 130 -132

NEHGS Register, Volume 153, pages 81 - 96

Great Migration Begins, Volume 1, pages 459 - 463

Internet resources:

Converse History   http://www.insidehoops.com/converse-history.shtml

Converse Shoes official website    www.converse.com

------------------------------

Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Surname Saturday ~ Converse of Woburn

This post was updated in 2016 with new information.  Please see it at this link:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/09/surname-saturday-converse-of-woburn.html  

This is the one of the first surnames I seriously tackled as a beginning genealogist back in the 1970s.  I was about fifteen years old, and I used to ride my bike from Holden to Worcester to use the genealogical resources at the American Antiquarian Society.  I didn’t know how lucky I was to be able to use one of the best libraries in the USA.  To me it was just the nearest place to work on my new hobby.

I had carefully traced my family back using the “tan books” at AAS.  These are sets of hardcover books containing the vital records up to 1850 of most of the Massachusetts towns where my ancestors lived, but the series does not cover all the towns in the commonwealth.  Fortunately, the Woburn, Massachusetts book was included in this series.  I worked my family back to Edward Convers, who was born in 1590 in England.   Along the way, using some of the old compiled genealogy books and “brag books” on the shelves, I carefully copied in my first false lineage.  Many genealogies in the 1970s attributed the Convers/Converse family of Massachusetts to a medieval English noble line going back one thousand years to the knight Roger de Coigneries.  It was a good lesson for me to learn and to untangle.  Untangling was much more difficult in the days of pencil and paper records than it is now with computer genealogy data bases.   

The truth is that Edward Convers’s English origins have been well documented by several major genealogists since I was a teenaged genealogist.  You can read about his ancestors in the New England Historic Genealogical Society’s Register volume 146, pages 130 – 132 and his wife’s English origins in the Register, volume 153, pages 81 – 96.   There is a sketch about Edward Convers in Volume 1 of the Great Migration Begins on pages 459 – 463.  There is much exciting information on his life, and I no longer regret not being related to an English Knight!

Edward Convers arrived with his wife Sarah and three of his children with the Winthrop Fleet.  The family lived first at Charlestown, Massachusetts.  He ran a ferry between Charlestown and Boston.  In the journal of Governor Winthrop it spells out the agreement between Edward Convers and the Colony.  He could charge two pence per person, six for a man and a horse.  By 1640 he lost the ferry business when the right to operate the ferry was granted to Harvard College as a fund raiser.  About this time he removed with Sarah to the new settlement of Woburn. 

His Epitaph in the First Burial Ground, Woburn [note the birthplace, which is incorrect]:

In Memoriam, Deacon Edward Convers, Born: Wakerly, County of Northampton, England, January 30, 1590

Landed: Salem, Mass. June 12, 1630, In Company of Governor Winthop, Died: Woburn, Mass. August 10, 1663.

Founder: City of Woburn, Mass. and First Church, Woburn.  Forefather of The Converse Family in America.

Erected In His Memory By His descendants - The Converse Family In America - 1961.

My Converse genealogy:

Generation 1:  Edward Convers, son of Anthony Convers and Clemence Spady, born 30 January 1590 in Stanford Rivers, Essex, England, died 10 August 1663 in Woburn, Massachusetts; married first on 29 June 1614 in Great Burstead, Essex, England to Sarah Parker, daughter of John Parker, died on 14 January 1662; married second in 1663 to Joanna Warren, daughter of Richard Warren, widow of Ralph Sprague. Five children with each wife.

At the First Burial Ground, Woburn
HERE LYES THE BODY
OF LIEUT.
JAMES CONVERS
WHO DEPARTED THIS
LIFE MAY THE 10TH
1715 IN THE 59TH
YEAR OF HIS AGE

Generation 2: James Convers, baptized on 29 November 1620 in South Weald, Essex, England, died on 10 May 1715 in Woburn; married on 1 January 1669 to Hannah Carter, daughter of John Carter and Elizabeth Kendall. She was born 19 January 1651 in Woburn, died 10 August 1691 in Woburn. Nine children.   (Please see the new post https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2016/09/surname-saturday-converse-of-woburn.html  for updated information on the Generation 2 James Convers m. Anna Long and the Generation 3 James Converse, Jr. m. Hannah Carter. )

Generation 4: Robert Convers, born 29 December 1677 in Woburn, died 20 July 1736;  married on 19 December 1698 in Woburn to Mary Sawyer, daughter of Joshua Sawyer and Sarah Wright.  She was born about 1681 and died 1766. Twelve children.

Generation 5: Susanna Converse, born 18 June 1724 in Woburn, died 29 October 1771 in Woburn; married on 26 March 1746 in Woburn to Caleb Simonds, son of James Simonds and Mary Fowle.  He was born 27 August 1720 in Woburn and died 4 January 1811 in Woburn.

Generation 6: Ruth Simonds married Andrew Munroe

Generation 7: Luther Simonds Munroe married Olive Flint

Generaiton 8:  Phebe Cross Munroe married Robert Wilson Wilkinson

Generation 9: Albert Munroe Wilkinson married Isabella Lyons Bill

Generation 10: Donald Munroe Wilkinson married Bertha Louise Roberts (my grandparents)

------------------------------

Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

The Moment I Knew...

Today's blog post was inspired by Lynn Palermo, author of the "Armchair Genealogist" blog.  She has invited bloggers and genealogists to write the story of "the moment you knew" that genealogist was going to be an important part of our lives.  You can read all about it at this link:

http://www.thearmchairgenealogist.com/p/everyone-has-story-tell-me-yours.html

-------------------------------------------

Mom, Sister, Me at age 16, and Grammy
1976 ~ The summer I discovered genealogy

The United States Bicentennial celebration was a fun time for kids, but for a young teen in Massachusetts it was a wonderful year!  I remember the year 1975 to 1976 very well. We lived near lots of exciting events, like the recreated Battles of Lexington and Concord.  Our teachers were wonderful, and we studied the beginnings of the American Revolution in extra detail for the next few years.  One night my Dad saw my homework and said, “We had an ancestor in the Revolution”.  Of course, I wanted details, but he had none to give.  My Dad loved history, but he was very fuzzy on our ancestors.  He suggested I ask his Aunt Janet.

Unfortunately, poor Aunt Janet was getting along in years and her memory was even fuzzier than Dad’s.  She told me about her grandparents and I started to draw a family tree.  But I didn’t know how to draw a chart, and her memories of names seemed strange to me.  Who was that Revolutionary War soldier?  Our family name was Wilkinson, so why did everyone have Scots sounding names? (Donald, Janet, Andrew?)

About this time I heard about a new book called “Roots”.  It was a very adult book, and was more than 900 pages!  I was fascinated by how Alex Haley took a family story and used it as the basis to trace his genealogy.  I wanted to do the same with our family story about our mystery soldier.  After asking my history teacher I learned that there was a community college genealogy class nearby.  Somehow I talked my Dad into driving me to the night class every week, and somehow he agreed.  I think he was as curious as I about our family tree.

This was the year my grandmother came to live with us for a while.  I asked her about the Wilkinsons, and the mysterious Revolutionary War soldier, but she was unsure about her husband’s family.  She couldn’t answer my questions, but instead she opened up an entire new branch of the family to me.  Grammy had come through Ellis Island when she was just a teenager like me.  Not only that, she was a natural story teller.  Her stories about Yorkshire, and growing up in the slums of Leeds fascinated me.  My little family tree chart began to grow as I added what I learned about the Wilkinsons from Aunt Janet to what I learned about the Roberts family from Grammy.  By then I knew how to produce a real pedigree chart and family group sheets with this information.

One of the field trips we took for the night class was to the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts.  It was a huge repository with over 20 miles of shelves filled with manuscripts, books and artifacts from early American history.  And it was within a few miles of our house, so I could ride there by bicycle in the summer!  For my first real research trip, and I had to get permission from the board of directors to even step inside since I was under 18.   I spent the summer pedaling back and forth, with my pedigree charts and pencils. 

There is something mysterious about genealogy that makes it addictive.  I’m sure it is the adrenaline rush that comes with each new discovery.  Along the way enough little nuggets of information fell into my lap that made me feel like whooping aloud in the hallowed halls of the American Antiquarian Society.  Each little victory made me excited to return to the AAS.  This was the moment I knew I wanted to be a genealogist.   The information from Grammy, and Aunt Janet and other family members went back far enough to start looking in the “tan books” of published Massachusetts vital records.   Ancestors they had told me about were born before the “tan books” ending dates of 1850.  From there I could go back one more generation, and then another, and then another… I was definitely "hooked!" 

As I drew out my family tree after every bicycle ride, I shared my discoveries with my father.  I found our first Revolutionary War soldier right away.  His name was inscribed “Major Andrew Munroe” on his gravestone.  Not only that, but the AAS had a book on the genealogy of the Munroe family that went right back to Scotland, and the clan records back to before the Pilgrims even arrived at Plymouth!  Every generation was interesting, and the names and stories fascinated me.  I couldn’t wait to tell my family a new story every night.  They were surprised that I found the missing Revolutionary War soldier, and that he was from Lexington of all places! 

The idea that our family grew exponentially, beyond the Wilkinsons and Roberts, and beyond the Scottish Munroe branch was exciting to me as a teenager.   I discovered early Puritans, Pilgrims and immigrants to Ellis Island from Yorkshire and other places in England.   My family tree had grown, and I could see that although I had made many discoveries, there were large blank branches left to be filled in on the big fan chart.   Summer vacation had ended, but my genealogy research had just begun…

-------------------

Copyright 2012, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Follow Friday – some favorite websites

Here is a list of blogs I have enjoyed this past year.  I tried to list ones that are not genealogy websites, but still of interest to genealogists or historians.

http://boatbuildingwithburnham.blogspot.com/   Harold Burnham, wooden ship builder in Essex, Massachusetts. If you have ancestry from Essex, someone in your family tree probably built ships!

http://boston1775.blogspot.com/   J. L. Bell, author and historian, writes about Boston on the eve of the American Revolutionary War.

http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/     Anthony Vaver, author and blogger writes about crime and punishment in Colonial and Early America.

http://heritagepaperdolls.blogspot.com/   Melinda Bowers, this one is just for fun!

http://newenglandfolklore.blogspot.com/   Peter M,  writes about the weird and interesting folklore from New England.

A blog from the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts http://pastispresent.org/   Very interesting stories based on "stuff" from their collections.  This is the archive where I first discovered genealogy research when I was a teenager, because it was within bike riding distance from my house! 

http://rockynook.blogspot.com/    Every summer there is an archeological dig at the homestead of the Howland family (of the Mayflower) in Duxbury, Massachusetts.  Follow the dig, or read past posts about what they have discovered.

http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/  each post is a full biography of a woman in history, including wives of Founding Fathers, wives of Patriots, and women who were famous on their own (inventors, writers, spies, etc.)

 

an assortment of New England genealogy websites new to me:

Bloodlines of Salem, a collection of information and links pertaining to Salem, Massachusetts circa 1692, the year of the witchcraft hysteria   http://bloodlinesofsalem.org/index.htm

Digital Commonwealth  a collection of links to materials held by Massachusetts libraries, museums, historical societies and archives  http://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/

The Italian Genealogical Society of America  http://www.italianroots.org/

My Kennebunks, the history of the Kennebunks, Maine by Sharon Cummins http://www.mykennebunks.com/

Nashua, NH  History 1900 – 1950 http://www.nashuahistory.com/site/nashuahistory_1900.htm

Seacoast New Hampshire   history, news, arts, tourist information and even a blog-  all hosted by Portsmouth, NH historian J. Dennis Robinson  http://www.seacoastnh.com/

-----------------

Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A New Clue! For Madness Monday

William Lee (1826 - 1906)
Boston Publisher

Last month as I was reading some of my favorite blogs I made a potentially great discovery.  One blog I read every week is Past is Present, written by the staff at the American Antiquarian Society.  This is a large archive and library located in Worcester, Massachusetts.  Not by coincidence, I am a big fan of this library because it was where I started my genealogical research 30 years ago.  This private library collects documents on American history up through the Civil War period, and it has an amazing collection of newspapers, family manuscripts, ephemera, broadsides, pamplets and books.

On November 12th the AAS posted a blog story "Lee and Shepard and the Great Fire".  It seems that this Boston publishing house donated their business correspondence to the AAS.  I almost fell off my chair because William Lee of the Lee and Shepard publishers was my first cousin several generations removed.  His mother, Laura Williams Jones Lee, was a sister to not only my ancestor but to Mary Jones Dominis, Queen Lili'uokalani's mother-in-law.  In researching the Jones sisters, I read several letters to and from William Lee concerning his business in Boston, and his publishing of the Queen's autobiography.  When the Queen came to Boston, she took up residence near the Lee's home in Brookline.  It was one of these letters that broke my brickwall about the Jones connection.  Here was a collecton of more letters!

Queen Lili'uokalani's stay in Boston was my clue to this side of the family tree.  My great grandmother and her relatives remembered "Auntie Lydia" coming to Boston, and passed this story along to succeeding generations.  I was intrigued by the story, and wanted to know how we possibly could be related to anyone in Hawaii.  In researching her story over the years I not only found out how she married my distant cousin, but broke through a few brick walls on my 4 x great grandmother's family.  You can read more about this by clicking HAWAII or DOMINIS in the right hand column of this blog to see posts on this research.

I quickly wrote an email query to the AAS, asking them if any of the correspondence in the 12 boxes of material from Lee and Shepard contained business letters concerning Lili'uokalani and other Dominis or Jones family members.  I was hoping for more breakthrough letters on the family.  After a while I received an answer:

"After looking through our card index for the Lee and Shepard Papers, I did not see any of your family names listed as correspondents to the firm. Unfortunately this was expected, however, because our collection is comprised of business correspondence only, therefore there aren't any personal or family letters within the collection. So sorry to disappoint, but I wish you the best of luck with your research!"

Well, no luck with the AAS collection, but it got me to thinking that perhaps William Lee donated his personal papers somewhere.  He was a famous publisher, and met some fascinating people of his time.  He published not only Queen Lili'uokalani, but works by Horace Mann, Rev. Charles Beecher, and popular children's authors. He must have donated his personal papers somewhere.  I know he was a letter writer, many of his letters to Mary and John Dominis are in the Hawaii State Archives and at the Bishop Museum.   William Lee survived his partner, Charles Shepard, and he retired in 1898.  The business was sold to Lothrop Publishing Company in 1904, and became Lothrop, Lee and Shepard.   William Lee died in Hampton, New Hampshire in 1906.

Here is the second email I received from AAS: "In terms of searching out where other William Lee collections may be, there are two databases that may help you in your search. Archive Grid and Archive Finder are two databases that search other repositories' collections. AAS unfortunately does not have subscriptions to either of these databases, but many public and university libraries do. I would recommend taking a look at your local libraries' electronic resources to see if these databases are available."   Today is Monday, and I plan on asking at my public library about these databases.  I might need to find a university library (UNH?) but at least now I have a place to start.  The search is on for William Lee's papers!

For more information:
click at http://pastispresent.org/2010/good-sources/lee-shepard-and-the-great-fire/ for the AAS blog post which inspired this blog post!

The engraving of William Lee, above, was taken from the magazine The Bay State Monthly, Volume 2, No. 6, page 309, March 1885.

-----------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A New Clue!  For Madness Monday", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 6, 2010, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/12/new-clue-for-madness-monday.html: accessed [access date]).

Follow Friday- A list of good stuff on the Internet!

I usually don’t do a post for “Follow Friday” but here goes a whole list of non-genealogy resources perfect for the genealogist….


J. Dennis Robinson’s Seacoast History Blog, “Living With the Past”. It’s New Hampshire, it’s history, it’s about the seacoast region- a triple good time! http://www.seacoastnh.com/Today/Seacoast_History_Blog/

The American Antiquarian Society has a blog. This archive located in Worcester, Massachusetts is the first library I ever used for genealogy research, back in the dark ages before computers, before cell phones, before GPS. I used to ride my bike to get there. Now they have a blog- welcome to the 21st century! http://pastispresent.org/

The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities sponsors http://www.massmoments.org/ a “what happened on this day in Massachusetts history?” sort of website. It’s the sort of website that I check every morning before writing or reading other blogs. Sometimes it has even inspired a blog from me.

Anthony Vaver’s blog “Early American Crime” is described as “An exploration of the social and cultural history of crime and punishment in colonial America and the early United States”. It is also a fun website about our blacksheep ancestors. http://www.earlyamericancrime.com/

J. L Bell is a historian who writes a daily blog on Massachusetts history. "Boston 1775" is full of good posts that sometimes are week long (or longer) serials as he explores some subjects in great detail. Bell is a professional, too, having consulted for the National Park service and the PBS series History Detectives. http://boston1775.blogspot.com/

“The History of American Women Blog” by Maggie MacLean has a right column index of all the women she has profiled in categories like Loyalist Women, Quaker Women, Wives of Signers of the Declaration, etc. She has written great biographies on hundreds of women at http://www.womenhistoryblog.com/ complete with photographs, sources and links to other websites.

“Your Great Grandmother’s Table: Scotch Irish Foodways” by M. M. Drymon is not only fun for those with Scots Irish ancestry, but fun for anyone interested in early American life. http://scotchirishfood.blogspot.com/

And…

Not everything I read is related to New England…

“The Iolani Palace Insider” is a fascinating blog by the staff at Iolani Palace in Honolulu. Photos and stories document the ongoing restoration of the palace that was stripped of its grandeur. Now, artifacts that were once auctioned off or thrown out are slowly being returned to the Palace, and others are being re-created from antique photographs and documentation. Currently drapes for the music room are being painstakingly handmade by experts brought over from the mainland. http://iolanipalaceinsider.blogspot.com/

------------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Fourth of July Peas and Salmon

In New England it has always been common to eat peas and salmon for the 4th of July, harkening back to a time when people ate seasonally. This is the time of the year when the last of the spring peas are harvested, before the summer heat sets in. The salmon are running upstream, too, at this time. My mother remembers having traditional peas and salmon during the Great Depression and World War II, even though both were canned! It was as traditional as turkey for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Last year, at the "Past is Present" website sponsored by the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts, this post explored the myth of Abigail Adams serving Salmon and Peas on the first July 4th, 1776 at their home in Massachusetts. http://pastispresent.org/2010/cookery/the-question-something-smells-fishy/ The myth was debunked (John Adams was busy at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on that day, not having dinner with Abigail!) but it does confirm that peas and salmon was a popular early summer dinner in New England.

Some people eat their peas and salmon creamed or with egg sauce. Others have the peas steamed and grill their salmon. In Maine there is a comfort food known as “salmon pea wiggle” made of canned salmon, sauce and potatoes. Often the peas and sauce are flavored with dill, which is thriving this time of the year, too. Of course, recently, many people identify any summer holiday with burgers on the grill, as ubiquitous as fireworks, and have never had Independence Day peas and salmon.

There are creative ways to serve peas and salmon. Since modern New Englanders might insist on falling back to "something on the grill", the salmon has become a side dish. I’ve seen pasta salads mixed with peas and salmon (good for a potluck type 4th of July cookout). I’ve seen salmon dips with a pea garnish at holiday barbeques (for those who shudder at the idea of salmon instead of burgers and hot dogs). A few years ago we stuck with tradition and tried a Julia Child recipe with a real salmon poacher one Independence Day, with a fancy hollandaise instead of the traditional egg sauce. A whole salmon.  Cooked outside on the grill, of course, because it is now considered "de rigueur" for the 4th of July.

I’m sure that now our salmon comes from Alaska instead of local waters, and the peas are often frozen instead of fresh. But we still enjoy them with a few new potatoes on the side. And egg sauce. And dill. Yummmmm!

Maine Salmon Pea Wiggle
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen baby green peas, cooked by pkg. directions
1 (16 oz.) can pink salmon
2 c. white sauce (any recipe will do)
4-6 boiled eggs, chopped

Mix peas, salmon, chopped eggs and sauce. Heat 3-5 minutes or until heated through. Serve over new potatoes, mashed potatoes, crackers, toast, or puff pastry shells.

Don’t forget to garnish with some dill!

For another salmon story from the Revolutionary War, click here:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/01/another-cow-salmon-and-sam-adams.html 

--------------------

To cite/link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Fourth of July Peas and Salmon", Nutfield Genealogy, posted July 1, 2010, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/07/fourth-of-july-peas-and-salmon.html: accessed [access date]).

Amanuensis Monday- Bloody Butchery by the British Troops

I read about Amanuensis Monday in Randy Seaver’s blog “GeneaMusings”, and Randy read about it on John Newmark’s genealogy blog “TransylvanianDutch”. Amanuensis: A person employed to take dictation or copy manuscripts.



This broadside poster is known as “Bloody Butchery by the British Troops” and was printed in Salem, Massachusetts by Ezekiel Russell in 1775. It is a bit of propaganda not very different from Paul Revere’s cartoon distributed in the aftermath of the Boston Massacre. An original can be seen at the American Antiquarian Society, and reproductions are sold in the gift shop at Minuteman National Park in Lexington. Click on the photo to enlarge it, and you can read the names of the fallen next to the coffins printed across the top of the broadside.

This is a partial transcription of the text:

Names on the coffins:

Robt. Monroe, Jonas Parker, Sam'l Hadley, J. Harrington, C. Harrington, I. Muzzy, John Brown, John Raymond, Nat. Wyman, Jed. Munroe, Jason Russell, Jabez Wyman, Jas. Winship, Deacon Haynes, -- Reed, Capt. Niles, Capt. Wilson, Capt. Davis, -- Horsmer, J. Howard, Azael Porter, Dan. Thompson, J. Miller, W. Barber's Son, Isaac Gardner, John Hicks, Hon. Putnam, Ab. Ramsdell, D. Townsend, Will Flint, Thomas Hadley, Henry Jacobs, Sam. Cook, E. Goldthwait, G. Southwick, Ben. Daland, Jot. Webb, Per. Putnam, Benj. Pierce, -- Kennison.

BLOODY BUTCHERY, BY THE BRITISH TROOPS; OR THE RUNAWAY FIGHT OF THE REGULARS.

Being the PARTICULARS of the VICTORIOUS BATTLE fought at and near CONCORD, situated Twenty Miles from Boston, in the Providence of the Massachusetts-Bay, between Two Thousand Regular Troops, belonging to His Britannic Majesty, and a few Hundred Provincial Troops, belonging to the Province of Massachusetts-Bay, which lasted from sunrise until sunset, on the 19th of April, 1775, when it was decided greatly in favor of the latter. These particulars are published in this cheap form, at the request of the friends of the deceased WORTHIES, who died gloriously fighting in the CAUSE OF LIBERTY and their COUNTRY, and it is their sincere desire that every Householder in the country, who are sincere well-wishers to America, may be possessed of the same, either to frame and glass, or otherwise to preserve in their houses, not only as a Token of Gratitude to the memory of the Deceased Forty Persons, but as a perpetual memorial of that important event, on which, perhaps, may depend the future Freedom and Greatness of the Commonwealth of America. To which is annexed a Funeral Elegy on those who were slain in the Battle……..

The following is a list of the Provincials who were KILLED and WOUNDED.

Belonging to LEXINGTON. KILLED.

1 * Mr. Robert Monroe, 6 * Mr. Isaac Muzzy,
2 * Mr. Jonas Parker, 7 * Mr. John Brown,
3 * Mr. Samuel Hadley, 8 Mr. John Raymond,
4 * Mr. Jonathan Harrington, 9 Mr. Nathaniel Wyman,
5 * Mr. Caleb Harrington, 10 Mr. Jedediah Munroe.

WOUNDED.
1 Mr. John Robbins 6 Mr. Joseph Amee
2 Mr. John Tidd 7 Mr. Ebenezer Munroe
3 Mr. Solomon Pierce 8 Mr. Francis Brown
4 Mr. Thomas Winship 9 Prince Easterbrooks (a Negro Man)
5 Mr. Nathan Parmer

MENOTOMY. KILLED
11 Mr. Jason Russell 13 Jason Winship
12 Mr. Jabez Wyman

MISSING, (supposed to be on board one of the men of war)
Mr. Samuel Frost Mr. Seth Russell

SUDBURY KILLED
14 Deacon Haynes 15 Mr. ---- Reed

CONCORD KILLED
16 Captain Miles

BEDFORD KILLED
17 Captain Jonathan Willson
18 Captain Davis
19 Mr. ------ Hosmer
20 Mr. James Howard

WOBURN KILLED
21 * Mr. Azel Porter 22 Mr. Daniel Thompson

WOUNDED
10 Mr. George Reed 11 Mr. Jacob Bacon

CHARLESTOWN KILLED
23 Mr. James Miller. 24 Captain William Barber's Son, aged 14

BROOKLINE KILLED
25 Isaac Gardiner, Esquire

CAMBRIDGE KILLED
26 Mr. John Hicks

MEDFORD KILLED
27 Mr. Henry Putnam
WOUNDED
12 Mr. William Polly.

LYNN KILLED
28 Mr. Abednego Ramsdell 30 William Flint
29 Daniel Townsend 31 Thomas Hadley
WOUNDED
13 Mr. Joshua Felt 14 Mr. Timothy Munroe

DANVERS KILLED
32 Mr. Henry Jacobs 36 Mr. Benjamin Daland, jun.
33 Mr. Samuel Cook 37 Mr. Jotham Webb
34 Mr. Ebenezer Goldthwait 38 Perley Putnam
35 Mr. George Southwick
WOUNDED
15 Mr. Nathan Putnam 16 Mr. Dennis Wallis

SALEM KILLED
39 Mr. Benjamin Pierce

BEVERLY KILLED
40 ------ Kennison
WOUNDED
17 Mr. Samuel Woodbury 18 Mr. Nathaniel Cleaves

FRAMINGHAM
19 Mr. ----- Hemmenway.

BEDFORD.
20 Mr. John Lane.

Those distinguished with this mark [*] were killed by the first fire of the enemy……

----------------------------

A complete transcription of the entire broadside can be found at
http://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/collection/itempage.jsp?itemid=16201&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=1

--------------

Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Amanuensis Monday- Bloody Butchery by the British Troops", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 19, 2010, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/04/amanuensis-monday-bloody-butchery-by.html: accessed [access date]).