Transcription Tuesday – Colonial Records
One of The National Institute for Genealogical Studies courses that requires a good foundation of Transcription Skills, is our Research: US Colonial New England Ancestors course. The next course is scheduled to begin on Monday, January 3rd, 2022. To check for future start dates, look under the Register tab on the course web page, or check the Course Calendar here. Research: U.S. Colonial New England Ancestors Course Description: This seven-module course will give the student a basic foundation to research using colonial records in New England. It focuses primarily on the most common records used for research. The student will learn about strategies for finding colonial New England records while incorporating colonial town records, colonial census records, colonial land records and maps, the colonial wars, religious records, and court documents. The student who undertakes this course should have familiarity with United States vital, religious, census, land and military records, as well as have a good knowledge of genealogical methodologies. Course Content This course introduces you to Colonial New England research through websites and state resources. It will provide strategies for finding Colonial New England records during the time period leading up to the American Revolution. As you discover these valuable and genealogically-rich documents, you will be faced with the major challenge of deciphering Colonial Handwriting. It is recommended to transcribe these documents to glean all the information they contain and every clue they provide. Transcriptions of the original documents will make future references a lot easier. Making Abstracts will be useful for a summary of what each document contains. To facilitate developing your Transcription Skills, we have two books to recommend: Reading Early American Handwriting by Kip Sperry Understanding Colonial Handwriting by Harriet Stryker-Rodda Both of these books are available to order through our online Genealogy Store on our website. Once you are ready to explore Colonial records, you should familiarize yourself with the area of your research. Build a timeline and record a brief history of the early settlement of the town. By building a location guide for each town, you will be able to gather information about which resources are available, including early genealogies that were created. Colonial Town Records are fascinating and include: Different Types of Colonial Town Records, Freemen and Inhabitancy, Town Officers, Town Business, Tax Records, Licenses, Ear Marks, Manumissions, School Records, and Poor Records; as well as Vital Records and Cemetery Records. There were Colonial Censuses taken. Some surviving records include: Published Census, Reconstructed Census Lists, and Census…
