New Book-“Island Boy” by Arnold van Beverhoudt Jr

 

Genealogists tend to live in the past.  A very distant past.  Few of them take the time, or have the interest, to document their own lives.  After all, our lives are recent.  There is no mystery.  Besides, our lives aren’t interesting unless we are movers and shakers, captains of industry or politicians. Somehow we feel that the life of anyone from the 18th century, no matter how dull,  is far more interesting than our own. 

Well, one day, the 2013 will be “long ago” and our descendants (avid genealogists, of course) will be building their family history.  Of course, they will have all of our wonderful research to build on, but it will suddenly end with us.  How will they find out about us?  Can you think of a better gift to leave them than a detailed account of our lives?  About when and where we lived? What we liked and disliked, our hopes and dreams?  About how we were affected by the events of our times?  What would you give to find such an account of one of your ancestors?

AAGG Conference in Philadelphia, April 27

I’m very excited to announce that I have been invited to speak about my Virgin Islands research at a family history conference in Philadelphia on April 27.  It sounds like it will be great fun!

This is from the AAGG website

Saturday, April 27th, 2013
8:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Researching African American Genealogy
Family History Center
3913 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A Conference presented by the African American Genealogy Group and Hosted by the Family History Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Noted genealogists and specialists including Char McCargo Bah, Shamele Jordon, Michael Hait, Fallon Nicole Green, David Lynch, Allen McClain, Reginald Washington (National Archives) and Troy Messick will present timely topics including Family History Center, Native American Ancestry, Caribbean Ancestry, Reunions, DNA Research and Medical Genealogy.

To register for this event, click here to purchase ticket(s) via EventBrite.

Space is limited and only ticket holders who purchase tickets will be admitted to the event. Please feel free check out local establishments for breakfast or lunch, buy an available boxed lunch here, or feel free to bring your own food. No food or drinks are permitted in the chapel and community rooms.

There is limited parking on the premises.

For a copy of the Conference flyer, click here ==>2013 AAGG Conference Poster.

Here is a link to the conference poster

Birthday Trip to Paradise

Are you obsessed with researching your family and visiting the places your ancestors lived?  Do you have difficulty convincing your spouse that an ancestral home town would be an exciting spot to spend that hard-earned vacation budget or precious annual leave? Here’s a great suggestion for how to get your spouse to not only support the idea, but to actually suggest it: 

Have ancestors from a beautiful tropical island.

This year, for my birthday, my wife suggested we take a trip to St. Croix so that I could visit all of the places I have found in my research and meet up with the people I’ve contacted.  Of course, if we spend some time at the beach, that would be fine too.  So we agreed and we’re going next month, from November 8th - 15th.
Although I’ve been there many times (this picture is from my 2006 visit), I never knew that my family had such a long history on the island.  I knew about my grandmother’s house on Strand St in Christiansted, but I never knew about the other family homes.  I definitely want to take a walking tour and get pictures of the locations I’ve found.  I want to visit 45 Fisher St, where the van Beverhoudts lived for 100 years.  I want to put some context into the records I‘ve collected. I also plan to visit Whim to look at their resources and we’ll hop over to St Thomas for a day. But, what else is there?  I don’t really know much about what’s available on-island that I can’t do from home.  This is where I need help.
I’m reaching out to any readers who are familiar with the resources on the islands.  What else should I do while I’m there?  What records/resources are available there that I can’t reasonably get from home?  How could I maximize the genealogical value of the trip?  What would you do if you only had a week (while leaving time for the beach)?  Who should I look up while I’m there?
Please leave me a comment or send me an email with suggestions.  With your help, I’m hoping this can be as productive as it will be fun.

New Historical Novel Set in St. Thomas–“Transfer Day” by Sophie Shiller

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from one of my regular readers telling me that she had just published her first novel, set in 1917 St. Thomas.  The book is called “Transfer Day”, by Sophie Shiller.  It is available as a digital download on Amazon Kindle for 99¢.  I believe it is soon to be published in paperback.  If you’ve got a spare buck, give it a read.  I bought a copy right away and found it quite enjoyable.

Here’s the description from Amazon.com: