Genealogies of Rhode Island Families from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register

Book Reviews Genealogies of Rhode Island Families from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Selected and compiled by Gary Boyd Roberts. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1989. 2 vols, 804 pp. each vol., index. $95.00 per set plus $3.50 shipping, or $50.00 each plus $2.50 shipping. This set is a compilation of articles concerning Rhode Island and its settlers that previously appeared in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register from its inception in 1847 through 1988. It should not be confused with Genealogies of Rhode Island Families from Rhode Island Periodicals, issued in 1983 by the same publisher. Volume 1 contains an excellent introduction by Gary Boyd Roberts, who is on the staff at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Along with a comprehensive list of Rhode Island research sources, he provides a list of 100 Rhode Island families of the colonial era with a bibliography for further research on each family. Surnames Alden to Mowry are in Volume 1. Volume 2 covers surnames Niles to Wilson-Rouse and contains articles on original sources: cemetery inscriptions and probate, church, and vital records. Some of the towns included are Block Island, Bristol, Little Compton, Newport, Tiverton, and Westerly. Both volumes are indexed. This set would be a welcome addition to any library concerned with New England history or genealogy. Sandra M. Hewlett Historic Districts of America: The Mid-Atlantic. By Ralph W. Richardson. Heritage Books, Inc., Bowie, Md., 1991. 309 pp., paper. $17.50. Many Americans recognize Colonial Williamsburg and the New Orleans French Quarter as historic districts, but far fewer citizens realize there are more than 6000 such sites throughout the country. Most historic districts are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Others carry local government designation. The District of Columbia and the six states of the Mid-Atlantic region boast almost 1200 qualified locations, and Ralph Richardson presents them all in 197 198 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine this useful book. Some carry the same name as their location, for example, the "Cape May Historic District," while others claim unique titles, such as "Old Mauch Chunk Historic District" at jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Richardson intends his book to be used as a travel guide, and he fills it with such useful details as street addresses, telephone numbers, and tour times. Armchair history enthusiasts, however, who cannot take the trips, will benefit from the scope and variety of these preserved places which mark our residential, academic, commercial, and military architectural heritage. They will find an absorbing gamut of structural America ranging from "rundown homes with sagging porches to prosperous communities of gleaming restorations." John A. Baird, jr. Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, Vital Records: Genealogical and Historical Miscellany, Volume One. Collected and compiled by Phillip A. Rice and Jean A. Dellock. Southwest Pennsylvania Genealogical Services, Laughlintown, Pa., 1989. 571 pp., index. $36.50 plus $2.00 postage and handling. Pa. residents add $2.31 sales tax. Schuylkill County was created on 1 March 1811 from Barks and Northampton counties. In 1818, a small piece was added from Columbia and Luzerne counties. Settlements can be traced to the late 1750s. This volume contains many records that have not been published elsewhere. Included are tombstone inscriptions and church records, county death records 1852-1855, abstracts of German wills, lists of taxable inhabitants, and much more information of interest. Tombstone inscriptions are copied in the order in which they appear, and a drawing appears for the cemetery. A short explanation appears for each burial ground explaining the layout and giving a short history. Some of the church records included are translations of the original German records by Dr. Glenn P. Schwalm. The compilers are to be congratulated for this publication. The presentation of the material and their concise but clear explanations show their familiarity with the area and the records. Volume 2, 610 pp., published in 1991, contains more of the same. This volume is available for the same price. It is to be hoped that more volumes in this series will be published. Jane Adams Clarke Book Revieus 199 Why Are There No Tall Grandma's? A Guide to Assist You in Researching Your Family History. By Scott B. Chase. Hart of the Lakes Publishing, Interlaken, N.Y., 1990. 103 pp., bibliography, index, paper. $12.95. A catchy title and the author's light touch set the tone for this genealogical research primer that will have genuine appeal for the neophyte family historian. This is a "how to" book full of basic ideas and suggestions for implementing them presented in a methodical, step-by-step approach. The author begins by advising realistic rather than ultimate goals, and he flavors his advice with an original acronym, BAOPE (Be aware of possible errors). Scott Chase urges the use of certain genealogical forms such as a Pedigree Sheet and a Family Group Sheet. He presents a suggested series of itemized steps interlarded with examples and a sequence of "tricks" (such as cutting telephone costs by calling distant libraries after 11 p.m. for their recorded messages). The Chase technique applies to any historical period, but available resources grow fewer as the researcher goes back in time through four specific eras: the present to 1910, 1910 to 1790, 1790 to 1700, and 1700 to 1620. A final chapter deals with the effect of biological science advancements on family histories in the next twenty years. What will AI ( artificial insemination) and IVF ( in-vitro fertilization) do to genealogical research? Chase believes there will be some very interesting "family" situations by the year 2010. John A. Baird, jr. Going to Salt Lake City To Do Family History Research. By J. Carlyle Parker. Marietta Publishing Co., Turlock, Calif., 1989. 84 pp., paper, index. $10.95 plus $1.50 shipping. Anyone who has been to the Family History Library knows how overwhelming the resources there can be, but, armed with a research strategy, one can make great use of available time at the library. This book outlines what you should do before you visit the library: plan and organize your research goals, visit a local Family History Center to check the card catalog and International Genealogical Index (IGI), and use your public library. To help you plan your trip, the book lists places to stay in Salt Lake City, restaurants, and even tells you about parking areas. Once you are in the library, this informative book can save you time, as it gives you maps of the four 200 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine floors, with the locations of research materials on each floor, and suggestions for research in the library and how to ask for help. There is a chapter on how to use the Library Catalog and the IGI, with an explanation of their batch numbers and how to access the original data. First time visitors to the library will find this book very beneficial. Sandra M. Hewlett Early Families of Narthampton County, Pennsylvania. Vol. 1: Frack/Seyfried. By John T. Humphrey. Plainfield Press, Pen Argyl, Pa., 1991. xxv plus 424 pp., illustrations, index. $35.00 plus $3.50 postage and handling. This volume is a compilation of the paternal ancestors of the author, John T. Humphrey. In addition to the Frank and Seyfried families mentioned in the title, the book also contains chapters on the following related families: Andreas, Berstler, Biesecker, Blum, Boemper, Church, arenhardt, Eyerly, Frey, Hoeth, Humphrey, Krebs, Levering, Levers, Loesch, Messinger, Miksch, Miller, Schweitzer, Stecher, Steiger, Waldborn, and Weinland. Each chapter is well documented, and two ancestral charts following page 388 help guide the reader through the maze of families. A full name index completes the volume. Many of the families in this work were members of the Moravian Church, and the author has relied heavily on published Moravian records, but he did not include the excellent primary source material in the Moravian Archives in Bethlehem. One looks in vain for that genealogical gem, the Lebenslauf. This wonderful biographical document exists for many of the people mentioned in this book. One flaw that could eventually present a problem to a researcher is the misspelling of European place names in the text. In the chapter for the immigrant of the Andreas family, the Palatine place name Hassloch is given as Hasslock on pages 99 and 100, although the source citation on page 101 gives it correctly has Hassloch. In the chapter on Melchior Stealer, pages 354 and 356, it is stated that he was born in Andersbach, but this should read Adersbach. Also on page 356, we read Gross Gralach, when, in fact, Grossgartach is the correct place given in the source material. With the exception of these minor flaws, this book contains much useful data on these families. In those cases where wills and estate Book Reviews 201 inventories were located, the full text of the documents is given. In addition to the probate records, the author consulted many other sources, including tax lists, deeds, cemetery records, military records, naturalizations, and ship lists. This book should be very useful to researchers working on these Northampton County families. Annette K. Burgert Irish Family friskily. By Marilyn Yurdan. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1990. xi plus 194 pp., maps, illustrations, index. $19.95. Irish Family History is a tidy and complete guide to Irish research, especially tailored for those whose familiarity with the subject is scanty. A sketch of Irish history, administrative structure, and cultural background comprises the first third of the book. Yurdan does not skimp in describing the brutalities inflicted upon Ireland by its English overlords through the centuries, but she does fail to speak of Easter Week, of the establishment of the Irish Free State, and of the Irish Civil War. These are events of interest to genealogists because they account for the fact that civil records are divided between Dublin and Belfast after Partition, and because so many records were destroyed in the shelling of the Four Courts in 1922. A section on beginning a genealogical search follows. In this section the author speaks at length on obtaining preliminary data from relatives and friends of the family. Like all who write on "howto-get-started," she might have stressed more strongly that every piece of information from family remembrances and published genealogies must be verified from reliable records. There follow chapters on resources, in all the English-speaking countries to which the Irish immigrated. These chapters are very thorough, and in the chapter on the United States, Yurdan devotes several pages to a discussion of the holdings of the Family History Library of Utah, in Salt Lake City. The discussion of the sources in Ireland is thorough and up-to-date. It includes a map of central Dublin, showing the locations of the offices and libraries mentioned. Civil registration, the Irish census, parish registers, Griffith's Valuations, old age pension claims, hearth money rolls, and probate are described, and the reader is informed where these records may be consulted in Dublin. For the National Archives 202 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine in the Four Courts, the reader is advised that no documents are available between 12:45 and 2 p.m., lunch time. You're in Ireland now! The author does not claim to tell the reader everything about Irish genealogy. She refers to other works in the text and concludes with five pages of bibliography. For those visiting Ireland, or planning to write to Ireland, several pages of useful addresses are given, including those of a number of the provincial Family History Centers. Yurdan is frank about the difficulties in Irish research: personal details are woefully lacking, records are fragmentary until the 1860s, and, since families tended to remain in the same locale for generations, there are many individuals in the same place with the same name. Information on the native Irish is almost impossible to find before 1830, so the author suggests that in addition to trying to identify ancestors as individuals, researchers generalize about how those individuals would have lived, worked, married, and died in those hard times. As previously noted, this book is especially suited to those just beginning an Irish research program. This reviewer has been to Ireland three times. The next time I go, I just may take a copy with me. Robert Emmet Connor Supplement to Torrey 's New England Marriages Prior to 1700. By Melinde Lutz Sanborn. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1991. 80 pp., index. $12.50 plus $2.50 shipping. Clarence Almon Torrey spent 40 years indexing marriages that he found in printed books in the library of the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) . When he died in 1962, his manuscript was acquired by NEHGS and published on microfilm. In 1985 Genealogical Publishing Co. printed this work as New England Marriages Prior to 1700, and it has been stated that 99 per cent of early New England marriages appeared in the Torrey work. Melinde Sanborn has now given us the first update to this major reference work. By limiting herself to marriages and/or family groups from the original Torrey, she has made corrections, and in some cases deletions, and has documented the source for any change. There is a complete list of these sources in the book and a helpful introduction. The entries are arranged alphabetically, by groom, and there is an every-name index. It should be noted that some Long Island marriages are included as well as newly-discovered English origins. Book Revietts 203 Anyone who has ever referred to Torrey in his or her research would benefit from this book. Sandra M. Hewlett History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. By George Smith, M.D. Heritage Books, Inc., Bowie, Md., repr. 1991, orig. publ. 1862. 582 pp., illus., maps, paper. $35.00 plus $3.00 shipping. Since Dr. Smith brought out his documentary history of the large area of Penn's commonwealth embraced in the bounds of present Chester, Lancaster, and Delaware counties, it has remained an authoritative work highly regarded by historians and treasured by libraries fortunate to hold copies. The history is presented in chronological order with numerous extracts from original sources from the discover), of the territory until the Civil War. The author devotes a short section to the geology, flora, and fauna of the region. For the genealogist, aside from the many names found in the text, there are useful lists, including tithables in 1677, taxables of 1722, local officials, and an enumeration by towns of those residents who suffered war damages at the hands of the British during the Revolution. Another section has biographies of early settlers and prominent men, together with several pages of facsimilies of their signatures. More than two dozen engravings and five fold-out maps are attractive features. Aubrey H. Baldwin, III Books in Brief Reviewed by Sandra M. Hewlett (SMH), John A. Baird, Jr. (JAB), and Aubrey H. Baldwin, III (AHB) Directory of Ancestrat Heads of New England Families, 1620-1700. Compiled by Frank It Holmes. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, reprint 1989. 274 pp., cloth. $20.00 plus $2.50 shipping. This book is a reprint of a 1923 edition. In alphabetical order it lists surnames of many New England settlers with the towns in which they 204 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine settled, and, in some cases, the places from whence they came. At least one date appears with each name and place. The etymology of some of the surnames is given and, from the author's Foreword, it would appear that this topic was of great interest to him. Most likely a great deal of research has been done on these families since this book's original publication, so this data should be used only as a guide until it can be verified with documented research. SMH Index to U.S. Invalid Pension Records, 1801-1815. By Murtie June Clark. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1991. 155 pp., index, cloth. $1830. This volume is a never-before published index to a list of Revolutionary War invalid pension payments prepared from a ledger which survived two fires in the early years of our nation's capital. The more than 2200 recipients (a number which includes disabled veterans from other eighteenth-century "Acts of the Military Establishment") are listed by state and territory. The helpful introduction reviews invalid pension laws from the time of the Plymouth Colony (1636) through the period covered by this brief book. JAB Quaker Marriage Certificates, Concord Monthly Meeting Delaware County, Pennsylvania, 1679-1808. Compiled by Gwen Boyer Bjorkman. Heritage Books, Bowie, Md., 1991. 246 pp., index, paper. $20.00. Gwen Bjorkman's transcription of Quaker marriage certificates of London Grove Monthly Meeting in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine, 37 (1991):108, has a companion volume published by Heritage Books covering the early records of Concord Monthly Meeting, now in Delaware County, originally in Chester County. The long lists of witnesses on these certificates serve as an important resource as a partial census for the area, supplementing tax lists, deeds, wills, and court records. AIM Book Reviews. 205 Historical Background and Annals of the Swiss and German Pioneer Settlers of Southeastern Pennsylvania. By H. Frank Eshleman. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, reprint 1991. 386 pp., index. $25.00 plus $2.50 shipping. Now issued for the sixth time since 1970, when the Genealogical Publishing Company first reprinted Eshleman's scholarly study of the sectarian movements of the Baptists and Anabaptists, the book has lost none of its popularity with genealogists and those seeking German ancestors from the middle of the Dark Ages down to the time of the Revolutionary War. Dr. Don Yoder, the eminent Mennonite authority, reviewed this work in the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine in 1970, noting its "orientation toward Lancaster County genealogy, with a lot of pertinent and historically correct identification of family backgrounds in Europe." As history, the immigration of the German pietists to Pennsylvania is a saga of endurance that adds luster to the annals of the Keystone State.