Bonnie Wade Mucia is the owner of Keeper of the Past Genealogy, LLC, and a professional genealogist focusing on New England research, particularly during the colonial period. She serves as Director of the Mayflower Families Silver Books Project for the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, concentrating on Mayflower passengers' descendants. An experienced speaker and lecturer, Bonnie is a member of the Genealogical Speakers Guild. She has published articles in respected genealogical journals, including the New England Historic Genealogical Society's Mayflower Descendant, Rhode Island Roots Journal of the Rhode Island Genealogical Society, The Maine Genealogist, The Nova Scotia Genealogist and others. Besides attending several genealogy institutes such as SLIG, IGHR, GRIP, she is an alumna of the GenProof 91, ProGen 34, and a graduate of the Boston University Genealogical Certificate OL23 program. Bonnie is actively pursuing her Accreditation with the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen), specializing in the New England Region. Originally from Rhode Island, Bonnie lives with her husband, Joseph, in South Carolina.
 

Geographic Specialities
New England

Publications/Media

• The Maine Genealogists - May 2024 "Samuel Beal Shea of the 19th Maine at the Battle of Gettysburg"
• Rhode Island Roots Journal (RIGS), June 2023, "Untangling the Darling Web" March 2022, "The Girl Missing"
• Mayflower Descendant, Vol. 69, No. 1 Winter 2021, p. 65-70 "John Wade of Massachusetts and John Wade of Nova Scotia; Are They the Same Man?"
• The Nova Scotia Genealogist: Descendants of George Wade & Freelove Condon of Granville, Nova Scotia, Article published in the Summer 2019, Vol. XXVII/2 issued based on a Wade Family Bible in 1847 and covers four generations.

Lectures

• Using Historical Context in Your Genealogy Writing: A Gettysburg Soldier Case Study
• The Mayflower Families Silver Books for Genealogists
• Overturning a Rejected Lineage Application with a Proof Argument: A Case Study
• "Moi Aussi" Finding and Providing Your French-Canadian DAR Patriot
• Setting Sail to The Mayflower Society with the Silver Books as your Guide
• Using Online Property, Tax & County Court Records in Genealogy Research to Identify Living People
• 75 Years Later: Creating Wartime Family Reunions with DNA - Military Repatriation
• Shall Not Be Denied: The Victory of Women's Suffrage (with a focus on the 19th Amendment in South Carolina)
• Stephen Bull of the Beaufort District during the Revolutionary War
• Various Mayflower Lineage and Mayflower Meeting House talks
• Finding Female Ancestors
• Identifying a Plantagenet King with DNA
• DNA and DAR Lineage Workshop
• Lineage & Hereditary Societies, What are they and how to join them.

Repositories
In Person: Beaufort County, Jasper County, SC; Chatham County, GA for record pulling of deeds, probate, etc.

Research Time Periods

• 19th Century
• 18th Century
• 17th Century
• 16th Century and Earlier

Certificates
Certificate in Genealogical Research (Boston University)

Affiliations
Bonnie sat on the Executive Committee of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants as a Member At Large from 2020-2023. She is a former Governor of the South Carolina Mayflower Society as well as Deputy Governor General for SC. Bonnie is a member of the Beacon Pole Hill Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She served as the South Carolina state chair for the NSDAR Commemorative Events Committee, the state chair for the DAR DNA Committee, and co-chair of the Volunteer Genealogists Committee. She was a member of the U.S. Daughters of the War of 1812 and served as the Chapter Secretary for the General Thomas Pinckney chapter in South Carolina. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, NEAPG, APG SIG Writers interest group, and the Genealogical Speakers Guild.