My grandmother on my Dad's side emigrated to Charlestown, MA USA from Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Some of her family still live there and more importantly her mom is buried there. I try to make time to get into the archives whenever possible. (For a while it was Fridays. That's not predictable now, but I will continue to make time for it if you can handle a wait here and there) I also try to rope my husband into getting me to the older cemeteries. Many of them are in "challenging" neighborhoods these days. If I can help let me know. A section of my research binder is called "requests from the web." I truly appreciate the help of the professional genealogists and researchers and use them when necessary. And that is not infrequent. But I believe we should try to share what we know with one another. I think somewhere along the line we are all cousins. At least! I'm working on my family tree and will post it to the web before Christmas. Hopefully at some point it will help someone. I have deep gratitude to all have been working at this much longer than I. Your work has reduced mine substantially. Gratefully, alice ----- Original Message ----- From: "mcoady" <mcoady@attbi.com> To: <GenMassachusetts-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 7:50 PM Subject: Re: [GM-L] "Vital Records of Charlestown, Massachusetts" ... eBay ... (Historical Society?) > Since Woburn was once part of the Charlestown land grant that info is > included in my History of Woburn, by Samuel Sewall, and I believe the data > for that info was taken from Charlestown records. Don't have to book in > front of me right now, but if you are located locally, it is available most > of the libraries in and around Boston, including the Woburn Public Library. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "BBFFRRPP" <bbffrrpp@attbi.com> > To: <GenMassachusetts-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 5:19 AM > Subject: [GM-L] "Vital Records of Charlestown, Massachusetts" ... eBay ... > (Historical Society?) > > > > Good morning, > > > > I use ..eBay.. for both personal and genealogical use. When I am > looking > > to see what is up for auction for genealogical purposes, I first put into > > search: the names of the towns or cities which I am interested in; i.e., > > the town or cities where my ancestors lived. If others want to do this, > I > > have discovered something which should be corrected by eBay, but for the > > time being, if someone wants to find a book or map or something similar > for > > say, Charlestown, MA, you must enter this 3 times as: Charlestown, MA, > > Charlestown, Mass., and Charlestown, Massachusetts. > > > > That is how I just found a book up for auction on the "Vital Records .. of > > Charlestown, MA." Because I had several different ancestors who > started > > out in Charlestown, I would dearly love to buy this book, but I cannot > > afford to. > > > > ..I just went to find a "brief history of Charlestown, so that I could > tell > > you how it began and which towns annexed off of it, .. and I found these > > web sites which looks like interesting reading: > > > > http://www.bostonhistory.org/neighbor.html > > > > http://www.charlestownbusiness.com/history.html > > http://www.charlestownbusiness.com/attractions.html > > > > http://www.daddezio.com/society/hill/SH-MA-001.html > > > > http://www.museumsusa.org/data/museums/MA/92241.htm > > > > Here is something I did not know of the town which was first incorporated > in > > 1628: > > > > The First Thanksgiving Proclamation (June 20, 1676) On June 20, 1676, the > > governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, held a meeting to > determine > > how best to express thanks for the good fortune that had seen their > > community securely established. By unamimous vote they instructed Edward > > Rawson, the clerk, to proclaim June 29 as a day of thanksgiving, our > first. > > > > Note: I was chatting with a woman from NH last week who was originally > > from Canada. We discussed how Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving during > the > > month of October .. She was saying how much better it is to be > > celebrating "the end of the harvest" in October ... than the end of > > November .. where the holiday is now meant to signify "the unofficial > > beginning of the Christmas season." ...I agreed with her. > > > > ... I could not find a web page where a brief history of Charlestown > > included all the towns which annexed off it, but I know that Winchester, > MA, > > was once part of it. (FYI: There is also a Charlestown in RI and > NH.) > > > > Thank you for your time. > > > > Betty (near Lowell, MA, USA) > > > > > > "There are two lasting bequests we can give our children; > > one is roots, the other is wings." > > > > Hodding Carter, Jr. > > > > ______________________________ > > > > ==== GenMassachusetts Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe: http://www.rootsweb.com/~maillist/us/index.html >

Alice If you have New England ancestors and live in the Boston area, books such as the Charlestown would also probably be found at the New England Historical Genealogical Society on Newbury Street. (www.newenglandancestors.org) They have been around over 100 years and have a fantastic library as well as a superb circulating library and online database if you live outside their area. They also have an excellent Irish collection. Living in the Atlanta, Georgia area I have borrowed, for example, the Lewis Topographical Dictionary of Ireland and the Grove White treatises on the Castletownroche. Cork area and have found a wealth of information on the areas in Cork where my ancestors lived as well as a lot of leads for chasing some of the more elusive ones down. Membership is $60 a year but I have gotten more value for that than perhaps any other source. Best of luck in your search. Bob