Fantastic historical collections can be found on AmericanAncestors.org. This website has more than 400 million searchable names covering New England, New York, Canada, and more. It is the website of the oldest genealogical society in the United States, the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS). The partnership between NEHGS and FamilySearch allows LDS members to use almost all the collections on AmericanAncestors.org.
Many types of collections available on American Ancestors include:
- Birth, marriage, and death records for many towns, and counties.
- Town church records containing baptisms, marriages, and burials.
- Wills and other probate records.
- Newspapers for towns and counties.
- Land records, which in the 1600s-1700s often have records of births, marriages, and deaths.
- Court records, since people often brought others to court, even in the 1600s. Court records are a rare instance where your ancestor’s exact words might be recorded.
Some specific great collections on American Ancestors include:
- Boston Passenger lists, 1847-1852 - during the Irish potato famine.
- Cemetery transcriptions for more than 1,650 cemeteries in New England, New York, New Jersey, and Eastern Canada.
- Barbour Collection of Connecticut Vital Records to 1870 – births, marriages, and deaths for 136 Connecticut towns.
- Marriage and death notices from the New York Evening Post, 1801-1890.
- Magazines, including American Ancestors and The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, 1870-1923.
- Naturalization Records of Counties in Ohio, 1800-1977.
- Torrey’s New England Marriages Prior to 1700.
Many of these collections are only online at AmericanAncestors.
