{"id":101537,"date":"2025-01-10T11:28:14","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T16:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=101537"},"modified":"2025-01-10T11:28:36","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T16:28:36","slug":"new-years-preview-upcoming-treats-for-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/new-years-preview-upcoming-treats-for-2025.html","title":{"rendered":"New Year\u2019s Preview: Upcoming Treats for 2025!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry previews some of the subjects and story ideas she will write about in 2025. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com<\/a>, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hello Peeps! Happy New Year! Today I am previewing my feature stories, historical accounts, and genealogical gleanings that are coming in 2025.<\/p>\n

Mayflower and Beyond<\/strong><\/p>\n

The \u201cMayflower Descendants: Who\u2019s Who\u201d series will continue. So, stay tuned!<\/p>\n

Here is one scion I will have in my lineup: Guy Dana Curtis, born in England, who now resides in Massachusetts and whose ancestral lines include Mayflower<\/em> passengers William Brewster and John Howland.<\/p>\n

Last year I worked with Guy\u2019s wife Kathy Williams Curtis<\/a> on her application for membership into the Maine Mayflower Society under passenger James Chilton, and recently I assisted Guy with his application.<\/p>\n

Here is a photo of the couple, who participated in the yearly reenactment which depicts the Colonial and British armies battling for control of the Red Horse Tavern in Sudbury, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Guy Dana Curtis and his wife Kathy Williams Curtis at Longfellow\u2019s Wayside Inn (formerly known as the Red Horse Tavern), Sudbury, Massachusetts. Credit: Guy and Kathy Curtis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Paternity Dramas and Naughty Sketches<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will be featuring a set of new paternity dramas<\/a> from 17th and 18th century New England court records, including Plymouth Colony.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration:
Illustration: mother and baby. Credit: Melissa Davenport Berry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And more \u201cnaughty crimes\u201d stories similar to \u201cThe Mayflower Passengers\u2019 Dark Side: Scandal in Plymouth Colony<\/a>\u201d and \u201cMayflower\u2019s Billington Brothers: America\u2019s 1st Juvenile Delinquents<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

To give a quick preview, here are two newsclips that inspired me for some upcoming stories. These two articles reveal the comings and goings of our Pilgrim ancestors back in the day.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Grand Forks Daily Herald (Grand Forks, North Dakota), 4 August 1906, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"An<\/a>
Boston Journal (Boston, Massachusetts), 2 August 1906, page 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In these two articles, Mayflower descendant Hon. John Davis Long, former Governor of Massachusetts and Secretary of the Navy, stirs up a hornet\u2019s nest with fellow Pilgrim scions preparing to celebrate the tercentenary of the First Church of Plymouth when he spills some of their ancestors\u2019 secrets.<\/p>\n

According to Hon. Long, within the first decade of its founding social vices infested the community of Plymouth Colony: drunkenness, bickering, slander, and licentiousness were just a few.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: John Davis Long, 1897. Credit: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The proof is in the pudding \u2013 and the Records of the Colony of New Plymouth in New England: Printed by Order of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts<\/em>. I have been deep into the research dish and it\u2019s very delicious!<\/p>\n

Family Scrapbooks and Photo Albums Including Family Reunions<\/strong><\/p>\n

I will continue to share scrapbooks and photo albums across the country and include a few family reunions \u2013 more scrapbook pages like this one, featuring a group of Army vets in Massachusetts, June of 1943. These fellows are identified so check back to get the skinny!<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Army vets, Massachusetts, 1943. Credit: Nantucket Historical Association.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And to give another teaser, here is a photograph of the Hale family reunion from 1890 in Newbury, Massachusetts. The subjects in the photo are the Sons and Daughters of Newbury Settlers, courtesy of a Hale family descendant, Susan York Gagnon, who helped bring alive Stephen Pettingell Hale, the Old Sage of Newbury<\/a> in one of my blog articles.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: Hale family reunion in Newbury, Massachusetts, 1890. Credit: Susan York Gagnon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Historic Properties and Relics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of the historic sites and properties I will cover in stories this coming year are: the John Southwick House in Peabody, Massachusetts, currently owned by my cousin; the real man and mansion that inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald\u2019s novel The Great Gatsby<\/em>; and the homesite of Governor William Bradford and his descendants, restored by Boston artist Edward Wilbur Dean Hamilton (1864-1943).<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: the John Southwick House, 151 Lowell Street, Peabody, Massachusetts. Credit: Magicpiano; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ll also feature more relics of the Salem witchcraft era, including a private collection of early Massachusetts papers dating back to the 17th century, and a look into the collection of early American furniture and portraits once owned by Kenneth Worcester Dow and his wife Mary Mohan Dow<\/a>, now housed at the Smithsonian Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, Florida.<\/p>\n

Almshouses, Asylums, and Reformatories<\/strong><\/p>\n

A treasure trove of intel can be found in the early almshouse, asylum and reformatory records.<\/p>\n

My stories will include the infamous Danvers State Hospital (aka Danvers State Insane Asylum), with historical accounts furnished via my interview with historian Richard Trask<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:
Photo: offices and west wing of Danvers State Hospital. Credit: Danvers Archival Center, Peabody Institute Library, Danvers, Massachusetts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other Topics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Other subjects I will write about include: the Orphan Train Movement in the United States, 1854-1929; Irish immigration; Quakers in early 17th century America; Native American history; a new series in the making, \u201cYou Can\u2019t Make This Stuff Up\u201d; and much more!<\/p>\n

If you have other story ideas you\u2019d like to suggest, please leave a note in the comments section.<\/p>\n

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!<\/p>\n

Explore over 330 years of newspapers and historical records in GenealogyBank. Discover your family story! Start a 7-Day Free Trial<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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