Ask a Genealogist

Question: Do you have any suggestions for researching my 18^th century ancestors in Portsmouth, New Hampshire?

Answer: NEHGS offers published histories of Portsmouth on the 5^th floor. For primary sources you can examine Portsmouth vital records on microfilm, and you may want to examine Rockingham County Probates and Deeds for Portsmouth pre-1771. At NEHGS we also have a typescript collection by Agnes Bartlett on microfilm. This collection is simply called Portsmouth Family Records. It is on three rolls of 35mm microfilm located on the 4^th floor at NEHGS. The call number for this collection is F44.P8 P67.

Question: I would like to know what a calculation of a "hogshead" would be in 1767.  I found this in an inventory from Rockingham County, New Hampshire.

Answer: A hogshead refers to a barrell or contained that would hold 60 to 140 gallos of liquid within.  Since this is New Hampshire I would imagine it is not referring the a hogshead of tobacco weighing 750 to 1200 pounds.