This special commemorative issue of American Ancestors magazine focuses on the history, relevance, and impact of the Mayflower and its passengers. Drawing from our extensive staff expertise, as well as from partner organizations and outside authors, this issue is our second definitive guide to the 2020 anniversary. Tours, events, resources, and organizations from the United States, Wampanoag Nation, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands are represented.

Under the leadership of Robert Charles Anderson, the Great Migration Study Project aims to compile authoritative genealogical and biographical accounts of every person who settled in New England between 1620 and 1640. The Great Migration Newsletter has been a cornerstone publication within this project for the last twenty years and offers researchers essential articles on migration patterns, early records, life in seventeenth-century New England, and more. 

In this ground-breaking historical narrative, Robert Charles Anderson reveals the "why" of the Great Migration to New England that took place between 1620 and 1640. Anderson focuses not only on the religious motivation of the puritan leaders but also on the ordinary laymen who formed a complex genealogical and intellectual network, extending temporally back to the beginning of the English Reformation and geographically across all of England and even to parts of Wales.

Already a classic, The Great Migration Begins reflects immense scholarly resourcefulness and is a tremendous source for anyone researching early New England families. 

Each individual or family entry in this three-volume set includes (when known) the port or country of origin; when and on what ship they arrived in New England; the earliest known record of the individual or family; their first and subsequent residences; return trips to their country of origin; marriages, births, and deaths; and other important family relationships. 

Modeled on our other popular Genealogist’s Handbooks, this is the first essential guide to finding your ancestors from mainland Portugal, the Azores, and Madeira.

Advances in DNA research over the last decades have had huge implications for the field of genealogy. By testing your DNA and comparing the results to a database of other individuals, you can better understand your origins, confirm lines of descent, test hypotheses, and connect with distant relatives. When it comes to studying your own DNA, understanding your options and test results are crucial.

This updated edition provides genealogists with the latest tools for locating New York State probate records from the past 350 years. A user friendly design, inclusion of online sources, appendixes, and maps help researchers easily navigate this important group of records.

By Gordon L. Remington
Published: January 2011

In Genealogist’s Handbook for Irish Research, American Ancestors Irish genealogy experts Marie E. Daly and Judith Lucey offer tips for navigating the sometimes challenging course of finding Irish ancestors. Using real-life examples and offering many illustrations of records and techniques, they take a step-by-step approach to using American records to trace Irish ancestors in this country, with the goal of finding the place of origin. They then explain how to use Irish records to learn even more.

Analyze records and make sound genealogical conclusions using the same method applied by Robert Charles Anderson for the Great Migration Study Project!