Reviews

REVIEWS Ordering information for publishers is given at the end of the reviews. A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Immigrant & Ethnic Ancestors. By Sharon Debartolo Carmack. Betterway Books, Cincinnati, 2000. 260 pages, illustrations, index, paper. $18.99. Commencing with the candid admission that Discovering Your Immigrant & Ethnic Ancestors is intended for those just starting such a search, the author bases her book on the supposition of the reader’s “diverse cultural background.” She also issues the wise disclaimer that “no single book can be a comprehensive guide to all genealogical research sources and methods” when dealing with all the immigrant and ethnic groups in American history. Ms. Carmack succeeds in her aim to help the heritage searcher identify and trace immigrant ancestors back to their arrival in America. She suggests American sources to determine origins in the homeland and to enable the genealogist to continue this work in another country. For the special problems of those with native American or African American ancestry, the author concentrates on getting started and offers sources that may help trace their ethnic groups as far back as possible. The book merits high marks for its scope and the variety of suggested data sources. Its easy-to-understand directions for pursuing them convey an atmosphere of enjoyable experience. Reviewed by John A. Baird, Jr. A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your English Ancestors. By Paul Milner and Linda Jonas. Betterway Books, Cincinnati, 2000. 184 pages, illustrations, index, paper. $18.99. “You are in for a real treat,” exclaim the authors of this thorough, appealing genealogical book as they introduce the reader to what they call the joys of seeking English ancestry. Whether new to family-information seeking or a veteran researcher, the authors promise you success in the happy quest for English forebears through focus upon the Internet, Family History Centers, and local public and university libraries. Britisher Paul Milner and American Linda Jonas stress the importance of having a personal research goal before beginning the task as they note some differences between genealogical study in their respective countries. For example, they highlight the significance of greater religious importance in the mother country, where in matters both spiritual and temporal the Church of England stands in contrast to the separation of Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 42 (2001) Final copy 31 January, 2010 84 2001] Reviews 85 church and state in the United States. They also warn of the peril of not realizing certain particulars of English female nomenclature whereby, to illustrate, “Ann,” “Hannah,” and “Nancy” may be the same person! After preliminary chapters on the techniques for successful accessing of the resources of the Internet and Family History Centers, the bulk of the book concentrates on individual types of records through the effective device of tracing one family’s total genealogical history. Step-by-step specifics built around researching a certain Mary Dixon (born about 1841), her husband Walter Telford, and their descendants take the reader across the gamut of civil registration, indexes, census returns, probate records, and parish registers to show how all such information can be secured here in the United States from the Family History Library or its world-wide centers. A final, but not necessary, option in the process could be a pleasant trip to England to walk in your ancestor’s footsteps. Reviewed by John A. Baird, Jr. A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Germanic Ancestors. By S. Chris Anderson and Ernest Thode. Betterway Books, Cincinnati, 2000. 191 pages, illustration, index, paper. $18.99. This book begins with three challenges to the person seeking Germanic ancestors. Can you face adversity and overcome difficulty? Can you follow a trail and make sure you are on the right track? Do you have what it takes to go the distance? As readers ponder the right response to these questions they are warned about “rough going” and “pitfalls” that lie ahead. They are even counseled to “be not melancholy or dispirited” as they attempt to cut through “a jungle of confusion.” Beginning in the late seventeenth century Germans, became the largest immigrant group in America. Recent census reports confirm that Germanic Americans are the largest ethnic group in the United States. These facts are reflected in the authors’ decision to think beyond the borders of present-day Germany and to define their ancestral-origin area to include Austria, Switzerland, Alsace-Lorraine, and other Germanic lands. S. Christ Anderson and Ernest Thode present a competent and practical guide for the genealogical researcher that combines such common sense advice as “challenge all information” and “be open to the possibility that later investigation may reverse your findings” with the to-beexpected list of needed equipment and information sources. The authors emphasize the value of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and the Family History Centers in many cities as among the most significant resources available for persons trying to discover their Germanic ancestor. Final copy 31 January, 2010 86 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine [Vol. 42 Despite the dire warnings of the early pages, this is a helpful, worthwhile guide. Reviewed by John A. Baird, Jr. Grow a Family Tree! By William Dollarhide. Heritage Quest, North Salt Lake, Utah, 2000. 184 pages, paper. $24.95. William Dollarhide is executive editor for the Genealogy Bulletin, an online genealogy magazine, and has written eight genealogy reference books. His book on managing a research project with the so-called “Dollarhide method” has won wide praise. This genealogy book for beginners takes a light and airy approach to its topic (which isn’t a bad thing); it talks about the key sources that genealogists should use (an undeniably good thing); but doesn’t give the proper depth to its discussion of certain sources (a really bad thing). One example of the latter is that Dollarhide spends not even a full sentence on the impact of church records. While it is true that church registers of births, marriages, and burials are relatively more important in Pennsylvania research than as a source nationwide, they still merited a little more coverage than this. More than half the book consists of “essays,” some of which are recycled articles from Dollarhide’s Genealogy Bulletin. On the positive side, Dollarhide’s book contains good forms for beginners, and the CD-ROM that is included with the book enables readers to print out the entire book if desired. Reviewed by James M. Beidler A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Irish Ancestors. By Dwight A. Radford and Kyle J. Betit. Betterway Books, Cincinnati, 2001. 296 pages, illustrations, index, paper. $19.99 Most of the previous volumes in the series of “Genealogist’s Guide” books–which now include titles on researching Italian, Germanic, English, female, and immigrant and ethnic ancestors–have been excellent introductions to the topics specified. Dwight Radford and Kyle Betit’s work, like the other titles in this series of “Genealogist’s Guide” books, is an excellent introduction to a specific topic. It is the longest of the volumes issued so far (and that’s after it was trimmed from nearly double the length the authors originally wrote). The authors published the periodical The Irish at Home and Abroad from 1993 to 1999, and many of their articles in that in-depth Irish genealogy journal served as springboards to the Betterway publication. This is really two books in one. The first half of Irish Ancestors dwells on researching Irish in the country to which they emigrated. The book’s second half is devoted to sources in Ireland itself. Final copy 31 January, 2010 2001] Reviews 87 One theme of the book is that the correct strategies to use when researching an Irish forebear are determined by his or her point of destination. For example, the types of records available about Irish Australian emigrants (many of who were “transported” to Australia as their sentences for criminal activity) will differ greatly from those that Irish Americans would use. The book has chapters on Irish emigrants to Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, and the British West Indies in addition to the aforementioned America and Australia. In their introduction to research in Irish records, the authors take great pains to detail the somewhat complicated administrative divisions that researchers encounters. All units from civil parishes to Poor Law Unions to townlands are clearly defined for the novice researcher. The authors like to rebut the common truisms about Irish research, particularly the oversimplification that all Irish records were destroyed in the Public Record Office fire during the 1922 Irish Civil War. They admit, however, that this has “forever impacted the course of research for the Irish genealogist,” since the 1821 to 1851 census records were among the sources destroyed. A key discussion on Irish records centers on church registers and the role of English occupation of Ireland. The Church of Ireland (Protestant Anglican) was established, and even though only about ten percent of the people belonged to it, they were required to use it for everything from probate of wills to burials. Many of these registers did perish in the Public Record Office fire. The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland survived being effectively outlawed for most of the 1700s. Though some Catholic records date to the eighteenth century, many only begin in the 1800s. Radford and Betit also have plenty to write about civil registration, Irish Heritage Centres, estate records, tax records, and other sources. This volume is an outstanding introduction to Irish research. Reviewed by James M. Beidler Palatine Origins of Some Pennsylvania Pioneers. By Annette Kunselman Burgert. AKB Publications, Myerstown, PA, 2000. xviii plus 574 pages, maps, illustrations, index, acid-free paper, cloth. $40. In 1983 the author started a series of monographs on eighteenth century immigrant origins. Palatine Origins of Some Pennsylvania Pioneers is a compilation of a series of six monographs, now out of print, identifying some of these immigrants and their villages of origin on the Vorder Pfaltz. The villages included Hochstadt (both Oberhochstadt and Niederhochstadt), Hasslock and Böhl, Mutterstadt, Friedelshiem and Gönnheim, Freinsheim, and Lachan-Speyerdorf. In the intervening years Burgert has Final copy 31 January, 2010 88 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine [Vol. 42 found much additional information. The current work is a revision of the monographs combined with new material from the original towns and with records gleaned from other towns in the area, more than twenty of them. In this volume are 463 immigrant heads of families, some of whom had large families, making the total number of immigrants much higher. Included for each immigrant is the Palatine village of origin, translated family data from the German records, data about arrival in America, and (when found) additional family data on the earliest generation from American records. More than 60 of the families arrived before 1727. Included is a ten-page bibliography of the sources used to compile the book and a lengthy appendix that identifies the earlier Swiss village of origin for many of these families who repopulated the Palatine villages after wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Indexes to ships, European place names, and individual names complete the volume. Annette Burgert has again demonstrated her expertise in this field and increases our knowledge of these Germanic immigrants and their origins. Reviewed by Jane Adams Clarke, FGSP Abstracts of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Land Records, 1684—1723. By Charlotte D. Meldrum. Family Line Publications, Westminster, MD, 1995. 154 pages, index, paper. $12. Abstracts of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Land Records, 1711—1749. By June D. Brown. Family Line Publications, Westminster, MD, 1998. 224 pages, index, paper. $18. Both of these books are among the published abstracts of early records of Pennsylvania–transcripts of wills, deeds, church records and other primary sources–by Family Line Publications (now Willow Bend Books). These two abstracts of early Bucks County deeds are a must for anyone doing research in early Bucks, Lehigh, and Northampton counties. Each of the books is accompanied by a copy of the Bucks County section of Thomas Holme’s Map of the Improved Part of Pennsylvania, originally compiled in 1687. Although the Meldrum book has been in print for three years, it seems reasonable to revisit it as a comparison to the more recent offering compiled by June D. Brown. This researcher is running into a problem relating to the deed book numbering system in Bucks County, something not addressed in either of the two books. Each of the two abstracts cover three deed books. Meldrum’s starts with Deed Book A, volume 1, with recording dates from 1684 to 1692 and then covers volumes 2 (1692— 1700) and 3 (1699—1707 with one deed in 1723). Brown’s book covers deed books A-2 (1713—1731), B-2 (1723—1741) and A-3 (1742—1749). The Final copy 31 January, 2010 2001] Reviews 89 problem stems from the discontinued use of the alphanumeric system in the Bucks County Recorder of Deeds. At some later time, the office apparently renumbered all of the early deed books. Therefore, volume A-2 is now volume 5 and B-2 is considered to be volume 6. Similarly, volume 3 in the Meldrum book was formerly volume C-1. In order to use these two books together, one should remember this numbering change, for Brown quite properly abstracts her deed books with the citation to previous deeds as given in the original deed (Meldrum does not consistently give a previous deed book citation, but it is not known if the deed itself fails to record that fact). Both of the books give the page number of original deed book, the names of grantor (seller) and grantee (buyer), the price paid by the buyer (consideration), the acreage, and the location. The metes and bounds of the properties are not given in either of these offerings. If mentioned within the deed, the names of the neighboring property owners are listed. Both abstractors also mention the recital of the previous deed and where it was recorded, the date of acknowledgment, and the date of recording. In addition, both indicate whether the recorded instrument is a deed, mortgage, power of attorney, deed of release, or other type of transaction. These abstracts of the early land records of Bucks County are important for genealogists and local historians alike. The comprehensive name index at the back of each volume indexes not only the grantor and grantee, but also the names of the witnesses, previous property holders when mentioned, and all other names that appear. With this type of index, the modern genealogist may find not only the deeds in which his or her ancestor bought or sold land, but also those in which he or she acted as a witness or later transactions that refer back to his or her possession of the land. Not all deeds were recorded, and sometimes the recital clause in a later deed is the only evidence that one owned land in Bucks County during the latter seventeenth century and early eighteenth century. Reviewed by Jefferson M. Moak Final copy 31 January, 2010 90 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine [Vol. 42 BRIEF REVIEWS* All volumes in this section are published by Family Line Publications (Willow Bend Books). Early Families of York County, Pennsylvania. By Keith A. Dull. Volume 1, 1995, 132 pages, index, paper. $12. Volume 2, 1995, 151 pages, index, paper. $12. Early Families of Somerset and Fayette Counties, Pennsylvania. By Keith A. Dull. 1996, 120 pages, index, paper. $10. Early Families of Berks, Bucks, and Montgomery Counties, Pennsylvania. By Keith A. Dull. 1997, 152 pages, index, paper. $12. Early Families of Lancaster, Lebanon, and Dauphin Counties, Pennsylvania. By Keith A. Dull. 1997, 155 pages, index, paper. $16. These recent additions to the families genealogies of Southeastern Pennsylvania are centered around the author’s ancestry. The author has done an extraordinary amount of work tracing not only his family lines but in bringing a number of the lines forward from 18th century immigrants to Pennsylvania into the mid-nineteenth century. Each volume includes studies of ten or more families, with information apparently coming from a variety of original records. Unfortunately, source citations are limited to a bibliography when footnotes or endnotes attached to the various facts would have been much more helpful to other researchers. The volumes tend to refer to current county and township boundaries, when many of the events recorded predate the current lines. A third limitation is that the index is to surnames only, rather than to full given names. Despite these limitations, the volumes could be useful introductions to researchers whose families lived in any of the covered areas. One can hope that the author will donate a annotated copies of his research to one or more of the county historical/genealogical societies within his subject areas in order to help future researchers. * Note: Some of the volumes reviewed here are abstracts of original records that can be very helpful in the genealogist’s search for an ancestor’s records. The reader is cautioned, however, that the possibility of errors or omissions exists whenever abstracted and/or transcribed records are used. If at all possible, the original or a microfilm copy of the original should be examined. Many of the records included in the “Brief Reviews” section have been microfilmed and are available through the Family History Library system. Final copy 31 January, 2010 2001] Reviews 91 Early Church Records of Gloucester County, New Jersey. Compiled by Charlotte D. Meldrum and John Pitts Launey. 1996, 306 pages, index, paper. $25. Early Records of Cumberland County, New Jersey. Compiled by Charlotte D. Meldrum. 1998, 165 pages, index, paper. $14. The absence of many published early resources of South Jersey makes these two offerings important to genealogical researchers. The introduction to the Gloucester County volume includes a capsule history of both the Haddonfield and Woodbury Monthly Meetings with some general notes regarding the Society of Friends, the Moravian Church in the county, and the Swedes. Many of the abstracted records are from the two Quaker meetings. Births, receptions, marriages, and deaths recorded at the Moravian Church in the 1700s also appear, as do 1720—1750 marriages from the court records of New Jersey. The register of the marriages, baptisms and deaths of the Congregation of the Episcopal Church of St. John (1789—1803); and the register of St. Mary’s Church, Colestown (1796—1799) complete the book. The volume of Cumberland County records includes information from Cohansey Baptist Church (1757—1800); Deerfield Presbyterian Church (1746—1806); German Presbyterian Church at Cohansey (1749—1814), including births, burials and a list of immigrants who settled in this area (1731—1774); the Methodist Episcopal Church of Port Elizabeth (1798— 1801); marriages performed by the ministers of the Methodist Church in Salem Circuit (1797—1800); Maurice Monthly Meeting; Fairton (later Fairfield) Presbyterian Church; Cumberland County marriages (1795— 1800); Combined Register of the Moravian Missionaries in West New Jersey (1742—1762); New England Town Burying Ground, Fairton (1750— about 1812); Baptist Church at Dividing Creek (names of members, 1761—1810); Greenwich Presbyterian Church Records; and marriage records from the published New Jersey Archives. An introduction to the volume explains, in capsule form, the origins of the various Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Seventh-Day Baptists, United Brethren Swedish-Moravian, and Quaker churches and faiths within Cumberland County. For anyone whose roots go back to South Jersey during the colonial and early federal period, these books provide a quick reference to many of the extant church and government vital records which might provide that vital clue to fitting together yet another piece in his or her genealogy. Final copy 31 January, 2010 92 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine [Vol. 42 Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: Land Records, 1729—1750 and Land Warrants, 1710—1742. By Marsha Martin. Family Line Publications, Westminster, MD, 1998. viii plus 188 pages, index, paper. $15. This volume of Lancaster County deeds is prefaced by a very useful introduction detailing some of the events which accompanied the settlement of Pennsylvania during the early years of William Penn’s proprietorship. The introduction and preface covers some of the history of the development of the Lancaster County region and explains some of the Land Office processes and different types of instruments which are abstracted in the Lancaster County deed book. The volume is accompanied by several crude maps indicating the boundaries of Lancaster County during the period 1729—1750 as they were changed with the erection of surrounding counties from it and a list of place names and township names which appear in the records but which no longer are located in Lancaster County. The abstracts cover Deed Books A and B, giving the page number of original deed book, the names of grantor (seller) and grantee (buyer), the price paid by the buyer (consideration), the acreage and location. The actual metes and bounds of the properties are not given in either of these offerings. If mentioned within the deed, the names of the neighboring property owners are listed. Both abstractors also mention the recital of the previous deed and where it was recorded, the date of acknowledgment and the date of recording. In addition, both indicate whether the recorded instrument is a deed, mortgage, power of attorney, deed of release, or other type of transaction. Also included is the name of the recording officer. The second part of the book is a list of the land warrants issued for what is now Lancaster County between 1710 and 1742. These include numbers 567—757 and list the date, name of the warrantee, acreage, location (usually within a township or along a creek) and amount paid. Reviewed by Jefferson M. Moak and Kay Haviland Freilich, CG Final copy 31 January, 2010 2001] Reviews 93 ORDERING INFORMATION AKB PUBLICATIONS 691 Weavertown Road, Myerstown, PA 17067-2642 Shipping: $4 per volume F&W PUBLICATIONS/BETTERWAY BOOKS 1507 Dana Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45207 Phone Orders: 800-289-0963 Fax Orders: 888-590-4082 Internet: www.familytreemagazine.com Shipping: $3.95 per volume FAMILY LINE PUBLICATIONS: See Willow Bend Books HERITAGE QUEST PO Box 540670, North Salt Lake, UT 84054-0670 Phone Orders: 800-760-2455 Internet: www.HeritageQuest.com WILLOW BEND BOOKS & FAMILY LINE PUBLICATIONS 65 E. Main St., Westminster, MD 21157-5036 Phone: 800-876-6103 or 410-876-6101 Orders: (Visa, MasterCard, Discover) 800-876-6103 or 410-876-6101 Internet: www.WillowBendBooks.com Shipping: $3.00 for first volume; $.50 for each additional item Final copy 31 January, 2010