Conference

American Canadian Genealogical Society Spring Conference

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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.

 

ACGS Spring Conference

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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.

Chelmsford Genealogical Conference and the Canadian Census

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Although the week was busy, I still managed to whittle away at a family line and attend the Chelmsford [Massachusetts] Genealogical Society’s Fall Conference.

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Early in the week I managed to locate Theadore Marshall – my Father’s – Mother’s – Father – in the Canadian Census records over at the Library and Archives Canada Website [Link]. The main challenge in searching these records was a different spelling of his name – Theadore vs. Theodore.

Searching by Province, District and age however made the finds possible. When possible I like to start with a broad search, then add additional keywords to those found. If you start too narrow, you may miss something such as an alternate spelling or, in the case of the census and ages, someone one year off on their age.

I am guessing at the moment that I may also have found his father in the 1861 census, but this census does not include the family members names. There is only one Peter Marshall in Annapolis, Nova Scotia and the number of household members matches up.

The Conference was quite enjoyable however I was able to attend only the second half.

I arrived just in time for lunch (how fortuitous) which were several different kinds of hearty looking sandwiches and the assorted accouterments. They looked tasty but I did not pre-register for it as I was unsure I was going to be there in the first place. During lunch most milled around the hall, localizing and networking. I officially met two people that I had seen before at the Hudson [NH] Genealogy club.

I also met Jake Fletcher, a Genealogist that specializes in Maritime history and records. We had been introduced earlier in the week via Facebook and we had a quick moment to chat before the last speaker of the day.

Carol McCoy PhD spoke right after lunch. Her talk was entitled ‘Creative Ways to Solve a Genealogy Problem – where to look when they are not in the census or vital records’. It was a rundown of her work with a client and the way that she was able to conclude a persons relationship when the traditional records could not be located.

She spent much time in land records and trying to follow other parts of family to see if she could find anything. She also explored trying to establish the relationships of two other families in the same, but opposite sides of the town in an attempt to develop a connection.

The last speaker was Thomas Toohey and he showed us maps and lots of them. He talked about local atlases, insurance maps, picture maps and land records and many more… Oh, and where to find some of these.

Image courtesy of the University of New Hampshire Library Digital Collections.

He concluded by showing us the migration of his ancestors from Ireland to Scotland, back to Ireland, to Canada and then to the States.

At the end of the day the organizers had many door prizes to raffle off which was great. One table of ladies made out very well. Prizes ranged from donations from Ancestry.Com, books, a personalized engraved slate, and Genealogist on the Go kits which included a flash drive, white gloves, and a gift card to Dunkin Donuts.

I understand that this conference was just an idea back in January and I applaud all those volunteers who put in time to make this ‘Free’ conference such a success.