The following article is reprinted from the course listing at "Family Tree University," an online education program from the publishers of Family Tree Magazine:



Especially prior to 1700, people in England used a relatively small variety of first and last names, so you'll need as many clues as possible to separate, say, your John Taylor from all the other John Taylors in England. Identifying your ancestor's place of residence and/or birth is critical. To make sure you're tracing the right person, take note of neighbors, others with the same last name in the same or neighboring towns, even patterns of first names-both in the earliest American records of your ancestor and in possible matches in England.

Because British colonists made up so much of early America, the first-name traditions from back in Merry Old England often continued in the colonies. So this scheme, common especially in the 18th and 19th century, may be useful for sorting out ancestors even on this side of the pond:

• The first son was named after the father's father.
• The second son after the mother's father.
• The third son after the father.
• The fourth son after the father's eldest brother.
• The first daughter after the mother's mother.
• The second daughter after the father's mother.
• The third daughter after the mother.
• The fourth daughter after the mother's eldest sister

In families where this pattern would lead to duplicate names-if both grandparents were named Robert, for example-the parents might skip to the next in line. In this case, the second son could be named after the father. By the 16th century, this English naming pattern was also common in Wales.

Keep in mind, too, that English records routinely abbreviated many common names, such as recording William as Wm. You may also find nicknames, such as Will, Dick, Bess, Betty and Molly; as fans of Shakespeare know, Henry was often called Harry. Some names are even interchangeable in how they are used, such as Edward and Edmond or Elizabeth and Isobel. Similarly, Ann, Hannah and Nancy could all be the same person, and Margaret, Daisy and Peggy are variations of the same name.


To learn more about this and other genealogy research subjects, visit familytreeuniversity.com.

Taking a break from my inside job, I went on another field trip of sorts to a gravestone rubbing workshop offered by the Gravestone Girls at a local cemetery. What was different about this trip was that it wasn't important WHO was there but WHAT .

If you live in New England, chances are pretty darned good that somewhere in your town is a very old, and possibly neglected, early colonial burial ground. It is there that your earliest settlers buried their families quickly and went back to the  task of survival in the wild new land.

The cemeteries of that era are not particularly inviting and pretty, but within that utilitarian piece of historical land is an amazing amount of art and poetry.  If you have ever had the chance to wander the landscape of an old burial place and read a few inscriptions, you know exactly what I mean.

One headstone in the Howard Street Old Burial Ground (Northborough, MA) for a town hero who fought in the War of the Revolution, is inscribed as follows:

ERECTED
in memory of
Colonel LEVI BRIGHAM,
who departed this life
February 1st 1787 :
Aged 70 Years.

There were several common symbols chosen by families to express a specific message regarding the passing of their loved ones.  For example, the artwork of the capstone for Col. Brigham includes an angel (the wings are a dead giveaway...pun intended), which was the symbol of the messenger between man and God. Additionally, the text added to the stone often provided insight into the character or demeanor of the deceased, offering a message for the living to heed as they headed toward their own  Judgement Day. Iconography of these early stones is very interesting, and more information can be found at The Association for Gravestone Studies. 

Gravestone rubbings serve many purposes, depending on what interests you. The image of a stone is like a photograph, documenting the genealogical information about an ancestor. Or you might find the iconography or inscription interesting and want to preserve it as a objet d'art. With specific care and methods, a rubbing can be done without harming the original stone, and some common sense and a little homework ahead of time can help make your project a success. (Tip from the workshop: place a sheet of plastic or plastic bag over the surface of the stone and secure with masking tape prior to applying the paper layer. This protects the stone from the rubbing medium accidentally touching the stone through a tear in the paper.)

The rubbing in the photo above, while not done by me personally, was given to me at the end of the workshop. The Brigham gentleman that belongs to this stone was a soldier in the War of the Revolution and descendant of the town's first settler, John Brigham.

What made the gift special? The artist who thoughtfully let me take her debut work home is also a Mrs. Brigham ...from the same family who has lived in the town of Northborough from day 1. To me, she is my new local hero. And you can now understand more why I truly love "Finding New Stories in Old Places!" 

I have been working with a friend who is searching for her family in census records and she asked me, "What is that Family Search website all about?"  The answer is very simple: while you have to pay to use some popular genealogy research sites, like Ancestry.com or Fold3.com, there is a free place to go to look for information about your family.

God bless the Mormons, literally and figuratively.  You see, the core principle of the religion is that we are all related, back to Adam and Eve.  And wouldn’t you know that the collective work of the members is to prove just that.  

Members have been creating family trees for all of us...as well as photographing birth, marriage, and death records from all over the world for decades.  Images on microfilm are actually stored in a mountain vault in Salt Lake City, Utah. One way to view the records is  to hop on a plane for Utah.  Another is by ordering them through a local Family Search Center run by the church. 

Wonderfully, technological advances with computers and the internet have spurred on a herculean effort by the Mormon Church to digitize the microfilmed records and eventually make them all available on their own website. In the case where an original document has yet be digitally scanned (or the image is only available through a  paid partner site like Ancestry.com), the general information found in the record has been added to the searchable database. Using the different search filters (name, date, life event - like birth, or residence place) you can try to find a census record, or church records that were photographed by a team of Mormons taking over a town for a week.

You can find Family Search at www.familysearch.org.