--- title: 400 posts at Vita Brevis description: Friday’s post, by Steven Solomon of the Society’s Development team, marked the four hundredth blog post at Vita Brevis. image: https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Building_exterior_night-076-200x300-Apr-21-2023-05-19-04-1008-PM.jpg --- # [Vita Brevis A resource for family history from AmericanAncestors.org](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # 400 posts at Vita Brevis [July 27, 2015](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/07/400-posts-vita-brevis) [News](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/news), [Critical Analysis](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/critical-analysis), [Early New England Families Study Project](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/early-new-england-families-study-project), [International genealogical research](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/international-genealogical-research), [Genealogical Writing](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/genealogical-writing), [American History](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/american-history), [Spotlight](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/spotlight), [Research Methods](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/research-methods), [Brick Walls](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/brick-walls), [A Genealogist's Diary](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/a-genealogists-diary), [Object Lessons](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/object-lessons), [Research tips](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/research-tips), [Family stories](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/family-stories) [Scott C. Steward](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/ssteward) [![Building_exterior_night 076](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Building_exterior_night-076-200x300-Apr-21-2023-05-19-04-1008-PM.jpg?width=200&height=300&name=Building_exterior_night-076-200x300-Apr-21-2023-05-19-04-1008-PM.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Building_exterior_night-076-Apr-21-2023-05-19-04-5049-PM.jpg) This photo of the Society's Newbury Street exterior at night illustrated the first Vita Brevis post in January 2014. [Friday’s post](http://vita-brevis.org/2015/07/garden-of-roses/), by Steven Solomon of the Society’s Development team, marked the four hundredth blog post at *Vita Brevis*. Since its launch in January 2014, the blog has featured posts by 64 bloggers, almost all of them NEHGS staff members, with a few outside contributors or transcribed interviews making up the remainder. What does the genealogical mosaic about which I wrote in the [first post](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/01/generatio-longa-vita-brevis/) at *Vita Brevis* look like after eighteen months in the blog’s life? [![Alicia Crane Williams](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Alicia-Crane-Williams-Apr-21-2023-05-25-34-5698-PM.jpg?width=200&height=260&name=Alicia-Crane-Williams-Apr-21-2023-05-25-34-5698-PM.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Alicia-Crane-Williams-Apr-21-2023-05-25-34-5698-PM.jpg)One of the most prolific bloggers, [Alicia Crane Williams](http://vita-brevis.org/author/acwilliams/) (with 60 posts to date), can serve as an exemplar: she has covered [probate inventories](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/01/beasts-bees-and-indian-corn/) and [mourning rings](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/01/mourning-rings-as-genealogical-clues/), [ear marks and horse censuses](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/06/ear-marks-horse-censuses/) and Plymouth’s [Forefathers’ Day](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/12/forefathers-day/), the ways [the perfectionist nature](http://vita-brevis.org/2015/01/for-want-of-a-shoe/) of genealogical researchers can sometimes get in the way of publishing one’s findings – and, of course, the myriad ways she researches, writes, and publishes entries for the [Early New England Families Study Project](http://vita-brevis.org/2015/07/early-new-england-families-update/). [![Timothy and Louisa_Cropped](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Timothy-and-Louisa_Cropped-300x154-3.jpg?width=300&height=154&name=Timothy-and-Louisa_Cropped-300x154-3.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Timothy-and-Louisa_Cropped-3.jpg) Sam's great-grandfather and great-aunt. Another popular blogger, [Sam Sturgis](http://vita-brevis.org/author/ssturgis/) of the Website team, has written on [an unexpected overture from an unknown cousin](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/07/suspicious-first-cousin/); how best[ to search journals](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/07/searching-journals-on-americanancestors-org/) on AmericanAncestors.org and, more generally, how to use AmericanAncestors.org’s [search functions](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/07/tips-for-searching-on-american-ancestors-org/); on [Robert Henry Eddy](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/07/robert-henry-eddy/), whose bequest to NEHGS helped pay for the published Massachusetts Vital Records series of the early twentieth century; on the interesting [provenance of middle names](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/08/ruth-by-any-other-name/) in his family; and on the [detective novelist](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/08/detective-stories/) lurking inside every genealogist! [![Penny at podium_cropped](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Penny-at-podium_cropped-282x300-Apr-21-2023-05-16-41-6403-PM.jpg?width=282&height=300&name=Penny-at-podium_cropped-282x300-Apr-21-2023-05-16-41-6403-PM.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Penny-at-podium_cropped-Apr-21-2023-05-16-43-7743-PM.jpg) Penny Stratton in the Society's Treat Rotunda. As editor of the blog, I’ve written a number of omnibus posts collecting related pieces in one place; in addition to periodically marking a new benchmark number of posts at *Vita Brevis*, I’ve collected some of the international research posts ([here](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/08/international-posts-vita-brevis/) and [here](http://vita-brevis.org/2015/07/international-research-posts-vita-brevis/)). In two posts spanning the New Year, I reflected on a dozen posts from 2014 that, again, captured some of the variety of the blog’s content, from [Penny Stratton](http://vita-brevis.org/author/pstratton/)'s admonition to readers that they write “[what you know (and can prove)](http://vita-brevis.org/2014/12/the-year-in-review-1/)” to [Kyle Hurst](http://vita-brevis.org/author/khurst/)’s story of [reviewing family scrapbooks](http://vita-brevis.org/2015/01/the-year-in-review-2/) with her grandfather. [![Robert Charles Anderson_June 2014_1](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Robert-Charles-Anderson_June-2014_1-197x300-Apr-21-2023-05-16-44-8974-PM.jpg?width=197&height=300&name=Robert-Charles-Anderson_June-2014_1-197x300-Apr-21-2023-05-16-44-8974-PM.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Robert-Charles-Anderson_June-2014_1-Apr-21-2023-05-16-42-6997-PM.jpg) Robert Charles Anderson So what does the future hold for *Vita Brevis*? It’s hard to say; safer to add that there’s no question that [Robert Charles Anderson](http://vita-brevis.org/author/randerson/), [Christopher C. Child](http://vita-brevis.org/author/cchild/), [Sheilagh Doerfler](http://vita-brevis.org/author/sdoerfler/), [Katrina Fahy](http://vita-brevis.org/author/kfahy/), [Lindsay Fulton](http://vita-brevis.org/author/lfulton/), [Zachary Garceau](http://vita-brevis.org/author/zgarceau/), [Henry Hoff](http://vita-brevis.org/author/hhoff/), [Alice Kane](http://vita-brevis.org/author/akane/), [David Allen Lambert](http://vita-brevis.org/author/dalambert/),[ Eileen Pironti](http://vita-brevis.org/author/epironti/), [Meaghan E. H. Siekman](http://vita-brevis.org/author/msiekman/), and [Leslie Ann Weston](http://vita-brevis.org/author/lweston/) – not to mention almost 50 other writers – will appear on the blog with some frequency, and, of course, with an interesting point of view and fresh insights on how best to tackle tricky research problems! ### Share this: - [mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/07/400-posts-vita-brevis](mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/07/400-posts-vita-brevis) - - - More - - ![Scott C. Steward](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported%20images/f0ca00236a2eb95f2a42a6692ce1ee9c%3Fs=96%26d=identicon%26r=g.jpeg) ## About Scott C. Steward Scott C. Steward has been NEHGS’ Editor-in-Chief since 2013. He is the author, co-author, or editor of genealogies of the Ayer, Le Roy, Lowell, Saltonstall, Thorndike, and Winthrop families. His articles have appeared in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, NEXUS, New England Ancestors, American Ancestors, and The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, and he has written book reviews for the Register, The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, and the National Genealogical Society Quarterly.[View all posts by Scott C. Steward →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/ssteward) [← Composition: Part One](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/07/composition-1) ["A garden of roses" →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/07/garden-of-roses) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ### Recent Posts [Sailor Bill and His Forgotten Wife](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/sailor-bill-and-his-forgotten-wife) [Professor X](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/professor-x) [Part I: Malaga Island, Maine](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/part-i-malaga-island-maine) [The Norwegian folge](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/the-norwegian-folge) [Research…in a Miniskirt? 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