Where to find databases to help locate your Ancestors and their Origins

During troubled times, the English Parliament sought to rid itself of its perceived enemies. That included Irish Tories and Royalist prisoners. Genealogy Tips: Scottish emigrants owned large, productive sugar plantations in Barbados. After the Revolutionary War, Tories who feared being hanged fled to Canada and Barbados. Genealogical Publishing Company published the following books by Joanne McRee Sanders. Barbados Wills and Administrations, Vol. 1 (1639-1680). Vol II (1681-1700. Vol. III (1701-1725).

Jacob Johnson was remembered as a hero when a headstone was placed over his grave on June 4, 1867. The eyewitness was Captain William Peace of Raleigh, North Carolina. Captain Peace said: “At a large fishing party at Hunter’s Mill Pond on Walnut Creek, near Raleigh (North Carolina), upwards of fifty years ago, the late Colonel Henderson proposed for amusement a little skim in the canoe on the pond. He, a young Scotch merchant named Callum, and I entered the canoe. Henderson was the helmsman and knew that neither Callum nor I could swim. He soon began to rock the canoe, dipping water at times, and, above the pier-head of the pond, he bore so heavily on the end where he was sitting that it tilted and turned over, throwing all three into the pond. “Callum caught hold of me. I begged him to let go, as I could not swim. He did so and seized Henderson, and both sank to the bottom in ten feet of water. “I struggled and kept myself above water until they came to my assistance from the shore and carried me out. A cry went up for Henderson and Callum.” “Jacob Johnson was standing on the pier. Without a moment’s hesitation, he leaped into the pond, dived in the direction of where he saw them sink, caught hold of Henderson, and brought him up. In an instant, a dozen swimmers were in the water from the shore to assist in bringing Henderson out, and Callum with him, who was clinging to the skirt of Henderson’s coat underneath, and at the moment invisible.” Source: The North Carolina Booklet, Vol. XI.

Genealogy Tips By Jeannette Holland Austin: Find the Old Neighborhood One of the first visits to make when searching for your ancestors is the cemetery where your people were buried. First, locate the old section. This is also the location of the graves of other relatives, such as aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. Notably, the tombstones also include distant ancestors that you have not yet discovered. You will see their names as witnesses on special documents, such as old wills and testaments, estate transactions, receipts, and land plats. Sometimes there are surprises! I once discovered inscriptions on several tombstones naming the husband, the wife, and their children! A good idea is to write down all names in the old section.