Genealogists in Canada's Maritime provinces are highly likely to have a Boston-States link in their family tree. It is said that upwards of 90 per cent of all New Englanders have Canadian roots or family ties.
Because generation upon generation of our genealogies are intertwined, the eighth New England Regional Genealogical Conference slated for March 31-April 3 in Portland, Maine, is of high interest to us.
Our earliest links to New England are through Planter and Loyalist northbound migrations in the 1700s, as well as through the British military and common interests in seafaring and eastern seaboard trade.
In subsequent centuries the migration trend reversed.
Booming economies in New England in the latter 1800s and early 1900s, particularly in Massachusetts, lured thousands upon thousands away from Atlantic Canada.
Our young men and women of the day, particularly those from rural areas, eagerly abandoned the farms and small fishing villages of their childhood in droves, leaving behind the unattractive prospects of life-long poverty and drudgery in favour of the promise of easy-to-get, well-paying jobs in factories, in domestic service to the rich or would-be rich or in shipping or fishing.
Definitive settlement patterns emerged in the second-half of the 19th century as old friends and relatives from "back home" became new neighbours in working-class New England towns.
Conference co-chair Melinde Lutz Sanborn says: "NERGC brings exceptional quality at minimal price to new and established genealogists."
If you register early the entire conference fee is only $99 US.
Cyndi Howell of Cyndi's List fame on the Internet will be a featured speaker. As will Elizabeth Shown Mills, a renowned genealogy expert and best-selling author.
The latter has chosen two promising topics: The Identity Crisis: Right Name, Wrong Man? Wrong Name, Right Man? and Finding Females: Wives, Mothers, Daughters, Sisters and Paramours.
Among the unique conference events will be an Ancestors Road Show, an opportunity to ask an expert for advice on your most troublesome brick walls.
More than 40 additional speakers at the three-day conference will discuss a wide range of topics, including many of particular interest to Atlantic Canadians such as Tracking Seafaring Ancestors, Researching Your Maine Ancestors, Using Early Maps in Canadian Maritimes Research or They Came From Canada: Finding Your Ancestors in Canadian Border Crossing Records.
There will also be a special session for first-time conference attendees.
The New England Regional Genealogical Conference was formed 20 years ago to bring cutting-edge genealogical education within the reach of family tree researchers with New England connections.
Contact: NERGC Registration, 75 Franklin St., Douglas, Massachusetts 01516-2334; web site: www.nergc.org.
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