Catalog of Lectures

As a group, 17th-century New Englanders are one of the most studied groups on the planet. There is a multitude of reliable published resources available for family historians including finding aids, genealogical dictionaries, authoritative study projects, scholarly journals, and more. Learn about the resources that made our Top 10 list and why you may not need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to early New England research.

Town records from New England can contain a wealth of genealogical information. These records can contain records of births, marriages, burials, mortgages, name changes, and more that can help you fill in the details of your ancestor's life. This webinar delves into this important resource for New England and demonstrates how you may get the most out of these records for your own family history. 

This class will include the different types of record sets that enslavers may name enslaved persons (including probate records, land deeds, court records, and more). A brief case study will be discussed.
 

The 18th century was a transformative and foundational period for Massachusetts: continued colonial conflicts, movement westward, revolution, the abolition of slavery, and ultimately statehood. This lecture will look at just some of the many records of the era—pre and post American independence—including military records, tax lists, census records, newspapers, city directories, and more.
 

During the War of 1812, New Hampshire provided nearly 6,000 soldiers. This lecture will review the different federal, state, and local resources available to research your War of 1812 ancestor. 
 

The 18th century was a transformative and foundational period for Connecticut: continued colonial conflicts, movement westward, revolution, the abolition of slavery, and ultimately statehood. This lecture will look at just some of the many records of the era—pre- and post-American independence—including military records, tax lists, census records, newspapers, city directories, and more.

The local church was a central part of our ancestors' lives. This lecture will explore how to use Roman Catholic church records to find out more about the story of your ancestor, including baptism records, marriage registers, death registers, and confirmation records. The Historic Catholic Records Online Project at American Ancestors will be highlighted in detail.

Learn about the go-to records, resources, and research techniques for researching your Connecticut ancestors. This presentation will cover 17th to 20th century resources available at the state, county, and town level. 

In the 17th and early 18th centuries, Maine (then part of Massachusetts), New Hampshire, and Vermont were considered frontier lands for the early New England colonists. Whether you are researching these states during the colonial period or present day, there are certain record sets and go-to resources that you should be aware of. This lecture will review various study projects, databases, manuscript items, and other resources available through American Ancestors and other online web sites that can assist you in researching northern New England.

This lecture researches the primary and secondary sources associated with those involved in the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692.