Arches

Arches
Arches at Glendalough 2009

Friday, April 8, 2011

Mill workers in New England? My socks are knocked off!

Wow! My socks were knocked off today! NERGC continues to give genealogists great talks.

This morning I learned about why we of French Canadian descent should know our family history...230 years of families marrying families. My husband said I had a family tree in a circle...he was right about that! Regardless this morning's speaker discussed health reasons that are predominant in French Canadian families. The concentration of so many families in a locale have gotten geneticists on both sides of the US/Canadian border hopping. Many diseases have been passed down from the original founders to all of us with French Canadian ancestry. I'm bringing my handout with me to the doctor's office.

The best talk by far was Mel Wolfgang's talk on the mill workers. Wow! The sources he spoke of are not ones that genealogists use. Sources such as labor reports, industry and specialty publications, and child labor reports are just a few of the sources that can yield genealogical information.

Another genealogist that also speaks on industry related reports is Tim Pinnick. I heard hiim speak in Indiana where he talked about using the industry reports to track down ancestors. Both Mel and Tim have found a niche in genealogy that we should all should stop and consider!

Forget my socks…the bunny slippers are coming out! I’ll be burning up the Internet scouring Cyndi’s List and special collections to track down my mill workers!

No comments:

Post a Comment