Received at the library

The cover of the May/June 2018 issue of Your genealogy today portrays a young woman with shocked expression reading a newspaper over the caption "Family SCANDAL in the headlines." Has this happened to you??  The author of the article ironically discovered a tale of murder, adultery and military desertion after he published a family history and had heard nary a hint of the incident from the many relatives interviewed, including the perpetrator.  "The house that once was" tells a tale of researching a stately family home in Toronto and thereby shedding light on the author's great-grandfather's life.  "Follow the money" has interesting tips for research in lesser-utilized records such as work applications, patent applications, and social worker reports, and "Bank checks and genealogy" continues the money theme.  Other articles cover North Carolina records, the Irish in Victorian England, and how you might determine the religion of your forebears.

The Essex Genealogist for May 2018 carries the transcript of an extensive presentation by Mary Ellen Grogan on "Online resources for Irish Genealogy."  Although now two years old, the information looks useful and details how many more Irish records are available than in the past.

The history of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston is reviewed in the April 2018 issue of Mass-Pocha.  Evolving from a small study group formed in 1982, the Society now boasts over 600 members, publishes a lively journal, utilizes social media, and hosts frequent programs.

Cape Cod Genealogical Society's Annual Luncheon Meeting on Tuesday, June 19, 2018, Will Feature a Presentation from Dave Robison

Do you have a successful strategy for using genealogical search engines to locate records of your ancestors? Join us on Tuesday, June 19, to hear our speaker, Dave Robison, describe how he employs his strategy, called Search to Failure, to narrow down large numbers of search results and then effectively massage the search engine filters in order to search for success. The title of Dave's presentation is "Search to Failure...Whittling Down Mountains of Results".

Dave Robison

Dave Robison is a professional genealogist and owner of Old Bones Genealogy of New England (www.oldbones.info). He holds a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University and the ProGen program, and is actively involved in research, lecturing, conducting classes and organizing genealogical workshops. He is currently President of both the Western Massachusetts Genealogical Society and the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, committee chairperson for NERGC 2019 and 2021, and is an active member of several local, regional and national genealogical societies.


Our CCGS luncheon meeting will be held at the Riverway Lobster House, Rte. 28, South Yarmouth, on Tuesday, June 19, starting at 11 a.m. A reminder that the reservation deadline for the luncheon is June 5 (please refer to the Annual Meeting Invitation for details).

Received at the Library

The NGS magazine for Jan.-Mar. 2018 explores the Great Lakes region (where the National Genealogical Society's conference was just held), in particular, resources for Dutch genealogy because of the many Dutch immigrants who settled that area.  In addition, you will find great tips in articles on searching courthouse indexes,  "wizardry for effective newspaper searches," note-taking software, and effective communication with DNA matches.

Family tree magazine for May/June 2018 features a photographic tour of Ellis Island, to walk you through the experience of the many immigrants who arrived in America at this port.  A helpful guide walks you through the process of passing on heirlooms to the next generation, or disposing of them appropriately.  Arkansas and Michigan are featured in state guides.  "DNA direction" suggests how to use  your results effectively.  "Holes in history" suggests ways around major record losses caused by fires (1890 census, Ellis Island, etc.) Journalist Jennifer Mendelssohn is featured in an article about the relevance of genealogy to today's political rhetoric about immigration.

Received at the Library

In honor of tax time Internet genealogy for April/May 2018 has a couple of articles designed to help your budget. In "Save money on your genealogy!" the author has great suggestions for looking for discounts and taking advantage of free services, such as educational websites and social media sites like Thomas MacEntee's genealogy bargains (https://www.genealogybargains.com/).  [For signing up for MacEntee's newsletter today, I scored a free e-book called DNA buying guide!]  Another article visits the Internet Archive, an enormous free site with 15 million searchable books and texts.  In addition to printed material it contains audio, video, images, software and more.  Although US based it contains a good deal of international material in many languages.  A project is underway to provide links from Worldcat (the most comprehensive library catalog in existence) to books in the Internet Archive.  This site also includes snapshots of old websites (over 310 billion, yes billion, of them) in the Wayback Machine feature.  An extensive article gives a tutorial on interfacing Roots Magic software with Ancestry and other sites.  A review explains Writely, an app designed to get you moving on your resolve to write your family history with daily reminders and more. A new photo service called MemoryWeb is also reviewed.  Other articles cover the rewards of oral history interviews, pharmacy records, and using shoes as an example of a theme to unite family history stories.

The spring 2018 edition of American Ancestors is a special issue entitled "Your guide to the Mayflower 400th Anniversary."  Activities that NEHGS (publisher of American Ancestors) will undertake to celebrate this milestone include "events, tours, books, articles, exhibitions, educational opportunities, ceremonies, commemorations, and more" according to the society's president.  An estimated 35 million people are descended from the Mayflower pilgrims.  A new feature of this anniversary is acknowledgment of the role of the Wampanoag in the Pilgrims' story, celebrated in a traveling exhibit.  Partner organizations have also formed in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to help highlight the Pilgrims' origins in the Old World.  Mayflower-related articles include essays on a couple of my own forebears, Stephen Hopkins (his baptismal church) and Priscilla Alden (her female descendants).  If you are gearing up to try to connect yourself to these pioneers, see the article "A Guide to Proving Mayflower Ancestry."