Would you like to join a Global Country Project?

Question

The newly revamped Global Project is now up and running. If you haven't checked out our YouTube introduction video with Sandy Patak and Betsy Ko, be sure to do so.

It is the goal of the Global Countries Project to provide resources to members for every country of the world and to provide gathering places for members who are interested in researching countries that don't normally get much attention from the genealogical community. 

To do this, we need a whole bunch of project coordinators. If you are interested in helping this project develop, drop us a note below and let us know what country project you are interested in leading. You do not need experience and you do not need to have ancestry in that country, although both would be of benefit. 

If you are not ready to lead but want to actively participate none-the-less, just say so in your post, as we have plenty of room for you as well. Just be sure to tell us which country you are interested in. 

Note that you do not need to be a member of the Global Project to take advantage of this project. Our resources are open to everyone - even non-WikiTreeers. 

Comments

Why are people being put into Project Leader position on some of these countries?  Most people volunteering could be considered Project Coordinators, but they are not Project Leaders, which is a different level in wikitree.  Having people that do not have Project Leader status makes it confusing to people that do not understand that designation.

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Hi Linda. This was error that is being fixed as week speak. The country mangers are Coordinators not Leaders. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

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Thank you, David, as I had great concerns over this issue.

Answer 1

Of course I am in. Pacific nations for the win. 

Comments

Thanks Darren. I've got you down for all 12 island nations (plus Singapore!). Looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish.

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Darren,
look down to the last answer posted 6/2/2024.
A chance to add Tahiti to your impressive portfolio?

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Tahiti is in French Polynesia which has some sort of status within France. I have no idea if the France Project is doing anything with their territories but that is the starting point that Anne Fiordalisi needs to start with if she wants to do something.

At the moment the Global Project is starting with official countries but in my chats with David,  Territories, Colonies and other types of named regions will be looked into.

Answer 2

Thanks for all the good work David.

I want to join the project as an affiliate. I can work liaison between Latin America projects and assist with Spanish translation.

As per previous G2G message Vicki Blanco has volunteered to coordinate for Chile. Can you set up this project?

Comments

Thanks Steve. I'll be in touch with you via private email.

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Hi David. I do not know if you sent me a private message via Wikitree. The PM system does not like me and messages disappear. I mostly use Discord.

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Hi Steve,

I've been in touch with Vicki. We are working on some logistical matters with the Latin American projects which we hope to have resolved very soon. I'll keep you posted.

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Thanks David,
Good to know that you have been in touch with Vicki.

I am very interested in the logistical matters with Latin American projects. I will watch this with interest.

Answer 3

Hey David,

I've got lots of work experience in Papua New Guinea and Saudi Arabia and happy to help get those pages set up if desired.

Comments

Wow! Very interesting places to work in

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Hi Steve, yes, the places, the mega-projects I worked on, and the people were all interesting.  Ditto for Asia and South America (mostly Brasil, since I note that you're interested in Latin America).  But it's heartbreaking to see the world unraveling now.

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Thanks for your interest, Ray.

The Papua New Guinea Project will be launching see with Darren Kellett as it's coordinator. Please reach out to him regarding that project.

I will be in touch regarding Saudi Arabia.

Answer 4

Hi David, I'd like to contribute to Barbados. Just volunteering to help, as it's not realistic for me to take on project coordination. If there is no-one wanting to lead the Barbados project, I'm happy to just work on my own in the interim as I get some time. Thanks for the encouragement to expand our view!

Comments

Thanks for your interest, Gillian. I will be in touch with you shortly about the Barbados Project.

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Thank you, Gillian, for stepping forward to hep with Barbados ancestry. Whereas this interests me, due to my Caribbean ancestry, I am not in a position to be able to lead it. Right now, I have my hands full trying to work through the many mysteries and brick walls in the Bahamas project, as well as trying to keep up the the Scotland and Wales projects..

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Remember, it's perfectly acceptable to participate as a project member without actually leading it. Adding your name to the membership list lets others know you are interested in collaboration. Let me know if you want your name added to the Barbados Project membership list.

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Yes thanks David! Please add my name to the list.

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Hi Marion, nice to have made contact with you! Thanks so much for working in the Bahamas :-)

Answer 5

Hurray for this amazing organization!

Thank you so much, Eowyn, Steve and David - three angels  

Comments

Is Europe or European Project Category being migrated to Global eventually?

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:European_Projects

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Thanks for your kind words, Maggie. At this time, the Global Project does not expect to be making any changes to the Categorization structure. Countries will continue to be grouped by continent.

Answer 6

Hi David,

Please sign me up to coordinate Taiwan.  

You're doing amazing work!

Thanks,

Betsy

Comments

Thanks Betsy. The Taiwan Project is now fully accessible, and you are officially our Taiwan Coordinator.

Members who are interested in joining the Taiwan Project can join here or contact Betsy directly.

WikiTree Taiwan Project

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Thanks, David.  The page looks terrific and I'm excited to get started.

Answer 7

So that my answer is attached to the right question:

Please sign me up to coordinate  Ethiopia.

Thanks.

Shoshanah

Answer 8

Luxembourg for me

Comments

Hello Gerard. I intend to have the Luxembourg Project up by this weekend. I will put you down as a charter member. Eric Weddington will be leading the project. You can reach out to him to discuss the project's future.   

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let's go

Answer 9

Hey David,

I'm officially in!  Please sign me up to coordinate Belgium and Greece!

Comments

Thanks Mark for all the work you've done to help get this project off the ground.

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Hi David and Mark,

I’m surprised to see that you’ve created a new project for Belgium. I was wondering if you’re aware that there is already a Belgium project, founded long ago and that it’s currently a sub-project from the former Dutch Roots project. The Netherlands Project.

There’s a list of people there and I’m just wondering if you have a) contacted Eef as Project Leader for the Netherlands Project and b) if the members of the Belgium Project wil be informed about this new Belgium Project.

Also it’s strange that Mark is registered as Project Leader, although he doesn’t have a Project Leader badge, so I was wondering if the rules for becoming a Project Leader has changed.

But I would be very, very happy if the Belgium Project gets a real new boost.

Kind regards,

Margreet

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Indeed and all the work on the naming conventions have disappeared and replace by a three sentences that don´t have anything to do with neither the dutch naming convention or the flemish (Belgian dutch) naming convention ad ignores the walloon(Belgian french) naming convention ?

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@David_Randall 

you commented :

Thanks Mark for all the work you've done to help get this project off the ground.

commented 6 days ago by David Randall G2G6 Pilot

What work did @Mark_Lemen do? 

delete all the pages that were in the Belgian roots project ?

 Make a page about Belgium https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Belgium/Country That is full of errors or so rudimentary that it insults every Belgian ?

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Dear Mark Lemen
I appreciate the good intentions that you went to work with to "revive" the Belgian roots project?
Where are the former 150 members  of the Belgian project  and who nominated you as the Gauleiter ? Where are the Flemish naming conventions?
Why is the history abbreviated to a reference in Wikipedia ?
I cannot remember that You had any form of communication let alone consultation with the Belgian project members ...

The project overlooks that there are 3 linguistic areas  of which some are more active,

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Who is the leader of the original Belgium Project?

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WikiTree Honor Code:

IV. We know misunderstandings are inevitable. We try to minimize them by being courteous to everyone accordingly.

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Iḿ sorry if i seem uncourteous, but things happen out of the blue and without much consultation, and that is what collaboration is all about isn´t it ?

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I understand how passionate you are about this matter and I take no offense. But I've seen these conversations spiral out of control very quickly and I just want to remind everybody, that with collaboration, we can fix this.

WikiTree has made the decision to provide each country of the world with its own official Project. We have been working with established country projects to transfer their materials over smoothly. A search for a Belgium Project, however, found only an "archived" Belgium page, last updated in March 2020, and a G2G invite that was closed in April 2022. Most importantly, we still have yet to locate the name of anyone who was leading the project. Without a leader, it makes communication very difficult.   

Yes, our initial pages are very rudimentary. They are intended simply as a template to get people started. It is the expectation that the country coordinators will work with their team to get these pages up to the standard you would expect from WikiTree. Keep in mind, however, that these pages are intended for both the expert and the novice. A little simplicity on the homepages is not necessarily a bad thing. The more advanced stuff can be linked deeper within.

Finally, it was not our intention to delete anything. If something you worked on is missing, please email me directly and I will see what I can do to locate it.

Thanks for your patience as with navigate through this rough patch, and I do appreciate your input.

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Thanks for your clarification , allow me to provide some answers
I joined the Belgium project  say 2 generations ago, i think before 2017 , I submitted the flemish naming conventions in 2018  to Isabelle (Rassinot) Martin

in 2020 Filip Beunis took over and turned Belgian_roots into a country project.  He made the major overhaul/update in 2020  but the page was edited until 2023, because that's when I added the topological naming convention

I'm a some what silent participant in the Belgian project, and i don´t fancy being the lead or otherwise the motor of the party, but I may contribute to the project.

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@Mark_Lemen @David_Randall

I have put  2c worth to update the project pages, and I moved old page like naming conventions  from the "Space:_" environment  in the archive to  "Project:Belgium/_" subpages

I've also updated the links of the old pages to the new project pages , and I update some of the content to reflect new insights and changes.

I will help you guys where I can

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Thanks Derek,

These pages belong to the members. Please continue to make any upgrades as you see fit.

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Hi Mark, David & Derek, 

I'm a bit lost now. Because I have 2 Belgium Project Pages and a Belgium Category Page

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Belgium/Country https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Belgium https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Belgium_Project

So maybe some cleaning up is an idea and maybe you can use this page also: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:To-Do_Lists_Team_Belgium 

This kind of pages we had created for the Netherlands Provinces to. And you can find all the specific country related suggestions, unlinked and unsourced profiles.

Those reports are updated automatically by Aleš

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WikiTree now has 70 "official" country projects. They are not yet all actively managed, but they do have official WikiTree project pages with URL's that all look like this:

www.WikiTree.com/wiki/Project:Belgium

www.WikiTree.com/wiki/Project:Cambodia

www.WikiTree.com/wiki/Project:Ethiopia

These pages give general information about the project such as project goals, leadership, communications, and information on how to join. In addition, most of these pages will also link to supplemental pages:

Project:Belgium/Country provides data on the country's geography, history, demographics, etc.

Project:Belgium/People provides information on World Leaders, Notables, and other family lines. 

Project:Belgium/Resources provides resources for doing research in that country. 

In addition, WikiTree is full of amazing free space pages created by individual members for seemingly every conceivable topic under the sun. When properly categorized, you can find those related to your country at Category:Belgium. Here you will also find profiles for individuals who were born, died, or lived in Belgium.  

As for your suggestion of a To-Do list, I think it's a great idea. I'll add a link on the project page.

Answer 10

Hello David! I could definitely help with Israel and Ukraine.

Comments

Hi Eitan! I'll be sending you a private email to discuss opportunities.

Answer 11

Hi I'll join the Greek project. I have a Greek mother, specifically from Crete. Still have family in Crete, Athens and Corfu

Comments

Hi Richard,

Thanks for joining the Greece Project!  I will send you an email shortly.

Mark

Answer 12

Ik wil wel bijdragen aan het nieuwe "Belgium" project, aannemende dat het oude "Belgium" project stilzwijgend ten grave gedragen is.

Comments

Groot! We hebben je toegevoegd aan de ledenlijst. 

(Great! We have added you to the membership list.)

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Mooi, bedankt!

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Worden al deze leden van het oude project automatisch lid van het nieuwe?

https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Special:Badges&b=belgium

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Sjaak, hoewel het stilletjes is op het zuidelijke front, is het project Belgium (Belgian_roots) niet ten grave gedragen.

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Wat ik ervan begrepen heb is dat het project ergens in 2022 als sub-project bij het Netherlands project is ondergebracht en dat er daarna geen activiteit op project-niveau is geweest.

Met ten grave gedragen bedoelde ik dat, zoals jij al signaleerde, alle projectdocumentatie vervangen is door een parodie daarvan, helaas. En wat jij ook al signaleerde, zonder enig overleg, terwijl een beetje speuren op G2G heel veel over de geschiedenis van het project leert.

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De oude projectpagina's zijn nog steeds beschikbaar. Lijkt het je leuk om projectleider to worden?

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@David_Randal @Mark Lemen @Sjaak_Spijkermans

Iḿ sorry if my criticism sounded harsh, however as the dutch idiom goes  "ik wil het kind niet met het badwater weggooien" I don´t want to throw the newborn away with the bathwater . My experience working with my dutchspeaking neighbours of the netherlands accounts a very upfront way of expressing myself. 

So I want to welcome and collaborate in a positive way with this new project and provide support to genealogists in Belgium or with ancestors from contemporary Belgium

As I said before I want to be available for the project but No,  I have no intention on becoming the project-lead given that I may sometimes lack time - this project merits - to dedicate to it, and that i may have to take periods of away time, such that not being available may be detrimental to this project.

It might be an idea to contact the members of the old project and rekindle their interest.
I want to propose to make edits to the Belgium project pages and restore some detailed info to the new pages and reactivate some of the pages by incorporating links in the relevant sections. 
 

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@David

Lijkt het je leuk om projectleider to worden?

Voor het geval die vraag (ook) aan mij gericht is: Nee, als Nederlander ben ik niet de geschikte persoon voor een trekkersrol in het Belgium project. Ben wel altijd bereid mee te werken aan verhoging van de kwaliteit van Belgische profielen en te assisteren in onderzoeken.

En voor de goede orde: je spreekt wederom van projectleider, een functie die hier niet van toepassing is. Correcte terminologie gebruiken graag.

Answer 13

Dear David Randall,

It's nice to see that that you have a this project going and I wish to participate .
However ... what has happened a coup d'etat?  Suddenly the country project page is gone and replaced with something different, the current project members have disappeared , previous work on what the country group was concerned with, or test that had been composed with respect of the linguistic and cultural background of the country like naming conventions have disappeared and unknown people are put in charge that have several things in common :
- they may have roots in the country,
- but most importantly they seem to be American citizen,  

So do I need to swear an oath of allegiance on the bible ?

Comments

Hi Derek,

I assume you are referencing the Belgium Project. The prior Belgium page has not been deleted, simply archived. It can still be accessed here. As a team we can decide which elements we would like to transfer over to the new project page.

From everything I can tell, the former Belgium Project has been inactive since April 2022. That's when they stopped accepting new members. The page itself has not been update since March 2020. We have tried to locate a project leader, but have had no success. 

Our goal here was not to "take over" an active country project but to rejuvenate what appears to be an inactive one, bring it into conformity with our other country projects, and raising it from unofficial free space page to official project status. We welcome you to participate in that process. You are correct that our Belgian members should play a key leadership role in reviving this project and we encourage them to volunteer. 

If you have additional information that you think we should be aware of, please reach out to Mark or myself. Remember, there is very little on WikiTree that can't be fixed. 

   

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Well David,
Iḿ usually much more occupied - when i have the time - with adding data for family members, so I lose track of what is happening on the project page.
what happened looked pretty awkward and much of the information on the new page ignores subtleties about the belgian situation in almost every respect. that is so abundantly clear because its "things" ignored by people that can be considered onlookers  about belgium .
You say that you tried to contact members, I honestly believe you did, however i cannot say that I saw any messages to that effect on G2G.
You may notice that i have gaps in contributing but I still get my daily G2G messages , and belgium project messages would draw my attention , I also answer requests for help while Iḿ in a contributing-pauze.
One of the things that i feel strongly about is that 2 naming conventions I wrote disappeared. and what I feel most annoyed about is the superficiality of some of the new contributions
IMHO The fact that suddenly a "leader" appears, is at odds with the collaborative approach of Wikitree and introduces hierarchy and authority and  that doesn´t feel good

Answer 14

HI David, Please count me in for Jamaica : Out of many,One people. Love their bob sled team and cricket.  Please I was wondering where would  Tahiti- French Polynesia be found. I just want to help out.

Comments

Anne,

It looks like I may have missed your message from last week. I'll be sending you a global Project badge and will sign you up for the Jamaica team. Jamaica does not have an open project page yet, but should by the end of the month.

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Excellent! Plenty of notables from . I fell in love with Jamaica after seeing the movie “Cool Running” plus it was home to Ian Fleming. They used Jamaica in most the James Bond films New movie about Bob Marly coming out. I’ll be waiting. I heard from French Project about Tahiti. Keep up the great work

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Jamaica does already have a team page and a team of two, of which I am the leader. I emailed you David about this, but there is so much going on I guess you missed it.

Cheers, Elizabeth

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Hi Elizabeth. Im on the road right now but I will be sending you a response to your email this evening. Dont worry, this is an easy matter to resolve.

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Thank you David.

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Hi Elizabeth. Please add me to the Jamaica team.
I spent a great week of work there. Nothing was better than talking about cricket with an Australian accent.

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Excellent! I would love to add you. I'm out and about for the next few hours but will see to it when I get back to our accommodation. They were such a cricket powerhouse!

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Steve love cricket and test ganes. I lived in Sydney abd loved watching the Aussie play everyone. Love . Can’t wait to start.

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Speaking cricket worked well in Jamaica. Unfortunately I am not an expert. On the other hand, my sprightly 97 year old aunty Iris is a long term fanatic. Justin Langer can confirm her support of the game.
Regarding Jamaica, I can not add a lot. I do not have any direct family connection.
The best I am thinking is that I provide another set of ears to listen what happens in Wikitree.

Answer 15

I would like to join the India Project, not as a leader, just a contributor. I have In-Laws from the Hyderabad area.

Comments

Hi John,

I will send you a global badge and sign you up for India. We do not a have an India coordinator there yet, but feel free to reach out to me if you have any contributions you'd like to make to our current pages.

Answer 16

I would like to participate. I can't say a particular project but will check them out today. Most likely something in the United States to begin with. My family then goes to several countries.

Comments

I'll send you a Global Badge today. If you decide on a country/countries you'd like to participate with, just let me know.

Answer 17

Count me in. I will check out the tops today.

Answer 18

PM sent to David

Answer 19

HI David, I am interesting in Jamaica. I love their culture. But I just want a membership not becoming the project manager. Plus I was wondering about Tahiti. Its not on your list of countries. Its French Polynesia island.  I love the people since living in Hawaii.  What do you think?

Plus as you were talking in today's YouTube what about their foods. Some counties have different types of foods such as fruits and veggies. I don't know if that might be a good subject to tackle. TYVM GL You r doing a fantastic job

Comments

Thanks Anne. I appreciate your kind comments. The food idea is great. When I was overseeing the 15 Nations Tour we occasionally exchanged recipes for the various nations we visited. It's a great way for teams to get to know each other.

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David, I enjoyed one fantastic week of work in Jamaica.
Can you please add me to the list of project coordinators?

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As the person who thought she was leading the Jamaican sub project, I'm wondering why I haven't been contacted about this. We have a team page, two active members and  would love more people, but I am rather startled by the fact that we seem to be invisible.

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Cheers Elizabeth. I would call this a teething problem. The left hand doesn't necessarily know what the right hand is doing.

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The Jamica Project remains intact as it was. We will soon be transferring the Space pages over to official Project pages, but the essence of the project will remain unchanged. For more information about the Jamaica Project and how you can participate please contact Elizabeth Viney, visit their current space page, or post your questions here. 

Answer 20

Hello David, Thank you for the Global Badge. I would like to announce a project, related to the goals of the Global Project:

To honor the memory of those who have Died at Sea:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Died_at_Sea

So far, four countries are represented here. I would also like to invite members of the Global project to join the Died-At-Sea project. What could be more global than oceans?

Comments

What a great idea. I will be happy to add a link to your project under our Worldwide Projects tab. When you are ready, you may want to post a separate G2G post letting people know that you are up and running and explaining what you are all about.  Those who sign up with your project will be eligible for a Global Badge.

Terrific work Marion!

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One of my immigrant ancestors brought his family to the American Colonies from England during the Great Migration of the 1630s. Tragically, he died enroute, leaving his wife and children to fend for themselves in New Haven. Amazingly, the family prospered. I have not yet told their story on WikiTree, but need to.

I'd love to be the first member of the Died at Sea Project.

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Thank you for your support and for joining the Died-At-Sea project. I am sorry that your ancestor died enroute to New Haven but at least we can honor him in this way.

Also, I would like to know more about the children project and how to add profiles. Thank you for your great progress and dedication to WikiTree.