Be Sure to Visit my new 1900 Galveston Storm Website at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootseb.com/~barnette
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
GOVERNOR PARDONS SALEM WITCHES
On
October 31, Halloween Day, Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift signed into law a bill officially exonerating Susannah Martin, Bridget Bishop, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott and Wilmot Redd. They were the last of over 200 people accused
of witchcraft in 1692 and the last of 20 executed as witches to be exonerated and pardoned. To honor those accused and executed in 1692 a Salem Witch Trials Memorial was dedicated three hundred years later in
August 1992 at the oldest cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts, the Old Burying Point. Among others, the gravestone of witch trials judge John Hawthorne, an ancestor of author Nathaniel Hawthorne, is located in the cemetery. The location of the graves of those executed as witches is unknown. Since the accused were convicted of crimes against God they were not permitted burial in the consecrated ground of the cemetery. If there was
ever a marker on their graves the remnants of the markers have long since disappeared and no record or tradition exists as to their location. Recent DNA and forensic testing theorizes a yeast spore sometimes
found on wheat may have been responsible for the hallucinogenic delusions of the young girls who accused the people as witches. It is thought that under the right conditions the yeast, when baked in bread, may have caused LSD-like
drug induced hallucinogenic reactions and hysteria. The National Geographic Society has created an exciting interactive website to experience the Salem Witch Trials. The website is stimulating for adults and
teachers should find it particularly educational for students. Visit it at
SUPPLEMENTAL CENSUS SCHEDULES
Mic Barnette will be the featured speaker at the Humble Area Genealogical Society meeting Monday November 12. He will explain How to Use the Supplemental Census Schedules from 1850
to 1880. The society meets at 7 P.M. in the teaching theatre of Kingwood College in Kingwood. Visitors are welcome. For more information, contact
CHURCH RECORDS AND DENOMINATIONAL NEWSPAPERS
Paula Perkins Parke will discuss religious denominations, their newspapers, their records of genealogical value and how to locate and access the information buried within them. Her course Soul Searching: Church Records and Denominational Newspaper Research will be taught from 5:30 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. Tuesday November 13 at Grace Presbyterian Church, 10221 Ella Lee near Sam Houston Tollway in West Houston. For more information and to register contact Becky Morris at 713-267-5091.
FAMILY TREEMAKER SOFTWARE CLASS
Paula Perkins Parke will teach an Understanding Family Tree Maker Software class at Leisure Learning's 2990 Richmond campus. This class will be held from 6:30 P.M. to 9:30 P.M. Tuesday November 27. For more information and to register contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414.
LEARN ABOUT WILLS AND PROBATE RECORDS
Learn the intricacies of using probate records to solve seemingly insolvable genealogical cases by attending Mic Barnette's class, Understanding Wills, Probates and Guardianship Records for Historians and Genealogists.
The class will be held at Leisure Learning's 2990 Richmond Avenue campus from 7-9 P.M. on Tuesday November 27. To learn more about this course and to register, contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414.
NEWS FROM THE BOOKSHELF
Between 1630 and 1642, 30,000 people
left England for Massachusetts. By the time of the American Revolution, nearly everyone still in Massachusetts could trace their ancestry back to one or more of those original 30,000 settlers. The Genealogical
Publishing Company and Broderbund have combined forces by digitizing onto CD-ROMs a number of New England books previously published by GPC. Taken from 13 digitized books CD #502 Genealogical Records:
Massachusetts Town, Probate and Vital Records 1600's-1900's lists more than 160,000 individuals in Massachusetts probate records, town histories and vital records. Similarly, CD #515 Local and Family Histories:
Connecticut, 1600's-1800's discusses over 450,000 individuals named in nine books previously published by GPC. The books primarily cover early families of the towns of Milford, Hartford, Woodbury, Fairfield, Guilford, Wethersfield,
Windsor and other towns across the colony of Connecticut. Many of the families in Connecticut had earlier connections to Massachusetts. Both CD-ROMs are available from GPC at 1001 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore
MD 21202. CD #502 is priced at $29.99 and CD#515, a two CD-ROM set, is priced at 39.99. Postage of $3.50 for the first item and $1.25 for each additional item should be added to the price.
