Finding Your Roots in Rye ~ Rye400 Committee
As published in Stroll Magazine, May 2023
There comes a time when many of us ask, “Where do I come from?” We know our immediate family, of course, but what do we know of our ancestors? Enter genealogy.
The dictionary defines it as “the study of family ancestral lines.” Today, that means going beyond just finding the names of our ancestors. We seek to understand where our family came from, their history, their accomplishments, their struggles. It’s also about finding new relatives we may not even know we had!
In the past, genealogy depended on visits to town halls, libraries, cemeteries, places of worship and interviews with relatives. It was about reading the actual written records that existed for a person or family — a time-consuming and often frustrating hunt for information. Now, we have the advantage of technology and the availability of online databases and records, allowing us to research everything we need from the comfort of our homes.
Online sites — Ancestry, Family Search — newspaper archive searches and local/regional groups are also a resource. Here in Rye, the Rye Historical Society (RHS) is one of those resources. It has amassed an extensive collection of documents, photographs, diaries, town records, etc. of the people who’ve lived and worked here. There is, for example, a listing of every cemetery and graveyard with the names, dates, interments and location of the family burial sites. Unlike other colonial towns in New England, Rye didn’t have a town-owned and cared-for cemetery until 1893. Up to then, each family either buried their loved ones on their own land or purchased a cemetery plot in a another town/city.
The RHS resources are available for research by appointment or on Saturdays between 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., in the Spring through Fall months. Additionally, RHS hosts a Zoom-based genealogy group — open to anyone — on the third Tuesday of each month. As part of those meetings, there are participants who have extensive knowledge of both local history and backgrounds of Rye’s early families. So, download the Zoom app, check the RHS website calendar for the link and join the meetings! You can also reach the group at info@ryenhhistoricalsociety.org.
