Project Organization and Topics

I was torn on the ships as well. For Connecticut, I used the ones that landed in the state, but I'm thinking the real solution is probably to put them in the Colonial America and/or Migration projects and leave it at that.

Once the Education in Connecticut project was complete, I removed the list of individual schools and just linked to the project. I could see the argument either way. There is an Education in Massachusetts project that has all the school links, so you could either just link that or copy the links out of it.

I didn't re-do the beginning of the Massachusetts project but I think it needs to have a narrative overview of the state and that the list of counties takes up too much real estate.

Someone not from California should probably do the Massachusetts narrative.

I think we should have a Immigration topic probably and have a link to a Migration project. That could cover immigration over the life of Massachusetts but have a CLEAR link to the Mayflower and other Great Migration projects.

Oh yes, and I put Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard in a separate topic but I'm not wed to that.

I added a link to a page I started for Andover, MA, but it was almost immediately removed. Not sure why!

Andover was one of the earliest towns on the north shore of Boston, and definitely should not be left off the list.

https://www.geni.com/projects/Early-Settlers-of-Andover-Massachuset...

No one removed it, I am guessing that you and I were touching the project narrative at the same time. I saw some funny behavior about 45 minutes ago the last time I was in editing :)

I'll re-add it.

Re-added. I am a native Californian, come late to the history of early New England so I will always defer to you and others with deeper expertise. I make up for being a newcomer by enthusiasm having 15 ancestors on the Mayflower and the majority of my ancestors arriving between 1620 - 1640 :)

Maybe we need a separate sub portal for the Great Migration ship projects, and link that to the Massachusetts project.

Agree, we need a narrative description up top.

Not understanding the removal of Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard, they are part of the Commonwealth?

I added a link to the free site on line for vital records to 1850, there is also an archive.org book. And there should be a FamilySearch.org Wiki that links to some essential resource books (Savage, Pope, etc.)

Hmm Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket are under islands separately. I dunno, they are towns and counties, that they are only reachable by boat is a factoid, not a political boundary, I don't think (Bob would best answer that).

For the history section, perhaps a short time line of the names as chartered:

- (dates) Plymouth Colony
- (dates) Massachusetts Bay Colony
- (dates) Dominion of New England
- (dates) Commonwealth of Massachusetts

A timeline for ethnic group migrations or is that covered in those projects?

Thanks, Hatte Rubenstein Blejer. Given your message, I am quite positive my fingers hit the wrong key! As for Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, I would recommend they be included. We definitely consider them a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and I think people would find it confusing if they're not a part of this site.

I do list the Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket projects in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, under ISLANDS versus under CITIES AND TOWNS. It seems like states and provinces that have islands might want a special topic since Island culture and history is a breed apart, but again, if someone has a more logical way to handle them, that's fine.