Well, you must be done with all your research now or at least all those ancestors in New England! In case you have a few people or details yet to uncover, we have another class that includes the area.

When I look at my 6th generation back, they were all born in Vermont, New York, or Pennsylvania on my dad’s side. I know, I was listening, only Vermont was New England. It made me wonder though. Did any of these people, besides spouses, know each other? How close were the locations and what would travel have been like? Were they part of communities of people who traveled from place to place together? Where were they from before Vermont? Before America? Many look like they were from Massachusetts for several generations. I have to go back to my 9^th / 10^th generation to get hints of Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands.

March? It seems, based on what I am learning, I need to do the following:

1. Location research during the 1790s and early 1800s in new Vermont locations to start.
2. Find a gazetteer for the time and locations. I have not used them so this will be new. Two of our past speakers referenced a book, Walking with Your Ancestors, by Melinda Kashuba which I am now reading along with the support of chapters in the book The Ancestry Detective by Charles Pembroke. Gazetteers are a first stop, based on suggestions from these resources.
3. Do some FAN Club research. Find the neighbors, church members, brothers and sisters, etc. That means I need that gazetteer so I can find churches, plat maps, directories, etc. that might help.

Let’s see what American Ancestors can bring to the party. I need a few days to process all that I can get from this website and location. There are lots of ways to use this resource from home or HQRL. Some for free, some fee based. TONS!!!! A 7-floor building with a library, museum, education center and the filming location for Finding Your Roots!

As for my initial question, next steps and gazetteers, American Ancestors has a section for Maps, Gazetteers, etc. Also, Cyndi’s List has a category for them. I am going to be looking at both and others to see what I can find. I did find some interesting things in my initial search. Niagara.nygenweb.net/history. I know Niagara County is New York but…. Royalton, NY is in Niagara County and is named after Royalton, VT by folks moving from one to the other. Royalton, VT is 23 miles south of Vershire, VT. You have already heard this name and guess what? I have an ancestor from this 6^th generation from Royalton, NY. Could they have known each other? It is certainly possible even before cars. By the way, Royalton, VT is in the Green Mtns. Every heard of the Green Mtn Boys militia. Also research Royalton Raid. Didn’t know this was a history blog, did you?

Happy Hunting!

Heidi Geise, education@hqrl.com