American Canadian Genealogical Society Spring Conference

Last weekend Sue and I attended the ACGS Spring Conference in Manchester NH and had a fantastic time.  The 5 different speakers presented on:

Each presenter was full of information and very knowledgeable on their repositories even though the woman from the Manchester Public Library was new to the position.

Of the items that the presenters discussed, there were a few items that stuck out for me.

Manchester NH was built by, and around the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company.  As such, the Manchester Historical Society is the repository for their records including Employee Files which can include some interesting additions for your Manchester ancestor.

Included are accounting records, engineering reports, correspondence, production records, and fabric sample books, as well as documentation for the locomotives and steam fire engines produced by the Amoskeag Machine Shop.  Beginning in 1911, there are employment cards for each person who worked in the mills which provide information about the person’s age, address, and job.  – from http://www.manchesterhistoric.org/

This collection sounds amazing and how I wish I had ancestors from Manchester so I could make use of them.

Child laborers at Amoskeag Manufacturing in Manchester (1909)

Child laborers at Amoskeag Manufacturing in Manchester (1909) – Hine, Lewis. 6 A.M. Going to Work in Amoskeag Mfg. Co. Manchester, N.H. Digital image. National Archives Catalog. NARA, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2016. .

The ‘NH Room’ at the Manchester City Library includes many resources including Census Materials, Local histories, New Hampshire Regimental Histories and the Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolution.

 

The NH Vital Records and State Archives took a tag team approach to their presentation.  Vital records are open to the public and you can obtain those for Birth, Marriage, Death and Divorce.  Birth records are available up until today’s date – 1916, while the other categories you can obtain up to 1966.

The Archives also holds the NH Association Test – Sate Papers vol 30.

In 1776, at the outset of the American Revolution, the New Hampshire Committee of Safety directed that all males over the age of twenty-one sign the Association Test–a kind of loyalty oath to the Patriot cause. In effect this resulted in a unique census of the adult male population inasmuch as the names of both signers and non-signers were recorded, and it is the most comprehensive list of New Hampshire residents available before the Census of 1790. Previously available in two separate, unindexed booklets, the present publication has placed all the names–well over 9,000–in one alphabetical sequence to enable the researcher to find a person and his town of residence at a glance. – Description from Ancestry.com [Link]

These papers will become important for Sue’s research – but that’s for another day.

Janine Penfield of the ACGS talked about Liniage Societies and the DAR in particular but also briefly reviewed La Société des Filles du roi et soldats du Carignan [Link] and the more local Piscataqua Pioneers [Link].  She reviewed the benefits of joining a society, the basic requirements to join, and lastly spoke regarding French Canadian Soldiers in the Revolutionary war of which the 2nd Canadian Regiment was one of them [Link]

Ooh Look, Squirrel!   Looking over the Archives website just now though they have also made available 40 Volumes of the Sate Papers as PDF files as well as an Index File at http://sos.nh.gov/Papers.aspx.  A look through the index and a trip down the rabbit hole led me to page 32 of Volume 39…

NH State Papers, Vol 39, Page 32

Sue’s family has a Mark Noble or two, could this be one of them? From the NH State Papers, Vol 39, Page 32 – NH State Archives.

I have yet to download the remaining volumes which also list a Mark Noble… I probably shouldn’t look for Moses either… Oh well, so much for a nap.

As a sidebar for this free conference it was suggested that you bring a friend – so we did and I dragged Dick Gagnon, the Access Nashua Station Manager and long time member of the ACGS (and my boss) back out of the shadows to attend.  He hates me now for pulling him back into the Rabbit Hole of Genealogy but wait until I can talk about the project that he picked back up.

Thanks again to the American Canadian Genealogical Society for putting on such a great conference and I can not wait until the next one.

 

Aside

27 Apr 2016 – Using FamilySearch Workshop

The Family History Center in Nashua, NH is holding a workshop on Wednesday, April 27 from 7pm to 8:30pm on how to use your Family Search Account.

They will cover the basics of;

1. Logging in
2. Navigating Your Family Tree and its various views
3. The “Memories” tab
4. The “Search” tab and best practices for its use
5. “Tree Connect” to add sources to your ancestors’ records from the internet
6. Printing documents from FamilySearch

The Family History Center is located in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
110 Concord Street, Nashua, NH

I am going to try to attend as I do have a few questions regarding using their online family tree.  I do hope to see you there!

 

ACGS Spring Conference

Tomorrow Sue and I will be headed off to the American-Canadian Genealogical Society’s annual Spring Conference in Manchester, NH.  I have copied the event announcement from their website below.

image

The start of Sue's application to join
La Société des Filles du roi.

For those of you keeping track, Sue has ancestors from New France and a Connection to the Filles du roi – The Kings Daughter’s.  My Canadian ancestry however is from Nova Scotia by way of England and Scotland.

We will be sure to report back on our trip and keep an eye on our Facebook page because you never know what trouble we may find and if you are attending… be sure to look for us and say hello!

American-Canadian Genealogical Society Annual Spring Conference

April 23, 2016
8:00AM-4PM

8:00-9:00 AM Registration – FREE Bring a friend!
Coffee, pastries, and fruit will be available during the registration period.
50-50 Raffle

Class schedule:

9:00-10:20 AM
Jeffrey Barraclough -Manchester Historic Association
Resources available at MHA Research Center for genealogical research, including
Manchester City Directories, the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company’s employee
records, and the Manchester School registers collection.
Eileen Reddy – Manchester City Library – Special Collection NH Room
An overview of the NH Room at Manchester City Library and its resources for genealogical
research including newspapers, Vital Records, and census information.

10:30-11:50 AM
Brian Burford – New Hampshire Archive
Deborah Moore – New Hampshire Vital Records

Genealogical information available in the state of New Hampshire.

12:00-1:00 PM      Lunch
For your convenience, we are offering a bagged lunch for $10. You may still bring your own
or go out if you wish. Download the Order Form for the Box Lunch here.

1:00-2:00 PM    Lineage Societies for French-Canadians
Janine Penfield – ACGS
Lineage Societies for French-Canadians
Our North American ancestors did not enjoy the same boundaries we know today, and when French-
Canadians found themselves in positions to choose sides they did. Mayflower Descendants and other
Colonial societies aren’t the only ones to enjoy Founding Fathers and Mothers to celebrate. North
American history provides a complex cast of characters in our trees. Learn how American history can
help you find a lineage society – confirmation in proving your line and finding distant cousins.
Daughters of the American Revolution, La Société des Filles du roi, and Piscataqua Pioneers will be
presented.

The Search for the Grave of Moses Noble

On Friday I had the honor of presenting to the Hudson, NH Genealogy Club, our search for the Grave of Moses Noble of Berwick, Maine.  This talk covered how Sue and I went about our search, using Google Earth and Google Maps, the advantages to speaking with local residents, and some ideas to help record information when you do find something, even if it is not what you were looking for.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Once I finish editing the interview with the Family History Center, I will record this talk in front of the camera to make the next episode.

Some of the links mentioned in the talk (in no particular order) include:

I was also going to upload the power point presentation as a whole but without context I am not sure it will hold up on its own.  Best wait for the episode!

The Hudson Genealogy Club meets the Second Friday of the month from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm at the  Rodgers Memorial Library in Hudson, NH. – http://rodgerslibrary.org/