Book Reviews

Book Reviews Atlas of Perry, Juniata and Mifflin Counties, Pennsylvania. (Evansville, Ind.: Unigraphic, Inc., 1975. [Reprint: Pomeroy, Whitman and Company edition, 1877] $14.50.) One of the problems faced by a genealogist is to locate the exact site where an ancestor lived. This is often a long process if title searching and the use of deeds is followed. A great help are county atlases, such as were published a hundred years ago, which shows the exact place of residence of every family. This atlas for Perry, Juniata and Mifflin Counties (originally a part of Cumberland County) has now been republished, with about a ten percent reduction in size, by the Mifflin County Historical Society, 17 N. Main Street, Lewistown, Pa. 17044, from whom it is available. The reprint is dedicated to John Martin Stroup (1896-1975) , a long-time local historian. Anyone searching families in the 1800s should use this book, a boon to genealogists. It can be used in conjunction with the 1880 census. Names of neighbors are helpful, as are the detailed township maps. One drawback is that in reducing the size, the scale becomes wrong. The map scales are given in miles to the inch, or rods to the inch. This means that all distances are about ten percent short. Residents of Pennsylvania, when ordering this work, should add 870 sales tax to their check or money order. RAYMOND MARTIN BELL A Genealogical and Personal History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. By William W. H. Davis. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1975 [Facsimile of 1905 edition of Volume III of History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, edited by Warren S. Ely and John W. Jordan] xix, 732 pages, Illus., Index, $30.00.) We owe a debt of gratitude to the Genealogical Publishing Company for reprinting this long out of print volume on Bucks County, Pennsylvania genealogy and biography. Here, contained in one volume, are both a concise background history and a contemporary (1905) genealogy of various branches of leading Bucks County families. The book was originally compiled as the last of a three volume county history, and much information that may seem to have been omitted may be found in Volumes I or II. 242 Book Reviews 243 Slightly over two hundred families (many interrelated) are dealth with substantially, the histories covering, in numerous instances, several generations prior to the immigration of the American progenitor. In most cases the full story is told, but few references are cited. However, this lack should not impose any doubts on the reader as to the authenticity of the information given, since Warren S. Ely, (whose name should be familiar to researchers of Bucks County . history and genealogy) supervised the compilation and verification of most of the genealogical material. With many families he also added hitherto unpublished gleanings, carefully gathered over a period of more than a decade, from primary source materials both in this country and abroad. Ely refers to, or transcribes, original documents in the text itself, or by means of footnotes, thus verifying statements, and making the narrative more interesting. It is chiefly the biographies which should be checked for accuracy, especially with regard to vital statistics; for it is here that the discovered mistakes seem CO occur. Some illustrations appear scattered throughout the volume in the form of photographic portraits and pictures of early Bucks County structures. Why some biographees have portraits included, while other often more prominent do not, is a puzzle. Another peculiarity is that many coats of arms are cited and usually authenticated, but in only one instance is an heraldic illustration included. This illustration is very small (less than one inch in height.) It would seem that the addition of many more would be very helpful, since very few people can accurately interpret a blazon. The method of organization of the genealogies and biographies completely baffles the reviewer. It is not by alphabet or chronology. A tremendous wealth of material is given, but unfortunately, like so many early county histories and genealogies, a comprehensive index is very lacking. The incomplete surname index provided will at best serve only as a mediocre guide to the contents. In spite of the frustrating lack of a decent -index, and the few biographical errors, genealogists and historians working on Bucks County families, or readers with Bucks County origins, will find this a very valuable book indeed. DUNCAN CAIRNES ELY Records of Orphans Court for Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1747-1761. By Dorothy B. Lapp and Frances B. Dunlay. (Danboro, Pa.: Richard T. and Mildred C. Williams, 1975. 201 p. Index, 42 p. $15.00) The fourth of a series of transcripts of the records of the Orphans Court of Chester County, this spiral bound work is a word by word record of Volumes 5 and 6 of the Orphans Court proceedings from the year 1747 through 1761. Exceedingly valuable genealogically, it includes settlements 244 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine of decedents' and minors' estates, appointment of guardians and land distributions. Surnames are capitalized, making them readily distinguishable. As in the previous volumes, the pages referred to in the Index are those used in the copy in the Court House, which page numbers of the original record are given on the left hand side of the entries. Previous published volumes are available for the years 1697-1710 ($15.00) ; 1716-1734 ($12.50) ; 1734-1746/7 ($15.00). They are available from the Chester County Historical Society, 225 N. High Street, West Chester, Pa., 19380. The first of these includes, in addition to the records of the Orphans Court, those of the Court of Common Pleas and the Court of Quarter Sessions before their separation. Road records and deeds for transfer of property are included, as well as the above mentioned decedents' and minors' estates and guardianships. In preparation is a fifth volume which will include Revolutionary War soldiers' claims. MARWOOD DARLINGTON Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Area Key. By Florence Clint. (Denver: Area Keys, 1975. Maps, Illus, unpaged. $6.00) This collection of information contains photocopies of various histories of Luzerne County; a list of boroughs and townships, with dates of incorporation; lists of Court House records, newspapers, and cemeteries; a number of useful maps; photocopies of LDS index cards on the area. Frequent reference is made to the destruction of records caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972. It is unfortunate that this information has been published in such a sloppy fashion, with so many errors — for example, three titles are given for the County Historical Society, the names of towns spelled incorrectly, a deficient cemetery list, etc. It is hoped that a future edition will be presented in a more professional manner. EFFINGHAM P. HUMPHREY, JR. History and Descendants of the John B. Weaver Family, 1711-1974. By Anna W. Hoover and Esther W. Hoover. (Gordonville, Pa.: Privately printed, 1974. ii, 125 pp. $2.25.) This is an attempt to organize a genealogy of certain descendants of Georg Weber, (d. 1772), of Weaverland in Lancaster County. Weber's bible inscriptions were only recently discussed in PGM (see my article in Vol. XXXIX, no. 2, 1975.). The authors apparently did not know about the existence of this Bible, so their information about Georg's children is now incorrect. The introduction is lifted verbatim from an article I wrote for the Mennonite Research Journal, (January 1973), as well as from Frank Book Reviews 245 Diffenderfer's The Three Earls. It does not add anything new to the history of the Weaver family. There are also numerous typographical errors, pages 8-9 are incorrect, and marked so after publication, which is, at least, being honest about it. There are many ink corrections entered by hand in each copy. The additions, in this case, are appreciated. The John B. Weaver mentioned in the title, we learn, is John Brubaker Waever, 1858-1947, first appearing on page 15, and treated more fully on page 36. He was a Mennonite living in Juniata County until 1901. The first 40 pages connect him with his ancestors, Georg Weber; the second part of the book records his descendants by Anna Hostetter Oberholzer, 1863-1947. Although the errors in the text are compounded by poor printing, there is a great deal of useful information on the later generations, information which one would assume was gleaned firsthand from relatives. Unfortunately, since no references are cited, it is very difficult to check the accuracy of the authors' data. WILLIAM WOES WEAVER Shoemaker Pioneers. By Benjamin G. Shoemaker, III (Philadelphia, 1975. v, 530pp. Illus., Index. Available from compiler, 515 Locust Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19144, 825.00.) This magnum opus crowns twenty five years of research by the compiler to sort out the seventy-some Shoemaker (Schoonmaker, Schumacher, etc.) families who came to America before 1775. Most of them came to Pennsylvania, a good number to New York, and a scattering in the other colonies. To simplify matters, the compiler refers to all of them as "Shoemaker" execpt when quoting documents. The information is arranged geographically, by colony. A final section of about 50 pages is devoted to Shoemakers in Ohio and other Midwestern and Western states, in some cases giving connections with their antecedents in the East. Information on each family is given in a narrative style, with sources given, and carried down to the early nineteenth century. The occasional unidentified person is clearly indicated as such. The Appendices are most useful, especially the extracts from the 1790 census, giving each Shoemaker entry by state, county and town, often keyed to the Heidgerds' basic and comprehensive work on the Schoonmaker family of New York. The index is excellent, despite the almost overwhelming number of Shoemakers listed. Everyone doing research on a Shoemaker family, however spelled, will need to consult this book, and will be grateful for the compiler's pioneering efforts. EFFINGHAM P. HUMPHREY, TR. 246 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Pennsylvania 1776. Edited by Robert Secor, John M. Pickering and Irwin Richman. (University Park, Pa.: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1975. 380 p. Illustrations, maps, index. $12.50.) This work offers a fascinating account of life in Pennsylvania just 200 years ago. It is comprehensive and authoritative, and at the same time readable and refreshing. A great deal of ground is covered in the five main sections — The Land and the People — How They Lived — Ideas and Beliefs—The Arts — Politics and War—yet it is so organized that it can be read profitably in small doses. There are several family studies, rural and urban; many short biographies, and careful attention is paid to the many religious and national groups that comprised this—the most diverse of all the American colonies. The text reads so well, that without knowing it, one would not suspect that it is the product of a committee; 25 specialists who wrote the main narrative, and 55 faculty members who wrote vignettes on special subjects. The discussing of the 1770 camp of Pennsylvania is just one of the many valuable details in the book; great imagination has been shown in choosing hundreds of contemporary illustrations from a variety of sources, many of them obscure. The suggestions for further reading are well chosen. This publication reflects great credit on the Pennsylvania State University, which undertook it as part of its Bicentennial program. The book is highly recommended. EFFINGHAM P. HUMPHREY, JR. Bicentennial City. Walking Tours of Historic Philadelphia. By John Francis Marion. (Princeton, N.J.: Pyne Press, 1974. xiii, 209 p. Illustrations, maps, index. $14.95, hard bound; $4.95, paper back.) Now in its third printing, this compact book deserves its success. With a keen eye to the historical and architectural, the author leads his readers through the many fascinating byways of Philadelphia. The book is, in short, a tangible local history with enough personal anecdotes to remove the occasional stigma of dryness that can be attached to guidebooks. The city is divided into twelve well-planned tours, each of which can consume several days; the city's many leading figures and families are presented as is appropriate, but a more realistic flavor is imparted by the inclusion of many lesser-known inhabitants. This presentation is not only worthy in itself, but is so provocative that interested readers will be encouraged to undertake further research. This is one of the best of the many comparable publications inspired by the Bicentennial, and its value will outlast its topical interest. One caution, there are many more proper names in the text, than in the index. EFFRINGHAM P. HUMPHREY, TR.