While I obtained the credential of Certified Genealogist (SM) in July 2010, my interest in genealogy
goes back much further. But my path to this designation has been atypical. After graduating
from MIT in 1983, I spent several years training to become an actuary in the local insurance
industry. That career required me to take a lengthy series of detailed examinations, somewhat
similar in spirit to a bar examination, though the complete series can take five to ten years to
pass. Attention to detail was a must, as was a great deal of patience with the thousands of pages
of necessary reading. As it turned out, this was excellent training for genealogical research as
well.
It is primarily in the last decade or so that I have devoted significant amounts of time to
genealogy, researching both my wife's ancestry in New England and my own in Portugal.
Researching my wife's ancestry has given me extensive experience with the wide variety of
records necessary and available for New England genealogy from the 1600s to the 1900s: vital
and town records, census records, probate records, land records, New England genealogical
periodicals, Revolutionary War pension files and service records, town histories, church records,
newspaper accounts, and so on. Like all genealogists, I have more experience with some of
these record categories than with others -- I've only recently started learning more about the
wide variety of court records, for example.
For my own ancestry, I entered into an arrangement with the Family History Library to abstract
35,000 microfilmed parish records (containing 150,000 names). That experience, while not
directly relevant to New England research, exposed me to a wide variety of handwriting styles
from the 1600s to the 1800s, and it has been invaluable in helping me decipher, for example,
New England probate records over the same period.
Detail from 1850 federal census population schedule for the family of John and Ann (Hodgkins)
Foster in the town of Gray, Maine (Cumberland County), Series M-432, Roll 249, page 225
(stamped).
Foster in the town of Gray, Maine (Cumberland County), Series M-432, Roll 249, page 225
(stamped).
Much of my New England research has been in the area encompassed by northeastern
Massachusetts (primarily the Essex County towns of Newbury, Amesbury, Salisbury, Salem,
and Gloucester), southern New Hampshire (largely in Rockingham County, particularly
Hampton), and southern Maine (the York County towns of Waterborough and Shapleigh and the
Cumberland County towns of North Yarmouth and Gray). A few ancestral lines have touched
on places a little further removed from this broad area, such as Orange County in Vermont, New
London County in Connecticut, Plymouth County in Massachusetts, and the town of
Guysborough in Nova Scotia.
But while this geographical area is relatively small, the experience I have gained within it is more
broadly applicable, at least to the northern New England states. The basic content and wording
of probate records, for example, do not vary much from Essex County to Rockingham County
to Orange County to York County. The same is largely true of town records, land records, and
vital records, and naturally the format of the federal census and its additional schedules is the
same throughout New England.
Massachusetts (primarily the Essex County towns of Newbury, Amesbury, Salisbury, Salem,
and Gloucester), southern New Hampshire (largely in Rockingham County, particularly
Hampton), and southern Maine (the York County towns of Waterborough and Shapleigh and the
Cumberland County towns of North Yarmouth and Gray). A few ancestral lines have touched
on places a little further removed from this broad area, such as Orange County in Vermont, New
London County in Connecticut, Plymouth County in Massachusetts, and the town of
Guysborough in Nova Scotia.
But while this geographical area is relatively small, the experience I have gained within it is more
broadly applicable, at least to the northern New England states. The basic content and wording
of probate records, for example, do not vary much from Essex County to Rockingham County
to Orange County to York County. The same is largely true of town records, land records, and
vital records, and naturally the format of the federal census and its additional schedules is the
same throughout New England.
| "A qualified genealogist will obtain all of the facts possible, analyze and judge them carefully, and then and only then, weigh all of the evidence before deciding the crucial problem and accept or reject the facts." -- Noel C. Stevenson, Genealogical Evidence (Revised Edition), p. 12, copyright 1989 by Noel C. Stevenson. |
Copyright 2012 Ruy A. Cardoso. All rights reserved.
Detail from Revolutionary War pension file W12017, NARA series M-805, roll 490, showing
marriage information for Timothy Kelly and Joanna Newcomb of Newbury, Massachusetts. The
information was provided in an affidavit of Stuart Chase, Newbury town clerk. The same file in
NARA series M-804 includes a complete listing of this couple's children.
marriage information for Timothy Kelly and Joanna Newcomb of Newbury, Massachusetts. The
information was provided in an affidavit of Stuart Chase, Newbury town clerk. The same file in
NARA series M-804 includes a complete listing of this couple's children.
There are, however, many variations in the quality and availability of records in the different
jurisdictions. Vital records in the smaller towns of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine can be
sorely lacking. Census schedules for certain years and locations are missing. Cumberland
County in Maine has no surviving probate records from prior to 1900 (as is so often the case, a
fire was the culprit). But these are details that are learned only with time, experience, and a good
set of reference sources.
In short, I believe that my overall experience will help me perform thorough research for you. I
hope you will agree.
jurisdictions. Vital records in the smaller towns of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine can be
sorely lacking. Census schedules for certain years and locations are missing. Cumberland
County in Maine has no surviving probate records from prior to 1900 (as is so often the case, a
fire was the culprit). But these are details that are learned only with time, experience, and a good
set of reference sources.
In short, I believe that my overall experience will help me perform thorough research for you. I
hope you will agree.
| My Background |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
New England Cousins
Ruy Cardoso, Certified Genealogist (SM)