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Genealogy Bookshelf 2 Be sure to check out our
History Shelf! |
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Your Guide to Cemetery Research
Betterway Books started out publishing mostly craft and hobby guides, which led them into genealogy, and, under the editorship of Carmack herself, they have become one of the most reliable publishers of high quality methodological volumes in our field. Carmack, who is also a Certified Genealogist, has written two volumes in the "Discovering Your . . . Ancestors" series (on women and immigrants) and the very practical _Organizing Your Family Research,_ as well as a number of compiled genealogies, all of which have been well received. This new book maintains her high standard. Non-genealogists generally look askance at anyone who likes to hang around graveyards, but since that's where the majority of our ancestors are to be found, we family researchers approach the subject differently. Carmack has had a particular interest in cemetery research for years (and has published other works on the subject), and she leads the reader expertly through the many research steps necessary for success. First, there are the records created when someone dies -- not just the death certificate and obituary, but coroner's reports, prayer cards, funeral home records, and census mortality schedules. Then you have to figure out where the interment took place, which means understanding the records cemeteries themselves create, whether municipal, commercial, or church-connected. Once you know where to look, you have to know what to look *for* -- not just the grave marker itself but (as in all genealogical research) the context in which it exists. And that's only the first quarter of the book! There's a great deal more to learn regarding tombstone rubbings and photography, ethnic and regional burial customs, cemetery preservation (a growing problem in the U.S., unfortunately), and how to organize and carry out a cemetery recording project. Cemeteries used to be gathering places for the whole family, so the final chapter even makes suggestions on how to picnic respectfully in a cemetery. One appendix provide clues on the meaning of symbolic gravestone art and initials, while another gives a timeline of significant epidemics, disasters, and other causes of multiple deaths in America, and a third explains causes of death which you're likely to find listed on death certificates. There are also forms for use in cemetery surveys and an eight-page bibliography. This is easily the most comprehensive guide I have seen on the subject.
Finding Your Roots Online (1st Ed)
I had sent a copy of this wonderfully
informative and well written book to 6 of my relatives and friends hot off
the press. My sister, who has lived out of the country for some 35 years
and having returned to her root country, wanted to learn more about our
family. I encouraged her and was thrilled to be able to send her a copy of
Nancy's book. This was back in October, 2003. Since that time, its been
almost a miracle of sorts...following the information and suggestions in
Nancy's book, my sister was able to get in touch with our father's cousin,
a college professor, only to find out that he, too, had been trying to
find our family! The two of them have been sending emails back and forth
since October, exchanging and sharing information, checking out family
burial locations, sharing pictures, and this has opened a "whole new
world" for both families. We are even planning a reunion of sort as early
as next summer. We have so much gratitude to Nancy Hendrickson for
embarking on this endeavor of educating those of use who are not all that
savvy with the internet but also showing us that searching for one's roots
on or off the internet is not as complicated as one would believe and most
of all, the rewards.
Locating Your Roots: Discover Your
Ancestors Using Land Records
There are fundamental methodological differences in tracing the history of your Pilgrim ancestors, who got off the boat in Massachusetts and never moved away, and your itchy-footed pioneer forebears, who always were on the edge of settlement, forever looking toward the west. (I have a line which, in a single long generation, moved state-by-state from Baltimore in the 1790s to Iowa in the 1830s.) One of the biggest problems is the tendency of early settlers to arrive somewhere ahead of the recordkeeping apparatus - but recording the ownership of land was almost always the first thing put on paper as soon as the government's clerks arrived. These records often are underused, especially in "metes and bounds" states, because plowing through a three-page description of boundaries can be daunting. Hatcher, a CG and FASG, and a specialist in problem-solving, has an almost inhuman fondness for land records, however, which she largely succeeds in communicating in this book. She leads you carefully through the steps, from locating that first deed (or grant, or confirmation of colonial title), to tracking the later transfers of ownership, to understanding just what it is you're reading, to knowing how to select and record the essentials, to interpreting what it all means. There are plenty of examples and several case studies, plus a detailed bibliography of key maps and gazetteers for each state. She also includes numerous historical sidelights, such as the observation that less than half the federal public lands originally went to individuals. (Think "railroads.") This is an excellent and highly readable text in an important subject.
A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering
Your Female Ancestors:
Well-written, well-organized and enjoyable
to read, this outstanding genealogical research tool provides an excellent
in-depth, insightful, integrated approach to genealogical research,
particularly focused on researching our female family members. It contains
a good explanation of means of tracing women when their surnames have
changed, and very extensive bibliographies that are exhaustively research
sources on women's property rights, childbearing and women's health care.
Long-Distance Genealogy
I first got this book from the library and
it's one of the best genealogy books out there. The book tells you how to
obtain documents, what to write, what section of the county offices to
write to (although you have to look up individual addresses yourself); how
to ask how cost of copies, etc.. |
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Terrific
book to take along on field trips
