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A Family History of Witchcraft

“In the Nineteenth day of March last I went to Salem Village, and lodged at Nathaniel Ingersol’s near to the Minister Mr. P.’s House, and presently after I came into my Lodging, Capt. Walcut’s Daughter Mary came to Lieut. Ingersol’s and spake to me; but suddenly after, as she stood by the Door, was bitten, so that she cried out of her Wrist, and looking on it with a Candle, we saw apparently the marks of Teeth, both upper and lower set, on each side of her Wrist.”

 

 

Such is one account of a person afflicted by witchcraft in Salem Village in 1692.

Mary, daughter to Militia Commander Jonathan Walcott was one of the first of the accusers in the Salem Witch trials and one of the accusers of Bridget Bishop, the first woman to be executed during the trials.

All Hallows Eve is quickly approaching and those with ancestors involved in witch trials may be interested in learning about some fantastic research resources.

Number one on the list is, The Wonders of the Invisible World Being an Account of the Tryals of Several Witches Lately Executed in New-England, to which is added A Farther Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches written by Cotton Mather and Increase Mather. You can read about Mary, Bridget and many others in this account of the trials given by peoples involved. A digital copy of this book can be found free at Project Gutenberg.

Another interesting resource is The Associated Daughters of Early American Witches. This group focuses on sustaining the memory of those accused of witchcraft in Colonial America. This membership only society also actively searches out living descendents of the accused.

If your interests lie overseas, you will want to check out The Witch Hunts (1400-1800). Amidst the great information on the website, is an online mock-up of a witch-hunt set in Germany in 1628.  In this simulation, you play a fictional character however, the events are historically accurate (warning, this may be disturbing to some).  The outcome of your trial will depend on choices you make during the simulation.

One last resource is the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft 1563 – 1736. On this site, you will find a database containing the names of almost 4,000 people accused of witchcraft in Scotland.

Before you start trick or treating for your ancestors download Genealogy Beginner’s fantastic Family Tree Charts and Research Tracking Forms available with your 30-Day FREE TRIAL.

Research Americas Earliest Immigrants FREE

Family Tree fanatics wishing to research the earliest immigrants to the Americas are in for a real treat with this fantastic book published in 1874 and titled The Original Lists.  

 The book will be of great interest to any family history seekers whose family came to the Americas during 1600-1700.

 

 

Its contents are comprised of the original lists of:

• Persons of quality
• Emigrants
• Religious exiles
• Political rebels
• Serving men sold for a term of years
• Apprentices
• Children stolen
• Maidens pressed; and others who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700

It is exciting to note that within the pages of this fantastic resource is a list of  early immigrant passengers that came over on the Mayflower (1620), The Fortune (1621), The Anne and Little James(1623).

Along with this bounty of genealogical booty, the book lists the ages of individuals, the ships they embarked on and various other interesting details such as the following:

“The bill of mortality of the said rebells that dyed since they were reced on board and were thrown overboard out of the said ship are these uiz. December the Sixteenth Thomas Venner, Seventeenth W* Guppy, Eighteenth John Willis, Nineteenth Edward Venn,  the same day Philip Cox one and Twentieth Robert Vawter, Five and Twentieth Wm Greenway, January the first Peter Bird, Witnessed by the commander, March and officers’ of the said ship this Eigth day of January 1685.”

 John May

John Penn

John Maddison

Gabriel Whithorn

Malcum Fraser

One very interesting chapter is “Entries relating to America taken from the Indexes to the Patent Rolls, commencing 4 James I 1606 and ending 14 William III 1702.” The entries in this section are very intriguing and include entries such as:

“Grant of Incorporation, by the name of the treasurer and Company of Adventurers  and Planters in the city of London and Bristol, For the Colony and Plantation in Newfoundland.”

Taken from manuscripts held in the State Department; Her Majesty’s Public Record Office, England, this incredible resource is filled from cover to cover with fascinating histories of the earliest pioneers to the Americas.

Before you start flipping through the pages, remember to download your Family Tree Charts and Research Tracking forms available with your 30- Day free trial to Genealogy Beginner.

Read The Original Lists at Internet Archives

Newest FREE Family Tree Resources

If you have been waiting for new genealogy resources to become available online, your wait may be over. The month of July 2012 saw some great additions to genealogy resources by FamilySearch.

The new additions span the globe from the USA to Asia…some dating from the 1400s.

 

 

Keep reading for a complete list of the July’s new records:

Record For	Record Type	Date Added
United States
Alabama, Madison County	Chancery and Circuit Court Records, 1847-1950	10 Jul 2012
California, San Mateo	County Records, 1856-1991	17 Jul 2012
Indiana	Marriages, 1811-1959	7 Jul 2012
Maine	State Archive Collections, 1790-1966	10 Jul 2012
Missouri, Jackson	County Voter Registration Records, 1928-1956	17 Jul 2012
Nevada	County Birth and Death Records, 1871-1992	10 Jul 2012
New York, Orange County	Probate records	10 Jul 2012
Oregon	Douglas County Records, 1852-1952	10 Jul 2012
Texas	Deaths, 1977-1986	19 Jul 2012
United States	Census, 1940	6 Jul 2012
United States	Social Security Death Index	2 Jul 2012
United States	Civil War Widows and Other Dependents Pension Files	7 Jul 2012
United States	National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938	10 Jul 2012
Utah	County Marriages, 1887-1937	6 Jul 2012
Utah	Marriages 1887-1966	16 Jul 2012
Canada
Canada	Census, 1916	3 Jul 2012
Nova Scotia	Vital Records, 1763-1957	3 Jul 2012
Ontario	Marriages, 1869-1927	6 Jul 2012
Quebec	Notarial Records, 1800-1900	17 Jul 2012
Saskatchewan	Probate Estate Files 1887-1931	6 Jul 2012
Great Britain
Scotland	Census, 1881	2 Jul 2012
Scotland	Census, 1891	2 Jul 2012
Western Europe
Italy, L’Aquila, Camarda, Parrocchia di San Giovanni Battista	Catholic Church Records, 1606-1941	3 Jul 2012
Italy, Palermo, Diocesi di Monreale	Catholic Church Records, 1531-1998	3 Jul 2012
Italy, Trento, Diocesi di Trento, Catholic	Catholic Church Records, 1548-1937	21 Jul 2012
Italy, Vicenza, Casoni, Parocchia di San Rocco,	Catholic Church Records, 1597-1937	3 Jul 2012
Spain, Province of Sevilla	Municipal Records, 1903-1918	10 Jul 2012
Spain, Province of Tarragona	Records of Widows and Orphans of Spanish Officials, 1860-1960	10 Jul 2012
Eastern Europe
Czech Republic	Censuses, 1843-1921	10 Jul 2012
Czech Republic	Land Records, 1450-1889	10 Jul 2012
Poland	Roman Catholic Church Books,	16 Jul 2012
Slovakia	Church and Synagogue Books, 1592-1910	19 Jul 2012
South America
Chile, Santiago	Collection of Genealogies, 1500-1980	11 Jul 2012
Chile, Santiago	Cementerio General, 1821-2011	11 Jul 2012
Peru, Lima	Civil Registration, 1874-1996	11 Jul 2012
Peru, La Libertad	Civil Registration, 1903-1997	2 Jul 2012
Dominican Republic	Civil Registration, 1801-2010	11 Jul 2012
Ecuador	Catholic Church Records, 1565-1996	2 Jul 2012
Guatemala	Civil Registration, 1877-2008	3 Jul 2012
Portugal, Braga	Catholic Church Records 1530-1911	11 Jul 2012
Portugal, Castelo Branco	Catholic Church Records	20 Jul 2012
Portugal, Diocese of Lamego	Catholic Church Records, 1529-1916	11 Jul 2012
Portugal, Diocese of Vila Real	Catholic Church Records, 1575-1975	11 Jul 2012
Asia
Korea	Collection of Genealogies, 1500-2009	10 Jul 2012
South Africa
South Africa	Free State Dutch Reformed Church Records, 1848-1956	19 Jul 2012
South Africa	Orange Free State, Estate Files, 1951-2004	11 Jul 2012
South Africa, Western Cape	Various Records	10 Jul 2012

 

Before you tackle all of these new family history records and break your genealogy brick wall, remember to download your Research tracking forms and Family Tree Charts. Available with your 30-Day FREE TRIAL MEMBERSHIP to Genealogy Beginner

 

Family Tree Webinar News

Are you yearning to discover the details about the newest genealogy technology or become skilled at digging up old records?

June is jam packed with great webinars for family tree enthusiasts. Whether you are a beginning genealogist or seasoned professional, you are going to love this month’s line up of webinars across the net.

June Webinars:

Date/ Time	Subject	Website/ REGISTER:
June 2021:00 – 22:00	Genealogy Hacks: Tricks to Crack the Top Genealogy Web SitesWith Rick Crume	REGISTER: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/586250704
June 2014:00 – 15:30	Marriages and Anniversaries. Mining newspapers for engagements, marriages, anniversaries, and divorce records.With Thomas J. Kemp	Legacy Family Tree
June 2114:00 – 15:30	Mapping Your Ancestors’ FootstepsWith Kathryn Lake Hogan	https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/415630494
June 2214:00 – 15:30	Staying Safe with Social Media.With Thomas MacEntee	Legacy Family Tree
June 2521:00 – 22:30	WordPress Part 2: Dissecting the DashboardWith Taneya Koonce	REGISTER: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/547184313
June 2714:00 – 15:30	Digital Images for Genealogists and Technologists: scanning, digitizing, editing, and preserving your photos.With Geoff Rasmussen	Legacy Family Tree

 

Before you sign on remember to:

·         Check that you have all of the system requirements

·         Register (if needed)

·         Download any required software

·         Mute your Mic

·         Log in Early

After you have been inspired and motivated check back with Genealogy Beginner and make sure, you are stocked up on Family Tree Charts and Research Tracking forms.

Available with your Genealogy Beginner Starter Kit when you register for a 30 Day Free Trial.