The surname Goodwin, meaning “God’s friend,” originated in medieval times in England. Thomas Putman Goodwin’s ancestors were spirited risk-takers: early planters, seafarers, fishermen, and entrepreneurs. Their story is one of determination, capability, and courage. Thomas is a Mayflower descendant of Stephen Hopkins through Elizabeth (Kenney) Goodwin, the sixth-generation daughter-in-law of Thomas’s immigrant ancestor, Daniel Goodwin of Yoxford, Suffolk, England.

Winner of the 2020 National Genealogical Society Award for Excellen

The Committee on Heraldry was established in 1864 within the New England Historic Genealogical Society to study coats of arms and the people who bore them in the United States. The Roll of Arms project, begun in 1914, is a record of settlers in the colonies or immigrants to the United States who were entitled to coats of arms under the customs of their mother countries. This newest installment, the Eleventh Part, is introduced with an updated history of the Committee and the Roll of Arms.

In comparison with most other Irish counties, Donegal has fewer records of value to family historians. This makes it important to use the existing records to their best advantage. Donegal families are a mixture of native Gaelic families, and of Scots-Irish families who came to Donegal from the 17th century onward. Common names in the county include O'Neill, O'Donnell, Bonner, Barr, Bradley, Duffy, Friel, Gormley, O'Kane, Gallagher, Harkin, McBride, McCafferty, McDaid, Patton, Morrissey, Ward and Sweeney.

Great Migration Inspired 16 Generation Family Register chart

A perfect way to show your connection to your Great Migration ancestor!

This blank family register chart is designed to record up to 16 generations of a specific lineage. Generally, your earliest ancestor is #1 and each subsequent line is the next generation. The very top line can be yourself or the ancestor you are tracing back to. Have fun with it!

18 inches x 24 inches, parchment paper

This handy guide to tracing families in the city and county of Limerick tells you what kind of records you will find, and where and how you can access them. The main families include O’Brien, Ryan, O’Donovan, O’Sheehan, O’Hurley, O’Gorman, O’Scanlan, Fitzgerald, Wall, Fitzgibbon, Harold, de Lacy, and Woulfe. Well illustrated with maps, sample records, and other relevant material. There is also a comprehensive index. 

By Margaret Franklin

Published: 2013

This handbook provides a practical foundation for getting started in Jewish genealogy. From debunking common myths to explaining a variety of online and offline resources to providing helpful research tips, this book proves that tracing one's Jewish ancestry is possible. Appendices provide additional online search tips and a case study.

By Gary Mokotoff

Published: 2016

Under the leadership of Robert Charles Anderson, the Great Migration Study Project aims to compile authoritative genealogical and biographical accounts of every person who settled in New England between 1620 and 1640. The Great Migration Newsletter has been a cornerstone publication within this project for the last twenty years and offers researchers essential articles on migration patterns, early records, life in seventeenth-century New England, and more. 

In this ground-breaking historical narrative, Robert Charles Anderson reveals the "why" of the Great Migration to New England that took place between 1620 and 1640. Anderson focuses not only on the religious motivation of the puritan leaders but also on the ordinary laymen who formed a complex genealogical and intellectual network, extending temporally back to the beginning of the English Reformation and geographically across all of England and even to parts of Wales.

Already a classic, The Great Migration Begins reflects immense scholarly resourcefulness and is a tremendous source for anyone researching early New England families. 

Each individual or family entry in this three-volume set includes (when known) the port or country of origin; when and on what ship they arrived in New England; the earliest known record of the individual or family; their first and subsequent residences; return trips to their country of origin; marriages, births, and deaths; and other important family relationships.