Friday Finds – 07/02/10

Weekly column sharing genealogy-related things that I’ve learned or found.

“Learn from Experts” Articles on Archives.com – Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings found a set of free articles written by genealogy experts available at Archives.com.

Surname Saturday: STRONG – Miriam over at AnceStories writes about her Strong line.  I supposedly descend from George Strong (b. 1556) through his son Thomas (b. 1584), then through Thomas’ daughter Jane (b. 1610).  While I’m fairly confident about Jane and her marriage to John Hopkins, I have not done any of my own research on her family to know if Thomas is her father and George is her grandfather.  If it is correct, then Miriam and I are officially cousins!

Friday Finds – 04/02/10

Weekly column sharing genealogy-related things that I’ve learned or found.

Article – The NGS blog informs us of “Massachusetts Senate Bill 820, which will close all vital records after 1841.”

Article – Lorine writes Meaning of Markings on Ships' Passenger List at her blog Ask Olive Tree Genealogy a Question.

News – National Genealogical Society has added six additional years of Quarterlies online.  Issues from 1996 to present are available to members online through their website.

Article – Lynn Palmero, the Armchair Genealogist, wrote the post German Genealogy - A Reader Shares Her Tips and Resources.  She shares some helpful tips and resources she got from a reader or her blog.

Article – T. K. posted some information about the Hopkins surname.  First, it’s safe to say that T.K. and I are related through Stephen Hopkins (b. 1634) and his wife Dorcas Bronson (T.K. descends through their daughter Mary, while I descend from their daughter Dorcas).  I’m interest to look at some of the links she provides in this article, particularly the argument about whether this line is related to the Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower line.

Saturday in the Attic – 01/23/10

I really do wish this item was in the attic, as opposed to where I actually found it.  It would be so neat to have an artifact this old in my personal collection.

It’s a letter written by John Hopkins to Gov. John Winthrop.  It was found at the beginning of the book John Hopkins of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1634 and Some of His Descendants (by Timothy Hopkins, Palo Alto, CA, 1932).

While the letter is in great condition, it is mounted on a page in the book and is bound with the pages of the book.  While the artifact is a wonderful addition to the book, the way it’s preserved, mounted, and bound is less than desirable. 

John Hopkins was born about 1613 in England and died about 1654 in Connecticut.  He and his wife, Jane Goody Strong, are my eleventh great-grandparents.  It is debatable as to whether or not John is the son of Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower.  John left England and settled in Massachusetts, where he was made a freeman on 4  March 1634/35.  He later removed to Hartford, Connecticut.

Friday Finds – 07/17/09

 

Found, Unfound, Found Again?  If you are on Facebook, you may have seen my status earlier in the week saying that I learned I was a Mayflower descendant.  However, a source led me astray, having me think that my tenth great-grandfather, Stephen HOPKINS, came to America on the Mayflower!  In truth, this is NOT the case.  Heck, he wasn’t even born when the Mayflower set sail!!  Further investigation has me wondering if the Stephen HOPKINS, who did arrive in America via the Mayflower, is instead my twelfth great-grandfather.  I trace this line back to my eleventh great-grandfather, John HOPKINS.  A variety of sources reviewed so far are contradictory:  some say John is Stephen’s son, others say no.  There doesn’t seem to be any proof either way at this point.  So for now, it’s unclear whether I am in fact a Mayflower descendant or not.  Hoping to unravel the mystery, perhaps on my research trip to SLC in September.

Article  There were actually two articles in the July 2009 edition of Reader’s Digest.  The first is, “This Land is Your Land.”  It’s an article about our National Parks (U.S.) from the perspective of filmmaker Ken Burns, who produced a documentary, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.  The second article is, “You Named Your Kid What?!,” written by Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz.  It’s an interesting read about the names given to children today, with a bit of history about naming conventions.

Photo obtained from Wikipedia; public domain.

Friday Finds

My research focus this week has been my Connecticut ancestors, including the WEBSTER, HOPKINS, JUDD, BRONSON, GRAVES, and LEWIS lines.  Fortunately there are some good references available, which I will share in today’s Friday Finds column.

BOOK  Lucius Barnes Barbour, Families of Early Hartford, Connecticut (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1977) – Fortunately this book is available at my local genealogy library, but I also purchased it (along with other books) on the CD collection Connecticut Local and Family Histories available from Genealogical.com.

DATABASE / INDEX  Connecticut Town Marriage Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection), Connecticut Town Birth Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection), and Connecticut Town Death Records, pre-1870 (Barbour Collection) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.  These databases are based on the index, The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records Vol. 1-55 compiled by Lorraine Cook White (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002).  They are available through Ancestry.com (with subscription).

WEBSITE  The Graves Family Association – A collection of information pertaining to the GRAVES surname.  I was lucky enough to have found a family tree for George GRAVES, my twelfth great-grandfather.