Research

Seton Shields Genealogy Grant #203: Vine Lake Preservation Trust

By |2018-03-22T11:18:12-04:00March 22nd, 2018|Family History, Grants, Research|

I have awarded my latest grant (the first of multiple recipients this quarter) to the Vine Lake Preservation Trust of Medfield, MA to assist with enhancements to their website search feature and app.

Seton Shields Genealogy Grant #202

By |2018-01-17T10:20:59-05:00January 17th, 2018|Family History, Grants, Research|

I have awarded my latest grant to the Sturgis Library of Barnstable, MA to assist with the purchase of materials necessary to make the 15 new collections of family papers and historical materials donated since 2016 ready for use by the public. Click through to the post for more details and to see how you can join me in supporting the library, which has become a premiere resource for the study of Cape Cod history, genealogy, and the maritime trades.

The Louisiana Roots of Leah Chase, Queen of Creole Cuisine

By |2017-09-26T11:52:48-04:00September 26th, 2017|Celebrities, Family History, Research|

Among legendary chef, restaurateur, activist, and patron of the arts Leah Chase's more intriguing ancestors are one of the first African American members of the Louisiana state legislature, a fellow who purchased the freedom of several relatives, a gentleman who served as the military legal counselor to the Spanish governor, and a great-great-grandmother whose cause attracted the attention of the then governor of Florida and future American President, Andrew Jackson. To share the entirety of her family saga would require a book, but here are some highlights.

Gold Fever: The Shiny, Shady Past of Katy Perry’s Irish Great-Great-Grandmother

By |2017-08-22T12:03:34-04:00August 22nd, 2017|Celebrities, Family History, Human Interest, Immigration, Research|

Katy Perry describes herself as a “singer-songwriter masquerading as a pop star.” As one of the best-selling artists of all time with sold-out world tours, she’s nailing that charade, but the story of Hannah Mulhare, one of Katy's Irish immigrant ancestors, makes it clear that Katy is not the first in the family to pull off such a convincing deception.

Seton Shields Genealogy Grant #199

By |2017-04-11T12:05:48-04:00April 11th, 2017|Grants, History, Human Interest, Research|

This quarter, I awarded a grant to the Westside Cemetery Preservation Association to support their work of restoring and cleaning up the gravesites of enslaved African Americans and their descendants, found in cemeteries that have become overgrown and are largely hidden in secluded woods near sugar cane fields in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Click through to the post for more details and to see how you can join me in supporting the work the WCPA is doing.

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