So You Wanna Take a Genealogy Research Trip to Vermont?

 Have you been considering making a genealogy research trip to Vermont? I can’t say that I blame you! Vermont is an excellent place for genealogy research. There is a state-wide open records policy, meaning you can go into just about any town or city clerk and say, “Hey, I’m here to do genealogy,” and you’ll be lead to the archive vault. No questions asked. Occasionally you will find a town clerk who is a bit protective with their records and will want to bring you the books directly, though I have found this to be an uncommon occurrence.

Vermont Historical Society (Credit: commons.wikimedia.org)

 The first step in planning your research trip is searching online databases for your Vermont ancestors. FamilySearch.org, a free database, has many of the same records that are found at the Vermont State Archives & Records Administration in Middlesex. Do as much research online as you can so that you will have more time to focus on looking for records not available online once you get to Vermont. At this point you may be asking yourself if it is worthwhile to pay a visit to the state’s archives building since so many records are available online for free. Unfortunately, I don’t have a definitive answer. If you have the time, then it could very well be worthwhile to pay a visit and see if you can uncover new vital records. You may also be interested in exploring the other resources that are available, such as naturalization records, probate court records, and military records (a more complete list of records is available at the Vermont state archives’ website at www.vermont-archives.org).

If you know which town a record is located, or have a pretty good hunch, I recommend you plan a visit to the town clerk. As I previously stated, you will usually be granted unrestricted access to the archives vault at most all town clerk’s offices throughout Vermont, and most often it won’t cost you a dime (unless you want to make photocopies). There are some town clerks that charge a small fee for researching, but it’s not much more than $1 or $2 per hour. Because Vermont is such a rural state with lots of very (VERY) small towns, there is often only one person working at a town clerk’s office, and as such, the town clerk may not always be open during posted business hours. It’s a wise idea to call ahead and make sure someone will be around to let you in (I once drove almost an hour and a half to the tiny little town of Belvidere only to discover the town clerk wasn’t open due to staff shortage).

 

Ethan Allen Homestead, Near Burlington, Vermont (Credit: Doc Searls, Flickr.com)

Be sure to take some time to explore each town you visit. Vermont is filled with interesting museums, parks, and historical landmarks. You may want to pay a visit to the local historical society, where you may even discover more records about your ancestors, the cemetery where your ancestor is buried, or the town’s library to thumb for information in old newspapers or local history books. Take a walk through Main Street and strike up conversations with the locals (many Vermonters love to share their stories of yesteryear, and you never know who may even remember your ancestors).

Some genealogy points of interest in Vermont:

State of Vermont Archives 7 Records Administration

1078 Route 2, Middlesex
Montpelier, Vermont 05633-7701

Phone:  (802) 828-3700

Website: www.vermont-archives.org

Reference Room Hours:  Tuesday – Friday, 9:00am– 4:00pm

Fees: Free

Leahy Library of the Vermont Historical Society

60 Washington Street
Barre, Vermont 05641-4209

Phone: (802) 479-8509

Website: http://vermonthistory.org/research/leahy-library

Hours: Tuesday–Friday 9:00am-4:00; Wednesday 9:00am-8:00pm ; Second Saturdays 9:00am-4:00pm

Fees: $5 for non-members, Free for members

Vermont French-Canadian Genealogical Society

377 Hegeman Ave. (Across from St Police)
Fort Ethan Allen
Colchester, Vermont

Phone: (802) 482-3075

Website: http://www.vt-fcgs.org/

Library Hours:  Tuesday 3:00pm-9:00pm, Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm, and by appointment

Fees: $5 for non-members, Free for members

Six Little-Known Fun Facts About Boston Patriot, Paul Revere

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Paul Revere

1)      Paul Revere’s father, Apollos Rivoire, a French Huguenot, immigrated from France in 1715 at the age of 13. Desiring an anglicized name, he later changed his name to Paul Revere. It is evident that Paul Revere Jr. did not take pride in his French heritage. He never learned to read or write the French language, and he volunteered to fight against the French during the French and Indian War in 1756.

2)      Paul Revere was a jack of many trades, one of which being crafting false teeth from animal tusks and teeth. In 1776, he identified the body of his friend, Joseph Warren (a revolutionary soldier who died at the Battle of Bunker Hill), by the wiring Revere used on Warren’s false tooth. This little known fact made Revere the first person to practice forensic dentistry.

The Boston home of Paul Revere is open for tours today.

3)      Paul Revere did not ride alone during his famous midnight ride. British patrols had been set up along the roads so that if one messenger couldn’t make it through, another would be dispatched to carry on. On the night of April 18, 1775, Joseph Warren (who was mentioned in the previous fact) was tipped off that the British were coming to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock. He brought the news to William Dawes, instructing him to head to Lexington by way of Roxbury, Cambridge, and Menotomy (now Arlington). Next Warren instructed Revere to head to go to Lexington by way of the Charles River. The men would alert towns along the way of the impending threat. Revere arrived in Lexington about a half hour before Dawes.

Once in Lexington, it was determined that the British’s actual plan may have been to attack supplies at Concord, Dawes and Revere headed to alert Concord together. On their way to Concord, they met a doctor, Samuel Prescott, who offered his help in spreading the word of the British’s intentions.

4)      Paul Revere, or either of the other riders, never shouted the famed phrased, “The British are Coming!” Firstly, the men’s mission was meant to be discreet as there were British soldiers hiding throughout the towns and countryside. Yelling any phrase would defeat their goal in remaining secretive. Secondly, before the Revolution, colonial Americans still considered themselves to be British. If the men said anything, it is more likely they quietly warned that Regulars - a term used for British soldiers - were coming.

5)      Paul Revere’s first job was as a bell ringer at the Christ Church, more commonly referred to as the Old North Church. The Christ Church is Boston’s oldest church, and still holds Episcopalian services, the same as when it was first built in 1723. In 1749, Revere, along with a small group of his friends, entered into a formal contract with the church in which they would be responsible for ringing the church’s 8 massive bells. Years later, on the night of Revere’s midnight ride, a lantern was placed in the church’s steeple to warn townspeople of the impending British attack.

Another note of interest regarding the church: Paul Revere was not a member of it. His family believed in the Congregationalist religion, which derived from Puritanism. 

Statue Depiction of Paul Revere that stands in front of the Old North Church

6)      Paul Revere is known for producing beautiful copper plate engravings, his most famous being his depiction of the 1770 Boston Massacre. Apparently Revere was not confident in his skill as an engraver because his works were actually traced from paintings done by other artists. The famous Boston Massacre engraving was traced from a painting by Henry Pelham. Paul Revere’s engraving was already flooding the market before Pelham’s prints were made available for sale.

Alse Young: America’s First Executed Witch

Little is known about the life and family of Alse Young, but she has a spot in history as the first person to be executed for the crime of witchcraft in America. Records from her trial are no longer in existence, though two short journal entries mention the event: The journal of John Winthrop, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, reads for “late May of 1647”, “One [blank] of Windsor arraigned and executed at Hartford for a witch." Matthew Grant, Town Clerk of Windsor, writes “May 26. 47 Alse Young was hanged.” Alse’s execution occurred almost 45 years before the start of the infamous Salem, Massachusetts witch hysteria. While the Salem witch hysteria has become the most well known of Americas early witch hysterias, by its beginning in 1692, it was certainly nothing new in colonial New England.

Salem Witch Trials

The first known witch hysteria to occur in America began in 1647, possibly with the accusation of our Alse Young. Before this first wave of witch hysteria ended in 1663, at least 79 people were accused of witchcraft, about 33 were tried, and 15 were convicted and hanged. While accusations of witchery appeared in other New England states, Connecticut help the most convictions and executions.

Historians believe that Alse was born in England around 1600, and her maiden name was possibly Stokes. While it is not known when she came to America, her marriage record to John Young puts her in Windsor, Connecticut during the 1630s. John and Alse had a daughter, Alice Young Beamon, who was accused, but never executed, of witchcraft in Springfield, Massachusetts about 30 year after her mother’s execution.

Alse Young was hung in Hartford, Connecticut on 26 May 1647. There are two highly possibly locations of her execution: the first was at Gallows Hill, as it was formerly called, and is today where Trinity College now stands. The other location was at Meeting House Square where the Old State House now stands.

Throughout the rest of the seventeenth century, dozens more men and women (mostly women) were executed on convictions of witchcraft. Most executions occurred during the witch hysterias of Hartford Connecticut and later Salem, Massachusetts.

Are you a descendant of an accused/convicted witch?

Irish Immigration to New England via Canada

Approximately a quarter million Irish, 75% of them being Catholic, immigrated to America between 1815 and 1870. A significant portion of these immigrants came to New England, by way of the then British-ruled Canada, for job opportunities on railroads, canals, sewers and other construction sites, and in mills, such as those in various Massachusetts towns. But why come in to North America through Canada and not directly to the United States? It really boils down to money.

The Irish fled their homeland due to poor economic conditions that began with the recession that followed French Revolution. During wartime, Irish agriculture boomed as their beef and dairy products fed British troops; however, when the wars ended, so did Irish agricultural prosperity. From 1815 to 1845, about ¾ million to one million Irishmen left Ireland for North America, but the population leaving Ireland during this time period would be surpassed by about 1-1/2 million Irishmen during and following the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1852.

The Great Irish Famine was brought about by blight in the potato crops throughout Ireland. During the famine, landlords evicted an estimated ½ million Irishmen from their homes for owing back-rent. The man of the family would be ordered to jail while his wife and children would be forced onto the streets. With the threat of jail time and homelessness, many families fled Ireland before having to appear in court. Other landlords provided passage to their tenants, combined with false promises that there would be an agent who would greet them with food, clothing, and shelter upon their arrival to Canada. Of course, there were never any agents.

Fare passage to Canada was much more inexpensive to Canada than it was to America. For one, the British government kept the fares low in order to encourage the Irish to emigrate to Quebec rather than Britain. Secondly, many Canadian vessels carrying lumber to Britain began offering cheap passage aboard the would-be empty vessels back to Canada. Many Irishmen took this opportunity.

Travel to Canada found many Irish immigrants sick with typhus and many did not survive the 3,000 mile journey. Ships entering the Saint Lawrence River would be inspected and any sick passengers would be quarantined in facilities on Grosse Isle, a small island on the river. The worse outbreak of Typhus aboard what became known as coffin ships occurred during the spring and summer of 1847. The inspection facility quickly became overwhelmed with the number of typhus-infected passengers aboard ships. It took days for passengers to see a doctor, and a 15-day general quarantine was imposed for all passengers, during which time many uninfected passengers became infected. The death rate was so high that hundreds of bodies were being disposed of in the river.

Many Irish immigrants who were fortunate to survive their journey to Canada made their way to America, often on foot or by canal. There were not as many job opportunities for them in Canada, and Canada was still under the rule of Britain, whom the Irish was escaping their homeland from. Due to its proximity to Lower Canada, many of these Irish came to settle in New England.

Once in New England, Irish men sought out construction jobs, such as for the railroad. Irish women sometimes settled in mill towns around Massachusetts or took jobs as maids in hotels or private residences. The Irish were the poorest immigrant group to the United States during the 19^th century and they were willing to work for extremely low wages, making them more desirable to hire than other ethnic groups.

Irish immigrants suffered many hardships when they arrived in New England. They were discriminated against because of their religion (many were Catholic, and America was a dominantly Protestant nation at the time) and poorness. They were often stereotyped as being alcoholics, lazy violent, and criminal. However, despite illness, poverty, stereotypes and prejudices, the descendants of these Irish immigrants have long since flourished in America.

Hello From New England

Hey all! My name is Jacky Gamble and I am wicked excited to be here (a little New England slang for you). I have been researching genealogy since 2003, both personally and professionally. In 2008 I began writing about genealogy (as well as other topics) on several Internet sites, and I have also been published in Family Chronicle, a nationwide genealogy magazine.

I currently run two genealogy blogs:

Tracing my New England Roots is mainly for my personal genealogy, although I sometimes blog about other New England genealogy-related issues.

The Graveyard Rabbit of Vermont is my latest endeavor, though I have been planning for years to establish a cemetery-themed blog. It's still very new, so please bare with me.

When I'm not researching genealogy or writing, I am working my regular job as an office manager for a small IT company. I reside in Barre, Vermont with my boyfriend, two children, two kitties, and a bearded dragon. Barre is a small, New England town located next door to our state's capital of Montpelier (did you know Montpelier is the only state capital in the United States without a McDonalds?).

I am fortunate to live in New England. This area is filled with so much American history. New England is where the pilgrim's first landed, where the famous witch hysteria of Salem took place, where many battles of the American Revolution was fought, and where the Boston Tea Party took place. I plan to use my access to so many amazing historical landmarks as the basis for creating fun and interesting blog posts for you.

I am happy to try and answer any of your New England-related genealogy questions, so please don't hesitate to ask!