Author Archive
28 Feb 2022
Records of the General Land Office
By Aaron Goodwin On 28 February 2022 In Uncategorized
In their Guide to Genealogical Research in the National Archives, Anne Bruner Eales and Robert M. Kvasnicka describe a publication some of you may be familiar with: “The Territorial Papers of the United States is a multivolume
26 Feb 2022
Decrees of Legal Death
By Aaron Goodwin On 26 February 2022 In Uncategorized
In April 1921, a 33-year-old man named Albert found himself unemployed after having worked for a while at the infamously short-lived Steel’s.[1] The circumstances leading to his unemployment aren’t currently known, but one thing is: That same
30 Jan 2022
The 1950 US Census
By Aaron Goodwin On 30 January 2022 In Uncategorized
Harry S. Truman was president, the post-WWII economic boom was in full swing, New York was the most populous state, Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts first appeared in seven newspapers, and the total US population barely exceeded 150M
25 Jan 2022
Is Something Missing? Analyzing an 1820 Census
By Aaron Goodwin On 25 January 2022 In Uncategorized
Your ancestor and his brother were enumerated in Kings County, New York, in both the 1810 and 1830 federal censuses. But you haven’t been able to find either of them in the 1820 census. You went through
20 Dec 2021
The Top 10 Most Popular NGS Monthly Articles Ever
By Aaron Goodwin On 20 December 2021 In Uncategorized
Herewith is perhaps the last Top 10 list of the year. It’s a good way to remind ourselves that NGS Monthly has amassed a library of more than 120 articles on research methodology, resources, and genealogical writing
17 Nov 2021
The Incredible Value of Probation Records
By Aaron Goodwin On 17 November 2021 In Uncategorized
It took a remarkable amount of patience, persistence, and kindness with government officials and archivists—well over two years’ worth—but my client and friend finally did it. She got a copy of her research subject’s probation records from
10 Nov 2021
Free African Americans of the Colonial Southeast
By Aaron Goodwin On 10 November 2021 In Uncategorized
As a rule, I don’t publish book reviews in NGS Monthly, nor have any of my predecessors. Within the National Genealogical Society, book reviews are the purview of NGSQ and its review editor, Christopher A. Nordmann, PhD.
30 Sep 2021
Philadelphia Congregations Early Records Project
By Aaron Goodwin On 30 September 2021 In Uncategorized
Led by the Christ Church Preservation Trust with a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) and funding by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, “Digitizing the Records of Philadelphia’s Historic Congregations: Providing Documentation for
29 Sep 2021
YouTube as Contextualization Tool
By Aaron Goodwin On 29 September 2021 In Uncategorized
I don’t think I need to tell anyone what YouTube is or how it works. I may not even need to say how useful it can be in building your genealogical knowledge base. But just in case
26 Aug 2021
Subtitles from the NGSQ “Genealogical Gleanings” Series
By Aaron Goodwin On 26 August 2021 In Uncategorized
In last month’s issue, I wrote about the NGSQ online index, its limitations, and how best to use it. Among the examples of searches I discussed was author Peter Wilson Coldham and his 52 installments of the