Archival Notes, February 2018

We are going to relate a little history of how some of our information is acquired. On January 5, 2018, via Aroostook Genealogy, Shirley Wells uploaded a pdf file titled “William Bubar” with the comment;” I thought some of you might enjoy this.” The source newspaper, “Democrat and Chronicle,” (Rochester, New York) Thursday, 19 February […]

Just a reminder, go to the Internet Archive (a non-profit in the San Francisco area) and type in Maine history, or genealogy, or whatever state, or town you want. There’s lots of stuff there. Also, explore in Europe even.

I recently was looking at microfilm of surveyor’s field notes for Maysville. The index seemed to have all Aroostook County towns. I was looking at notes done in 1842. You’re looking at 175-year-old handwriting. Who knows what gems of info might be in them?! I wonder if this source is available for each county.  I’ve […]

Gleanings from the Weekly genealogist…

The John Jay College of Criminal Justice has a searchable online New York State Slavery Index. It covers from around 1525 to during the Civil War. This includes the owners of slaves. They are using census records, birth certificates, cemetery records, ship invoices, and legal documents to name a few of their sources. The index […]

Gleanings from various British online sources…

Apparently before 1066 in Britain people usually weren’t using surnames. After the Norman conquest, the Anglo-Saxons took Norman first names. The most popular first names for men were William, Robert and Henry. Those names became so popular that surnames were needed to tell people apart. The Normans already had a tradition of surnames.