The Demanding Genealogist
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Demanding quality in genealogy since 1984.

Books

The Descendants of Gov. Thomas Welles of Connecticut and his Wife, Alice Tomes. Wethersfield, Connecticut: Welles Family Association, 2015. These books are for sale by the Welles Family Association in both hardcover and softcover editions on Lulu. You can download the one-page pdf flyer for hardcover books or softcover books.
  • Volume 1, 3rd edition, covers the family's ancestry and marriage in England, immigration to New England, the biography of Gov. Thomas Welles, and the first four generations in Connecticut.
  • Volume 2 (spanning two physical books) covers the fifth generation as heads of household.
  • Volume 3, Part C, covers the descendants of Sarah, the youngest child of the immigrants, in the sixth generation.
With Darcie Hind Posz. Chapter 17, "Lineage Applications," Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice, and Standards. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2018.

With Dr. Harold Wilkins: The Descendants of Thomas Lamkin of the Northern Neck of Virginia. Boston: Newbury Street Press, 2001.


The Descendants of Gov. Thomas Welles of Connecticut Through Daniel[5] and Hezekiah[5] Wells of Stratford, Connecticut. Lexington: self-pub., 1998.

Philo Hodge (1756-1842) of Roxbury, Connecticut. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1992.



Genealogy Articles

"David Dean Worden: Another Piece of the Puzzle," Wordens Past XL (May 2019): 3498-9.

"Robert Clark of 17th-Century Stratford, Connecticut, One Man or Two?" Connecticut Ancestry 59 (August 2016), 19-28.

"Some Notes on Roger Worden (1748-1843) of Greenwich and New York City, and his Wives Rachel Rundle and Mary Wood," Connecticut Ancestry 58 (May 2016): 132-133.

"The Children of Kezia Judd of Farmington, Connecticut, and Ebenezer Combs of Farmington and Simsbury, Connecticut, with Each Other and with their Spouses Zadock Orvis, Kezia Alderman, and Margaret Young," The Connecticut Nutmegger 47 (July 2014): 25-39.

"Identifying Wives and Parents for Two Men Named Daniel Baldwin Marrying in Newtown, CT, in the 1750s," Connecticut Ancestry 56 (Nov 2013): 49-52.

"Sorting Out Two Men Named Charles Goodrich Born in 1720 in Connecticut, and Their Wives," The American Genealogist 84 (October 2010): 300-307.

“Stephen[5] and Anne (Rossiter) Bidwell of Litchfield, Connecticut, and the Family of Josiah and Patience (Bidwell) Hollister of Freehold, New York,” The Connecticut Nutmegger  42 (March 2010): 290-300.

“The Birth Date of Elizabeth Ely Gridley: Ancestor of President Gerald R. Ford,” The American Genealogist 83 (Jul/Oct 2008 [published July 2009]: 100.

“Anne Francis/Frances and Hannah (Nott) Collins, Wives of Dr. Samuel[5] Steel(e) of Wethersfield, Newington, and Kensington, Connecticut,” The American Genealogist 81 (April 2006): 105-109.

“The Families of Mr. Richard Fairman and Richard Fairman, Jr., of Newtown, CT, with Notes on the Estate of Seth Austin of Suffield, CT,” Connecticut Ancestry 48 (February 2006): 122-128.

"Michael Cox[1] Timpany and his wife Mary Mead of Cos Cob, Greenwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut," Connecticut Ancestry 47 (December 2004): 206-210.

With co-author Dr. Harold Wilkins, "The Legatees of Hannah (Cox) (Lamkin) Demourvel/Demonville, 8 Sept. 1744, Westmoreland County, Virginia," The Virginia Genealogist 49 (April-June 1999): 83-101, and 49 (Sept.-Oct. 1999): 200-217.

"More Wives for Joseph[2] Darwin and Samuel[2] Darwin of Connecticut," The American Genealogist 73 (July 1998): 194-195.

"The Wives of Joseph[2] and Joseph[3] Darwin/Durrin/Derrin of Guilford, Wallingford, Litchfield, and Branford, Connecticut," The American Genealogist 71 (January 1996): 28-35.

"Frances[2] and Sarah (Craggen) Nurse of Reading, Massachusetts, with Notes on John[1] and Sarah (Dawes) Craggen of Woburn, Massachusetts, and Benoni Mackrest of Salisbury, Massachusetts," The American Genealogist 69 (April 1994): 81-85.



Connecticut Columns

Over the course of two years, I wrote eight columns for the New England Historic Genealogy Society’s web page www.americanancestors.org. These columns were developed for the members-only page; fortunately my contract with the society permits me to publish them on my webpage after six months. Current members of NEHGS will enjoy viewing more recent Connecticut columns by Joyce Pendery, CG, and others.

Connecticut Microfilms at NEHGS, Pt. 2 posted: March 1, 2002

Manuscript Family Records in Connecticut posted: February 1, 2002

Connecticut Microfilms at NEHGS, Pt. 1 posted: November 26, 2001

Books for the Connecticut Researcher, Pt. 2 posted: July 11, 2000

Congregational Church Records in Connecticut posted: May 22, 2000

Probate Records in Connecticut posted: April 17, 2000

Books for the Connecticut Researcher, Pt. 1 posted: March 27, 2000

Connecticut Vital Records Posted: February 12, 2000


Methodology Articles

"How the World War I Draft Supported Segregation," AAHGS News from the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Jan-Mar 2023, 13.

"Getting All Sherlock: Using Your Sources as Evidence," The Essex Genealogist  36 (May 2016): 50-65.

“The New Renewal Requirement: What Does It Mean for You?” OnBoard, newsletter of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, 16 (May 2010): 9-10,12.

“Locating Documents for Your Lineage Society Application,” NGS Newsmagazine 33 (April/May/June 2007): 46-51.

“Skillbuilding: Structural Elements of a Good Genealogy,” OnBoard 12 (January 2006): 1-2.

"Not Quite Right: Recognizing Errors in Original and Derivative Sources," The Essex Genealogist 23 (November 2003): 183-194, 200.

"Insight: Lineage Work, An Inside Look," OnBoard, 8 (January 2002): 6-8.

"Reporting on a Brick Wall: The Genealogical Travelogue," Association for Professional Genealogists Quarterly 17 (December 2002): 129-132.

 “Publishing in Print and on the Web: Copyright, Fair Use, and Plagiarism," Association for Professional Genealogists Quarterly 13 (December 1998): 114-117

Wellesprings Columns

Wellesprings is the twice-yearly newsletter of the Welles Family Association, an organization founded in 1936 for descendants of Gov. Thomas Welles of Connecticut. The newsletter was developed by Martha Angrave Partridge and 20 years later is still capably edited by her. I took on the responsibility of the Genealogist’s Column during the final illness of our beloved genealogist Donna Holt Siemiatkoski, whom we lost in August 2001.

General Topics

The Welles Family Genealogy: The Work Continues from the November 2001 issue.

The Connecticut River and its Change of Course over Time from the November 2005 issue.

The Civil War Sesquicentennial and Family History from the April 2011 issue.

Welles Descendants

Volume 1, 2nd Edition: What Has Changed? This column includes biographical information on Gov. Thomas and Alice (Tomes) Welles from the upcoming second edition, from the November 2011 issue.

The Wills of John Welles and his Father Governor Thomas Welles from the April 2000 issue.

The Estate Distributions of the Worshipful Mr. Thomas Welles and Captain Samuel Welles from the November 2000 issue.

The Welles Family and the Establishment of Newington from the April 2001 issue.

Christ Episcopal Church, Stratford, the First Anglican Church in Connecticut from the April 2008 issue.

Daniel Hanmer Wells, Father of the Utah Branch of our Family from the April 2002 issue.

Henry Wells, Founder of Wells Fargo and American Express from the November 2003 and April 2004 issue.

Amy (Ely) Gridley, the Oldest Living Woman in Chicago from the November 2004 issue.

Wilford Woodruff, a Welles Descendant, Fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints and Founder of the Genealogical Society of Utah from the April 2006 issue.

The Rev. Lyman Beecher and his Daughters Catherine Beecher and Harriet (Beecher) Stowe from the November 2006 issue.

John Talcott Wells, Inventor of the Wells Truss from the June 2020 issue.


Highly Unsavory Events

Welles Descendant First Victim of Maniacal Ax Murderer of Woodbridge, New Year’s Day 1856 from the April 2005 issue.

Financial Difficulties and Murder: Many Cautionary Tales Erupt from the Josiah Burnham Trial from the November 2008 issue

Interesting Research Stories

Two Men Named Captain Hezekiah Welles from the November 1999 issue.

Abigail Thompson Did Not Kill her Daughter in Jail! from the November 2002 issue.

Did Dr. Samuel Steele of Wethersfield, Newington, and Kensington Have One Wife or Two? from the November 2007 issue.

Solomon Welles Papers: From Minnesota Back to Connecticut from the April 2009 issue.

Correcting Wikipedia Errors about Gov. Thomas Welles from the November 2010 issue.



Book Reviews

In Process: Review of A Nation of Descendants to be published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly.

Review of There Were Giants in the Earth in Those Days  . . . Genesis 6:4    Fourteen Generations of the William Cole Family in America published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly 107 (June 2019): 147-8.

Review of Some Descendants of Roger Billings of Dorchester, Massachusetts, published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly 101 (March 2013): 72.

Review of Stamford Town Records, Volume 1, 1642-1723, published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly 100 (June 2012): 158-159.

Review of Ancestors and Relatives: Genealogy, Identity, & Community, published in the Assocation of Professional Genealogists Quarterly 34 (April 2012): 284.

Review of Colony of Connecticut: Minutes of the Court of Assistants, 1669-1711, published in National Genealogical Society Quarterly 97 (December 2009): 313-314.

Review of The Ricker Compilation of Vital Records of Early Colonial Connecticut, published in the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly 33 (April 2007): 60-61.

Review of Royal Families: Americans of Royal and Noble Ancestry, Volume 2, Reverand Frances Marbury and Five Generations of his Descendants through Anne (Marbury) Hutchinson and Katherine (Marbury) Scott, published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly  92 (Sept. 2003): 231-232.

Review of Family Associations: Organization and Management, published in the Assocation of Professional Genealogists Quarterly 17 (December 2002): 152-153.

Review of Military Records: Connecticut Officers and Men, 1700s-1800’s (CD #120), published in Genealogical Computing, Spring 2002, 44.

Review of Family Tree Maker’s Family Tree Archives (CD #526), published in Genealogical Computing, Spring 2002, 43-44.

Review of Some Descendants of Richard Austin of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1638, published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly 88 (March 2000): 62-64.

Review of The Seventeenth Century Town Records of the Town of Scituate, Massachusetts, Volume One, published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register 153 (April 1999): 248-250.

Review of A Dutch-English Odyssey: Stories of Brewer and Estey Families in North America, published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register 153 (April 1999): 242-244.

Review of Recollections of the Early Republic: Selected Autobiograhies, published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register 152 (January 1998): 119-120.

Review of A Colonial Woman’s Bookshelf, published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register 151 (January 1997): 110-111.

Review of Early Families of Newfield, Maine, published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register 150 (October 1996): 497-498.

Review of Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis, published in The American Genealogist 71 (April 1996): 122-123.

Review of Puritans in the Wilderness: a Biography of the Reverand James Fitch, published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register 149 (July 1995): 313-314.

Review of Erastus Hodges: 1781-1847, Connecticut Manufacturer, Merchant & Entrepreneur, published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register 149 (January 1995): 79.

Photograph taken by me of my bookshelf stuffed with books on doing genealogy better, my favorite topic.
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