Wednesday, June 30, 2010

New Book on New Haven colonial history

Since I have so many ancestors from the New Haven Colony, I recently purchased a new book on the colonial history of New Haven and West Haven: Visible Saints by Peter J. Malia:






I'll post a review later.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Mormon or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) Genealogy

As stated in an earlier post, I am related to Emma Hale, the wife of Joseph Smith,one of the founders of the LDS church.

I have found two books very useful in doing LDS research, Radical Origins by Val D. Rust, and A Guide to Mormon Family History Resources by Kip Sperry:

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Genealogical Society of New Jersey meeting, 5 June 2010

I attended the Genealogical Society of New Jersey meeting at Monmouth University on 5 June 3010. I had intended to attend the Bergen County Genealogical Society meeting but the GSNJ meeting was exactly what I needed for several genealogical projects I am working on.

The first two lectures I attended were on Dutch research. The first was an intro to the resources of the Dutch Reformed Church in America housed in New Brunswick. I will be contacting them about some marriages that were supposed to have been performed in the 1600s in New Amsterdam/New York. The lecturer was Russell Gasero, Archivist for the Reformed Church in American

The second was about identifying Dutch families in New York and New Jersey. I am trying to determine where Capt Jenkin Morgan lived in New Jersey and where his son lived and was married. I am also interested in ship captain's certificates issued by the Dutch in both the Netherlands and in America. I am trying to determine if my ancestor, Renelder Walker's mother might have been Dutch. Henry
Hoff was the lecturer. He is a Certified Genealogist, a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists and Editor of The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.

The third lecture was on United Methodist Church Records. I learned that Methodist Circuit Riders were fully ordained Ministers. Many took correspondence courses before they were ordained. My ancestor, Rev James Sullivan, was ordained by Bishop Asbury at Nashville, Tennessee in 1793. I am told there should be a memoire or obituary available for him. I'll also look for some Perkins and Tunnell relatives. Materials from the Mission work of the Church are in the Archives and one Perkins cousin was a missionary to China in the 1800s. The lecturer was Dale Patterson, from the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church, Drew University, Madison, NJ

The last lecture was on Quaker records at Haverford. This was an interesting session with a nice guide to the archives given out by the lecturer. I'll be checking for a biography of my ancestress, Mother Mary Bennefield Phipps, a noted Quaker Preacher who died in the early 1700s. It was printed in an issue of the Quaker periodical, The Friend. This program was presented by Ann Wetherill Upton, Quaker Bibliographer in Special Collections, Haverford College, Haverford, PA.

I thoroughly enjoyed the lectures and thank the GSNJ for providing them.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

My Military Ancestors and Relatives

Vietnam Era:
I served in the Army Security Agency during the Vietnam War. I was stationed in Ft Devens, Massachusetts; Ft. George G. Meade, Maryland; Shemya Air Force Station on Shemya Island, Alaska; and TUSLOG Det-4 in Sinop, Turkey.

Korean War and World War II:
My father, Denval "Dennie" or "Dick" Perkins, served in the US Navy and saw combat in WWII and the Korean War. He was on several ships that were sunk, one being the USS Preston DD-379 which was sunk during the Second Battle of Guadalcanal or Third Battle of Savo Island. He served 17 years in the Navy. His younger brother, Ralph Carl Perkins, served 25 years in the Navy and retired as a Master Chief Petty Officer. He served in the Korean War and later was a Recruiter.

Two of my maternal Uncles served in WWII in the US Army, Arnold Dow Ball, and Homer Darus Ball. Both saw combat in France and Italy.

World War I:
My paternal grandmother's first husband, James Francis "Frank" Inman served in the US Army during WWI. I do not know if he saw combat. I haven't found any others with service during WWI.

Spanish American War:
None known.

Indian Wars:
None known.

US Civil War:
Several of my ancestors and their siblings fought for the Union during the US Civil War: my paternal great grandfather, Jesse Perkins; my paternal great great grandfather, Nathaniel F. Walker; my maternal great great grandfathers, James Ball; Jesse D. Swain; John Kidd.

Mexican-American War:
My maternal second great aunt's fiance, Reuben Meadors, was killed in the Mexican- American War.

War of 1812:
None known.


American Revolution - 
Paternal lines:

My fourth great grandfather, Timothy Perkins, and his brother, Joseph Perkins, who were from New Haven, Connecticut and lived in Ashe and Wilkes Co., North Carolina, were Loyalists in the American Revolution and they served in several South Carolina Militia companies, one of which was commanded by a Captain Benjamin Perkins. It is not known if he was a relative. Timothy was killed during the War. During the War the Perkins brothers supposedly captured a notorious American officer, Col Benjamin Cleveland, and locked him in an out-building while they went to get other Loyalists. It is said that their wives let him escape.

Fourth great grandfathers Henry Porch served from Virginia; and William Bishop; Samuel Wiatt served from North Carolina; James Sullivan, who later became a Methodist Circuit rider, served from Virginia as did his brothers, John Sullivan, and Charles Craven Sullivan; as did fifth great grandfathers John Bennett of North Carolina; James Whitecotton of Virginia; Joshua Moses served from North Carolina, was captured for nine months and escaped from a prison ship in Charleston Harbor, his brothers John Moses and Samuel Moses also served.

Maternal Lines:

The brother of my fifth great grandfather, Lt. James Ball of Virginia; fifth great grandparents Lt. Joshua Phipps of Virginia at Battle of Guilford Courthouse; Jeremiah Burnett of Virginia; James Harvey May of Virginia; Thomas Stephens of Virginia.