The library will be closed Sunday, March 31st, for Easter

Memorial Hall Library

Map Your Early American Ancestors

Great Migration Parish Mapping App

Tracking the lives of your early-American ancestors is easier and more meaningful than ever thanks to a new dynamic map from the New England Historic Genealogical Society Great Migration Study Project, a 30-year scholarly endeavor to document the lives of  every person who settled in New England from 1620 -1640. Beginning with the arrival of the Mayflower in 1620 and peaking in the 1630s when increased English persecution of Puritans drove thousands to emigrate, the Great Migration Study project results exist as a multi-volume print set and database available on site here at Memorial Hall Library. 

The Great Migration Parish Mapping App connects two distinct historical data sets; one documents the last known residence in England before migration and the initial places of settlement in New England.  The second data set contains map coordiantes for English county and parish boundaries in the 1630s. The app interface allows users to query the database by name or parish and view a list of other migrants from the same location along with arrival dates and a mapped result indicating nearby counties and parishes from which other left for New England during this period. At this time 1,800 names are searchable in the map; only Great Migration migrants whose place of origin is confirmed are included. Emigrants from Holland and Ireland can be searched using those country names on the county drop down search menu. 

The Great Migration Study Project is considered an essential reference resource for family historians with early New England ancestry. This new mapping app significantly expands the possibility of making genealogical connections and historical conclusions. We are excited to be able to offer these resources to our patrons!

If you have questions about using the Great Migration Study Project online or in print, contact Stephanie Aude, Local History Librarian at saude@mhl.org .