Recently, I found myself with enough time to get into a small genealogy project I’ve wanted to do for a while. My inspiration was Robert Charles Anderson’s (FASG) Great Migration Study hosted at the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

I have many early colonial New England lines and was aware of some of them being treated in the Great Migration Study. However, I knew there were others in my tree who arrived between 1620-1635, the cut off year for Anderson’s project.

It took me several hours, but was well worth the time I spent. Using my RootsMagic 7 person index, I scrolled down the list, stopping at surnames of people who might have arrived by 1635 and who I would then find in the volumes of the Great Migration Study project.

The personal sketches of the early immigrants are in ABC order in multiple volumes and can be accessed on the AmericanAncestors website. You must be a member of NEHGS in order to view the information.

I get very excited every time I can confirm an ancestor in the project because of the impeccable research that has gone into creating the sketches.

Here is a list of my ancestors who were in Massachusetts by 1635. If the person appears on a ship’s passenger list, I’ve included the name and if I’ve written about the family in the past, I’ve inserted a link:

1620 – (Mayflower) George Soule
1623 – (Anne) Mary Becket (who married George Soule)
1624 – Thomas Gardner of Cape Ann
1629 – (Talbot) John Black & Wife
1630 – (Winthrop Fleet) Abraham Browne
1630 – (Winthrop Fleet) William & Judith (Tue) Knapp
1630 – (Winthrop Fleet) George Knower
1632 – (Lyon) John Benjamin & Abigail Eddy
1633 – Robert Lockwood
1634 – George Bunker
1634 – Nathaniel Foote
1634 – Richard Scott
1634 – Thomas Lynde
1634 – John Webster
1634 – (Mary and John) Henry Lunt
1634 – (Francis) Thomas Boyden
1634 – (Francis) Richard Holden
1634 – (Elizabeth) Richard & Ursula Kimball
1634 – (Elizabeth) Samuel & Elizabeth Smith
1634 – (Elizabeth) Richard & Rose Woodward
1635 – Stephen Fosdick
1635 – Thomas Coleman
1635 – James Bate
1635 – William Warner
1635 – (Hercules) William & Jane Hatch
1635 – (James) William & Elizabeth Ballard
1635 – (Elizabeth) Thomas Wells
1635 – (Elizabeth) Patience Foster
1635 – (Elizabeth) Rachel Bigg
1635 – (Planter) George & Jane Giddings
1635 – (Planter) Joan Antrobus
1635 – (Planter) Francis Peabody
1635 – (Planter) Richard & Isabel Tuttle
1635 – (Planter) Marie Lawrence
1635 – (Planter) William Fellows

I thought I would have many more links to past posts added here. I guess I now have a new “to-do” list. 🙂