Helen Hinchliff, (b. 1940) Ph.D., 1967, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, in communications (psychology of language). After seven years as an assistant professor of communications at Hunter College (City University of New York ), I began a second career in Washington D.C. by leading a research project on the portrayal and employment of women and minorities in television for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. My interest in genealogy and family history began in 1982 when a genealogical hobbyist colleague of mine at the Commission challenged me to complete a family group sheet. Appalled by all the spaces I had to leave blank, I challenged myself to learn enough about my family to fill in the blanks. Within a week, I had enrolled in the National Genealogical Society’s correspondence course and was soon devoting my spare time to visits to NARA, the Library of Congress, and the libraries of the Colonial Dames, NGS, and DAR. Meanwhile, a chance meeting in 1984 of British subject and Canadian citizen Donald Simmons led to a whirlwind romance and my decision to marry him, move to Victoria, British Columbia, and devote myself fulltime to genealogy and family history. My early research interests centered on my German and Scottish ancestors and on genealogical fraud. In 1988 I won the NGS Family History Contest, and I am forever grateful to then NGSQ co-editor and Fellow Elizabeth Shown Mills for encouraging me to feature Michael Mumper’s immigration story in my first article for NGSQ.
During the 1990s, I served as president of the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History and served for three years as chair of the NGS Consumer Protection Committee. In that capacity, I prepared a 110-page report for submission to the U.S. Postal Service titled “Direct Mail Marketing of Products Based on Surnames.” It resulted in a cease and desist order issued to Halbert’s, a company whose business consisted of marketing surname address lists as if they were family histories. I also wrote over twenty articles exposing these and other fraudulent commercial “genealogical” products. In 1999, I joined the NGSQ editorial board and served as a judge of the NGS Family History Writing contest. Since 2013, I have focused on my Maryland ancestors who immigrated from the British Isles and Germany. In 2019, the Maryland Genealogical Society gave me a Certificate of Merit for service to the Society and the larger genealogical community in recognition of the articles I have written for its journal. I am a certified genealogist (retired, 1998-2018) and may be contacted at helenonsaltspring@shaw.ca, but I do not take clients.
Publications arranged by subject, then in chronological order, beginning with the earliest
Michael Mumper: German Ancestry and American progeny
“Michael Mumper of Pennsylvania: Reconstructing the Origins and Circumstances of an Immigrant Ancestor,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly (hereafter, NGSQ) 77 (March 1989): 5–21.
“Our Genealogical Field Trip: What We Did and How We Did It,” NGS Newsletter 15 (May-June 1989): 71-73.
“Finding a German Ancestor: A Case Study,” German Genealogical Society of America Bulletin (hereafter, GGSAB) 3 (July 1989): 74-76; (August 1989): 87-88.
“Using Collateral Relatives to Locate a 17th-Century German Ancestor,” GGSAB 4 (January-February 1990): 7-11.
“Adopted Children—How Should the Family Historian Report Them?” NGS Newsletter 16 (January-February 1990):15-17.
“A Homecoming to Remember,” NGS Newsletter 17 (March-April 1991): 47-48.
“Using Direct Mail to Promote a Family History Tour,” Victoria Genealogical Society Journal (hereafter, VGS Journal 15 (February 1992): 10.
“Consanguinity: How to Determine Your Cousin Relationships,” VGS Journal 15 (August 1992): 62-63.
“Pitfalls in Genealogical Research: Michael Mumper Re-examined,” NGSQ 82 (March 1994): 50–56.
“Going West to Ohio: The Andrew3 Mumper Family of York County,” The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 42 (Spring/Summer 2002), 197-211.
“A Misleading Bible Record: Identifying David4Mumper’s Mother,” NGSQ 90 (December 2002): 289-95.
Scottish Genealogy: Sources and Methods Focusing on Law/Edwards and Henderson Families
“The Use of Kirk Session Records to Discover the Financial Position of Eighteenth-Century Aberdeenshire Ancestors,” Aberdeen and Northeast Scotland Family History Society Journal (hereafter, ANESFHS Journal) 39 (June 1991): 8-10.
“The Aberdeen Journal as a Genealogical and Biographical Source,” ANESFHS Journal 42 (February 1992): 2-6.
“The Aberdeen Customs Office: Two Eighteenth-Century Snapshots of its Employees,” ANESFHS Journal 42 (February 1992): 14-18.
“James and Alexander Edward(s): Two Seafaring Ancestors from Aberdeen,” ANESFHS Journal 43 (May 1992): 10-14.
“Individuals Transported from Aberdeen to America in the 1740s,” ANESFHS Journal 44 (August 1992): 8-13.
“He Has the Same Name, but is He Your Ancestor?” The Scottish Genealogist 39 (September 1992): 91-97.
“Kirk Session Records: An Excellent Resource for Scottish Genealogy,” VGS Journal, 15 (November 1992): 86-88.
“Finding Scottish Ancestors by Computer,” The Scottish Genealogist 39 (December 1992): 44-149.
“A Basket of Oranges,” NGS Newsletter 19 (January-February 1993): 7-10.
“Scots Law and Genealogy,” VGS Journal 16 (February 1993): 26-27.
“Jean Law in Monymusk: Lapse, Relapse, Trilapse. . . ,” ANESFHS Journal 47 (May 1993): 16-19.
“The Ten Children of James Edwards of Aberdeenshire, Scotland and Aberdeen, Ohio,” The Mason County [Kentucky] Genealogical Society Journal (hereafter, MCGS Journal) 11 (1993): 32-34.
“Eighteenth-Century Education in Some Aberdeenshire Parishes,” ANESFHS Journal 48 (August 1993): 13-20.
“George Law in Monymusk, ANESFHS Journal 49 (November 1993): 6-11.
“Clues in Personal Letters Can Suggest the Origins of Nineteenth-Century Scots,” VGS Journal 16 (November 1993): 93-95.
“Resources on Virginia in the Library of Congress,” FGS Forum, 6 (Spring 1994): 16-17.
“William Edward, Part 1: Identifying an Eighteenth-Century Aberdeenshire Miller,” ANESFHS Journal, 49 (August 1994): 6-11.
“William Edward, Part 2: The Fortunes of an Eighteenth-Century Aberdeenshire Miller,” ANESFHS Journal, 53 (November 1994): 5-10.
“James Elmslie, Quarrier in Loanhead and James Elmslie in Culmellie: Were They the Same Person?” ANESFHS Journal, 62 (February 1997), 9-13.
“Immigrants to Aberdeen, 1740-1749,” ANESFHS Journal, 63 (May 1997), 13-21.
“A Castle on a Hill? Edwards Lore, Empirical Evidence, and the Real Helen Law of Aberdeen, Scotland,” NGSQ 39 (March 2001), 29-50.
“Mause Hendersons in Seventeenth-Century Edinburgh,” The Scottish Genealogist 48 (September 2001), 91-97.
“Sarah Songster Everett: Disproving a Knitted Name,” NGSQ 91 (June 2003), 95-110.
Genealogical Fraud
“George Edwards, The Ancestor Whom I Would Most Like to Meet,” VGS Journal 13 (December 1990): 10.
“Estate Fraud and Spurious Pedigrees,” Genealogical Journal 19 (1991): 22-46.
“Rehabilitating Ancient Titles,” International Society for British Genealogy and Family History Newsletter 13 (October-December 1991): 58-59.
“Noble Nonsense,” NGS Newsletter 18 (January-February 1992): 15-18.
“Titular Tosh! The Scottish Genealogist: 40 (March 1993): 18-20.
“If I Could Change One Thing in Genealogy: People Would Stop Asking, What Name Are You Researching,” FGS Forum, 6 (Spring 1994): 6-11.
“Hiring a Genealogist,” NGS Newsletter 20 (May-June 1994): 16-17.
“The Book of Haslingers,” NGS Newsletter 20 (July-August 1994): 82-83.
“What’s in a Name: 1, Coats of Arms for Sale, ISBGFH Newsletter, 16 (July-September 1994), 33, 38-39.
“Social Security and the Civil War,” NGS Newsletter 20 (September-October 1994): 106.
“What’s in a Name: 2, Rules About Coats of Arms,” ISBGFH Newsletter, 16 (October-December 1994), 33, 38-39.
“The Crest Quest,” NGS Newsletter 20 (November-December 1994): 121,124.
“What’s in a Name: 3, Surname Histories for Sale,” ISBGFH Newsletter, 17 (January-March 1995), 1, 12-14.
“Pssst! Wanna Buy Your Name?? A Product Alert!” NGS Newsletter 21 (January-February 1995): 9.
“Family Values,” NGS Newsletter 21 (May-June 1995): 62.
“Garbage In/Garbage Out! Professional Genealogy Made Real Easy,” APG Quarterly X (September 1995), 81-82.
“Your Name is Your Credit!” NGS Newsletter 21 (September-October 1995): 109.
“Your Surname Stocking Stuffer,” NGS Newsletter 22 (January-February 1996), 9.
“Obits to Order,” 22 (March-April 1996), 34.
“Direct Mail Marketing of Products Based on Surnames: The Case of Halberts, Inc.: A Report of the National Genealogical Society Ethics [Consumer Protection] Committee, January 1995, 120 pp.
“Have you Heard from Halbert’s?” FGS Forum, 7 (Summer 1995), 7.
“The ‘Edwards Estate’: A Very Old Story,” Family Tree Magazine [England] (June 1996), 3-5.
“The ‘Edwards Estate’: Legacies both Bad and Good,” Family Tree Magazine (July 1996), 9-11.
“Think and Check: Two Words for Society Newsletter Editors and their Readers,” FGS Forum, (Summer 1996), 12.
“A Right to Bear Arms? An Examination of Commercial Offerings for ‘Henderson of St. Laurence,’ Scotland,” NGSQ, 87 (March 1999), 6-15.
Maryland Families, Featuring the Pierpoint, Miller, Hush, Davidson, Davis, Earlougher and Swindell Families with a Sidelight Search into the Entrepreneurial Female Forebears of Emma (Small) Davis: Elderkin, Maggs, and Small
“Job Davidson, Cooper in Baltimore, Maryland, and His Long Lost Descendants in Ohio and Indiana: Using Occupation and Birthplace as Census Finding Aids,” NGSQ, 94 (June 2006): 85-100.
“John Pierpoint of Baltimore County, Maryland: A Legacy of Prickly Pride,” NGSQ, 95 March 2007): 41-54.
“Nicholas Miller in Eighteenth-Century Baltimore, and His Descendants to the Fourth Generation,” Maryland Genealogical Society Journal, hereafter, MGSJ, 54 (2013): 73-86.
“The Hush Family of Eighteenth-Century Baltimore County: Differentiating between Men with the Same Given Name,” MGSJ, 55 (2014): 31-47.
“Conrad Hersh of Frederick County: Was He a Hush Family Member?” MGSJ, 55 (2014): 48.
“George Davidson at the Battle of Bladensburg: Why Did He Run from the Scene of Battle? What Happened Next?” MGSJ, 55 (2014): 195-214.
“George Davidson: Did He Really Head for Indiana?” MGSJ, 55 (2014): 501-520.
“Michael and Anastasia Earlougher: Searching for their European Origins,” MGSJ, 56 (2015): 9-18.
“Some Immigrants to Baltimore in 1784,” MGSJ, 56 (2015): 19-50.
“Earlocker’s: The Waxing and Waning of a Wagon Stand on the Cumberland Pike,” MGSJ, 56 (2015): 421-435.
“Henry Davis, Conestoga Wagon Maker: Competing with the B&O,” MGSJ, 57 (2016): 53-72.
“Charles Pierpoint, 1720-1785, Friend of Baltimore County: Disowned for Marrying His First Cousin,” MGSJ, 57 (2016): 457-474.
“Jane Maggs, 1744/5-1832: Baltimore Pastry Maker,” MGSJ, 58 (2017): 471-498.
“On the Streets Where They Lived: Why and How to Walk in Our Ancestors’ Footsteps,” MGSJ, 59 (2018): 39-60.
“Margaret (née Maggs) Elderkin: 1788-1853: Baltimore Dry Goods Storekeeper,” MGSJ, 59 (2018): 249-280.
“Emma Eudora (née Small) Davis (1844-1873: Discovering an Orphan’s Parents,” MGSJ, 60 (2019): 27-55.
“Elizabeth S. Small, Boarding Housekeeper: Was She Also Elizabeth S. Small, Baltimore Fancy Dry Goods Storekeeper?” MGSJ, 60 (2019): 217-223.
Elizabeth (née Smith) Small, Baltimore Milliner and Fancy Dry Goods Storekeeper: Questioning her Questionable Relationships,” MGSJ, 60 (2019): 343-363.
“Annie Legate Swindell, 1827-1889: Would-be Wall Street Investor,” 61 MGSJ, (2020): 63-81.
“Annie Legate Swindell, 1827-1889: Litigious Wall Street Investor,” 61 MGSJ, (2020): 245-272.
“Goucher Girls Get to Vote: Georgina Paciarelli, 1898-1969, and Five of Her ‘Friends’ Featured in Newspapers and Other Periodicals,” 61 MGSJ, (2020): 471-493.
“Emily Roch or Rebecca A. Mellin: Unravelling the Mystery Surrounding the Second Wife of Francis A. Earlougher, 1789-1849,” 62 MGSJ, (2021): 67-92.
“Francis A. Earlougher, 1789-1849 His Conflicted Legacy and His Methodist Progeny,” 62 MGSJ, (2021): 217-242.
“Job Davidson, Cooper in Baltimore, ca. 1757-1807: Or Was His Surname Davis?” 63 MGSJ, (2022): 61-80.
Other Topics
“Working Women of Eighteenth-Century London,” VGS Journal 15 (May 1992): 34-36.
“What is a Professionally Genealogist, Anyway?” APGQ (September 1992): 74-75.
“Foreword” to Henry Z Jones, Jr., Psychic Roots: Serendipity and Intuition in Genealogy (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1993): ix-xii.
“His Name Wasn’t Herbert,” Ancestry (March/April 2008): 51.
Book and Video Reviews
Eighteenth Century Emigrants from the Northern Alsace to America, Annette Kunselman Burgert NGS Quarterly, 81 (September 1993): 23-24.
Out of Your Tree: Crazy about Genealogy, a video produced by Robert A. Burns, FGS Forum, (Autumn 1993).
The Oxford Guide to Family History, by David Hey, NGS Quarterly 82 (March 1994): 60-61.
Royalty for Commoners, by Roderick W. Stewart, FGS Forum, 6 (Summer 1994): 33.
Scotland and Your Scottish Ancestry, a video produced by the Heritage Corporation, NGS Quarterly 82 (September 1994): 82-83.
What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool ISBGFH Newsletter 16 (July-September 1994): 46.
The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story by John Demos, NGS Quarterly 82 (December 1994): 306-07.
Family by Ian Frazier, NGS Quarterly 83 (June 1995): 143.
Scottish Clan and Family Encyclopedia, by George Way of Plean and Romilly Squire, NGS Quarterly 84 (March 1996): 54-55.
Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland by John Keay and Julia Keay, NGS Quarterly 84 (September 1996): 225.
Encyclopedia of Family Names by H. Amanda Robb and Andrew Chesler, NGS Quarterly 84 (December 1996): 312-13.
About Genealogical Standards of Evidence: A Guide for Genealogists by Brenda Dougall Merriman, ISBGFH Journal 62 (February 1997), 68.
Your Scottish Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans by Sherry Irvine, NGS Quarterly 85 (December 1997): 312-13.
The Glotzbach Family from Saxony to Minesotta: A Genealogy and History, 1746-1997 by George L. Glotzbach, Videotape, NGS Quarterly 88 (1999), 248-249.
A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Scottish Ancestors: How to Find and Record Your Unique Heritage by Linda Jonas and Paul Milner, NGS Quarterly 91 (March 2003), 70-71.