In the course of tracing our respective genealogies, few
of us are fortunate to find ancestors residing in one locale for many
generations. The more common scenario is to discover geographic movement
from generation to generation or even to find one generation moving several
times during their lifespan. Our searching may find us tracking ancestors
across the United States - or across the oceans.
There are innumerable sources we can access to aid us
during this pursuit. Census records, maps and atlases, historical
gazetteers, local histories, city and town directories, passenger lists,
migration studies and family histories, among other sources, are all
available at the Berkshire Athenaeum to aid researchers as they pursue their
ancestors from Europe through New England and New York State to the Mid-west
or West.
General sources on the subject of migration aid us in
identifying patterns and understanding some of the social forces influencing
our ancestors. At the Athenaeum these sources include such titles as:
The Atlantic Migration, 1607-1860, by Marcus Lee
Hansen.
Crossings: the Great Transatlantic Migrations,
1870-1914, by Walter T. K. Nugent.
Ellis Island and the Peopling of America: the Official Guide, by
Virginia Yans-McLaughlin.
Map Guide to American Migration Routes, 1735–1815, by William
Dollarhide.
Migration, Emigration, Immigration: Principally to the U.S. and in the
U.S., by Olga K. Miller.
A Migration Study of the Thirty-two States and Four Organized
Territories Comprising the U. S. in 1850, by Eleanor Myers.
New England’s Generation: the Great Migration and the Formation of
Society and Culture in the 17th Century, by Virginia DeJohn
Anderson.
Strangers at the Door; Ellis Island, Castle Garden, and the Great
Migration to America, by Ann Novotny.
The Yankee Exodus, an Account of Migration from New England, by
Stewart Hall Holbrook.
Topic-focused sources are useful in more specific situations and
include such wide-ranging titles as:
Black Migration and Poverty, Boston, 1865-1900, by Elizabeth
Hafkin Pleck.
Migration from Vermont, by Lewis D. Stilwell.
New Englanders on the Ohio Frontier: the Migration and Settlement of
Worthington, Ohio, by Virginia McCormick.
The Promised Land: the Great Black Migration and How It Changed America,
by Nicholas Lemann.
Puritan Migration to Connecticut: the Saga of the Seymour Family,
1129-1746, by Malcolm Seymour.
Village and Seaport: Migration and Society in Eighteenth-century
Massachusetts, by Douglas Lamar Jones.
The Western Abenakis of Vermont, 1600-1800: War, Migration and the
Survival of an Indian People, by Colin G. Calloway.
Westward the Immigrants: Italian Adventurers and Colonists in an
Expanding America, by Andrew Rolle.
This is a brief sampling of titles to be found by
searching the Athenaeum’s online catalog <http://catalog.cwmars.org/search~S62/>
using keywords such as ‘migration’, ‘immigration’ and ‘emigration’. Many
other volumes of interest will also be discovered. Librarians in the Local
History and Genealogy Department are always available to help researchers
locate and use these materials.
In addition to sources specific to migration, county
histories and gazetteers of areas throughout New York and New England
provide information concerning original settlers and their place of origin.
These sources, mostly written in the mid-to-late 19th century,
document the settling of towns and counties, the founding families and where
these families moved from to settle new areas.
At the Berkshire Athenaeum, the Shepard Collection - an
extensive card file collection which was the work of Williams College
mathematician and dedicated genealogist Elmer I. Shepard - tracks families
as they settled Berkshire County and then migrated to Vermont, New York,
Ohio, Missouri and other areas. Mr. Shepard noted on his cards where these
early settlers of Berkshire County came from and often where they went when
they left western Massachusetts.
Probate records are available to help in documenting the
whereabouts of heirs who have left Berkshire County for parts unknown. In
the late 19th century and the 20th century researchers
may find city and town directories useful in tracking footloose ancestors.
Often a notation such as “rem to Troy” appears next to the name in a
directory, meaning this person has ‘removed’ from the city in which they
were residing to another known place.
Numerous volumes of Ships Passenger Lists from the 1600s
to the 20th century provide avenues for discovering your
ancestor’s arrival in America, and the following works allow you to uncover
details concerning the ships on which they traveled:
Ocean Steamers: a History of Ocean-going Passenger
Steamships, 1820-1970, by John Adams.
Ships of Our Ancestors, by Michael J. Anuta.
They Came in Ships, by John Philip Colletta.
Trans-Atlantic Passenger Ships, Past and Present,
by Eugene W. Smith.
Many other sources relating to specific topics and
particular regions are on the shelves waiting to be discovered. The
possibilities are endless! Be sure to drop by the Athenaeum’s Local History
& Genealogy Department as you track your “Restless Ancestors”!
