It pays to read everything, no matter how...

Obscure.

More than just about anything, I enjoy searching through Google Books to see if I can find anything relevant to any of my ancestors. Names and dates are fine for pinpointing people in place and time, but I want to know more about these folks. These three books have given me a sense of what it was like back in the days that my ancestors lived, and what it may have looked like (I have a good imagination - that helps too).


Abstracts from the New London Gazette by Richard B. Marrin, published by Heritage Books Inc. 2007.

Samuel Mack has mail waiting at the post office ca. 1765. But more than that, it is a wonderful glimpse into life during the period that my ancestors were living in East Haddam, CT. An enjoyable read.

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Collections of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, New Haven, Connecticut Published by the Society in 1907.

These entries are family related:

37 SAMPLES of the first friction matches made in this county. They were first made by Thomas Sanford in that part of town of Bethany now called Beacon Falls (Conn.). Soon after, Mr. Sanford moved to Woodbridge, where he manufactured them until 1860, the time of his decease. After manufacturing them for several years a Boston firm attempted to procure a patent on them, and served an injunction preventing him from making them; he and his brother (who assisted him in their production) were summoned to New York at the hearing; it was proved that Thomas Sanford made the first friction match, but neglecting to obtain a patent, he and others were debarred from procuring one under the statue of limitation. Presented by Mrs. Laura A. (Sanford) Smith, daughter of Thomas Sanford.

38 OLD-FASHIONED TINDER-BOX. Presented by Mr. W. S. Sanford, September 12, 1882

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Statistical Account of Middlesex County of Connecticut, David Dudley Field, 1819 Published by the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences. Printed in Middletown CT by Clark &Lyman, April 1819. This copy was reprinted for J.D. Kelsey of Haddam, CT. It is currently available as a pdf download to read through www.godfrey.org.

Everything mineral, vegetable, geographical, medical and genealogical from the first settlers until 1819. A good read if your family lived in Middlesex County in Connecticut. 


I'm off to the Connecticut Society of Genealogists, Inc. 2012 Family History Seminar, Enhancing Genealogical Paths this weekend. I will be listening attentively, absorbing information like a sponge and enjoying the company of my nearest and dearest cousin.