Monday, January 1, 2018

What Topics Interest You ?

I am curious to know what topics interest you?

I put up a survey on the right hand side of this page. Hopefully, I covered your topic of interest. If I didn't feel free to post a comment below. This will help me determine which topics to cover for this year. Each month I'll be posting a topic with references from primary sources. An associate suggested I publish a research journal, so in addition to the monthly posts you may see a journal entry too.

Most topics are on the table for discussion; but I am limited to what is in the written and archeological records.

Cheers to a New Year !

6 comments:

  1. I have several ancestors who lived in New Netherland (and Albany) from the earliest days of settlement so am specifically interested in how they lived (and survived) in that time period. This would include what they wore, ate, what their homes were like, religious requirements of the day, location of specific families on maps contemporary with the time (or any maps of the time and place) etc.. If you have resources that you can access that have portraits of specific individuals that would be fantastic.
    Great website. Thanks ever so much.
    Lou

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    1. I will be doing a few articles on food, they are currently in draft form. Dutch people ate well in general. This is in part because the WIC supplied them with a lot of food, pigs, goats, horses, and cows right from the 1624 arrival of families and onward. We'll be exploring the high volume of sugar they had access to, and other goods. Ships sent prior to 1624 were stocked with cheese, biscuits, and other goods including pigs. We'll be exploring their dress during the New Netherland era also. e.g. they wore ruffs, colored stockings, petticoat or doublet colors and materials, etc.

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  2. I too have ancestors from New Netherland, in my case mostly Schenectady, from the earliest days. I'd be interested in similar topics, including references to your sources so I can dig deeper. These "practical" topics, including info from wills and paintings of the time, are very helpful. Since these settlers were widely scattered, they ended up intermarrying; I'd like resources for learning more of their genealogy. It gets confusing because the last names are the same and so many families used patronyms but some left off the patronymic.

    Some of my ancestors were killed in the 1690 massacre in Schenectady by the French and their Indian allies. I know that a few of them were kidnapped, and some of them were returned when their relatives went after them. But that's all I know about the subject. I have a book on the same topic by the NEGHS about English settlers who were captured and taken to French Canada or absorbed into Indian tribes (or killed) by the French and their Indian allies, though I haven't read it yet. Is there a similar book about the Dutch settlers taken as captives?

    Great, fascinating blog! Lots of work goes into it, clearly.

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    1. There are inventories from Schenectady. I'll see about references.

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  3. I've been really enjoying the blog and the chance to look over your shoulder as you examine these rich historical documents. I selected "Other" as one of my subjects because I'm very interested in any reference to musical activities in 17th-18th cent. NY and New Netherland - song lyrics from personal journals, references to fiddle playing, jews harps, social dancing, singing from the African American community, Dutch language songs, etc.

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    1. As a quick reply. There are drums, trumpets, Jews harps, recorders, fiddle strings, fiddles in primary sources from New Netherland and New York. I'll see what I can do.

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