In This Issue

There’s been a real buzz about genealogy in the national media lately, and increasing numbers of people are recognizing the allure of family history. The recent television programs Who Do You Think You Are? (NBC) and Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (PBS) heightened awareness, and demonstrated the accessibility of family history for Americans of all backgrounds. The shows also captured the excitement of making discoveries and finding ancestral connections in locales around the country and across the globe.  

Staff from NEHGS contributed to both programs, and we’re pleased to present Josh Taylor’s inside look at researching and filming an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? as the issue’s lead article. Gary Boyd Roberts, who participated in the segment featuring Brooke Shields, offers further thoughts about her forebears. Finally, Michael Leclerc shares his experience of staffing the first-ever NEHGS booth at the “Who Do You Think You Are? Live: The National History Show” in London this past February. 

As always, the issue also presents the sort of articles and columns that underpin the research presented on television. Descriptions of archival collections, case studies, and biographical profiles all reflect the more private face of genealogy — the solitary toil and deep satisfaction that result from solving long-standing mysteries. 

A British Isles theme examines different aspects of research in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Michael Leclerc uses three case studies to describe English leads he pursued in his study of Benjamin Franklin descendants; John L. Scherer recounts his quest to discover his great-great-grandfather’s Scottish origins; Carl Boyer, 3rd, offers research recommendations refined over many years of researching Welsh ancestors; and Judith Lucey describes the story behind the Louise (Redfern) Pells collection of Irish-related papers in the R. Stanton Avery Special Collections at NEHGS.

We also feature studies of two early New Englanders who lived vastly different lives at approximately the same time. The legacy of minister John Cotton Jr. was in words, in the detail and breadth of his voluminous correspondence. The legacy of Zipporah Potter Atkins, a free African American woman, can also be measured in words, but just a crucial handful: the deeds that recorded her purchase and sale of land and the initials she probably used to sign her name. Both legacies are significant for the insight they provide into a vanished era.

This issue’s manuscript column highlights President John Quincy Adams’s knowledge of his forebears. In 1830, Adams responded to a query from a minister in Albany with a five-page letter about the ancestors of his grandfather, John Adams. The letter was recently donated to NEHGS, and Thomas R. Wilcox, Jr. provides excerpts and historical context in his article on the document. Steeped in historical tradition, Adams covered nearly two hundred years of his Adams lineage — and specified the location of the key primary sources. The words of John Quincy Adams, written 180 years ago, remind us of the enduring and even timeless satisfaction found in genealogical pursuits.

Recognizing a forty-year member
Mr. Wilfrid A. Côté III was inadvertently omitted from the list of members celebrating “special NEHGS anniversaries” in the winter 2010 issue of American Ancestors. Mr. Côté has been a member of the Society since 1970, and we would like to recognize his long-standing commitment to NEHGS.

American Ancestors Staff
101 Newbury St.
Boston, MA 02116-3007 

or sent to magazine@nehgs.org. 

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