Smoky Mountain Family Historian

Book Review: Proprietary Records of South Carolina

2012-01-28T07:26:00.000-05:00

Bates, Susan Baldwin and Leland, Harriott Cheves, eds. Proprietary Records of South Carolina. 3 vols. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2005-2007.

Did you have ancestors in South Carolina before the end of the 17th century? If so, History Press has a three-volume work that is absolutely essential for researching the earliest period of the province that eventually became the eighth state admitted to the United States. Susan Baldwin Bates and Harriott Cheves Leland have painstakingly abstracted some of earliest land and estate records of the state.

Volume one focuses on Abstracts of the Records of the Secretary of the Province, 1675-1695. The introduction provides important information about the record group as well as the editorial process. The largest portion of the book contains abstracts. The records contain land claims, estate administrations, bonds, releases, estate inventories, wills, marriages, and other assorted items of tremendous genealogical and historical value. There is a small section of color plates illustrating some of the records, including a couple of maps. The appendices include a list of provincial secretaries and a list of settlers taken from a map, There is a glossary, a list of titles used during the proprietary period, a bibliography, and an index of places and people.

Volume two contains Abstracts of the Records of the Register of the Province, 1675-1696. The introduction provides information about the office of the register, the land grant process, and headrights in addition to the record group itself. The majority of the book contains the records themselves. There are land grants, deeds, business records, indentures, receipts, wills, quit rents, and other miscellaneous items among the records. There are a few color plates illustrating the records and showing some of the maps in the record group. The appendices contain a listing of those serving as provincial registers and lists of settlers from two maps.There is a bibliography and an index of places and people.

Volume three contains Abstracts of the Records of the Surveyor General of the Province, Charles Towne, 1678-1698. The introduction provides important information about the founding of Charleston, about the office responsible for these records,and about the records themselves. The records themselves consist chiefly of land warrants. There is a section of color plates illustrating records, plats, and maps found in the record group.The appendices consist of a list of the surveyors, histories of specific lots in Charleston, and the surveyor's notebook.There is a bibliography and an index of places and people.

These three volumes are indispensable for those researching South Carolina's early history and for those researching the lives of early settlers of South Carolina. Researchers are fortunate that a publisher such as History Press is willing to publish volumes such as these which have a more limited audience to make them widely available for historians, genealogists, and other interested persons.

Note: The three volumes were provided by the publisher for review.

Book Review: The Dead Beat

2012-01-28T03:00:00.000-05:00

Johnson, Marilyn. The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries. New York: HarperCollins, 2006.

As a genealogist, I am quite familiar with obituaries. I use them all the time to add evidence in support of a date or relationship. The type of obituary with which I am most familiar is the one that is written based on a template which survivors complete at the funeral home as part of the package deal. This is not the type of obituary that the author of this book devours. Instead, she sings the praises of professional obituary writers employed by some newspapers who write the obituaries of famous celebrities as well as lesser known persons. Apparently this type of obituary has a somewhat cult-like following. The writers themselves know who is old and hasn't passed away yet, who is in poor health and could die at any time, etc. and begin researching so that they need only add the pertinent details of the death to their prose. Different obituary writers even employe different styles which the author has categorized. I fear that this author would include the type of obituary that I most enjoy in her classification of obituaries that read more like a telephone directory. The writer concentrates so much on her favorite type of obituary that she almost neglects to mention the reasons most people read the obituaries in their local papers--to make sure they are not among the deceased and to see if any of their friends have passed away. In spite of its weaknesses, this book does provide insight into persons obsessed with reading (and writing) obituaries of this type.

Book Review: The Diary of a Southern Lady

2012-01-26T20:21:00.001-05:00

Jones, Katharine, ed. The Diary of a Southern Lady: Georgina Francis Barrett Devlin, April 18, 1852-February 19, 1912. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace, 2011.

This diary details the everyday life of Georgina Francis Barrett Devlin of Yazoo City, Mississippi. The diary writer was born in England in 1825 and died in Yazoo City in 1914. The diary makes frequent mentions of persons with whom the subject associated. The editor has added footnotes to assist the modern reader in identifying some of these individuals. There is a gap between 1881 and 1895 where most of the diaries have been lost. The editor has also included extant letters and other notes that are relevant to the life of the diary's author. Based on her record of expenditures included in the diary, the individual who wrote the book was probably more affluent than most of the persons residing in the area. She does, however mention individuals who took music lessons, who rented from her, who did her laundry, etc.

As with most self-published works, there are a number of problems with the work. The one that irritated this reader the most is the numbering of the footnotes. Rather than using consecutive numbering within the chapter, the author restarted footnote numbering on each page. Another problem is in the identification of sources. At the end of the book, the editor has includes a few obituaries, but does not indicate the source for these items. Another problem is with documentation of genealogical data. The editor includes a brief genealogical outline of the family, but does not provide documentation for dates and other included information. While there is a list of persons mentioned in the diary, there really needs to be a comprehensive every name index to the book.

In spite of the problems mentioned above, if you had relatives living in the Yazoo City area during the time periods included in the diary, you will want to read this to get a feel for life in the city at that time and to see if your relatives interacted with Mrs. Devlin.

Note: This review is based on a copy of the book provided from the author for review. Copies of the book may be purchased from Amazon.com.

Why Do We Dream of a White Christmas?

2011-12-23T11:05:00.001-05:00

The obvious reason is because Bing Crosby and company so romanticized the song that we all want one. Christmas cards and other winter scenes picture the pristine condition of the snow in a time when sleighs and carriages were popular -- not the muddy, driven-through mess that many of us have to deal with when the white stuff actually arrives in this day and age. As a Southerner though, I think there's another reason. We see so little snow that we actually want to see some. What better time than when family and friends are gathered and can stay inside and enjoy each other's company a bit more?

The weatherman has said that it will be too warm for a White Christmas this year. Instead, we're likely to have a rainy one. Am I being too bad when I hope that it's colder than the weatherman expects so that we can have that Christmas of which I dream and have only seen about three times in my entire life? If not, I may just have to mix three songs together so that I come up with "I'll have a White Christmas if only in my dreams."

Book Review: The Runaway Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini

2011-12-19T03:00:00.000-05:00

Sylvia discovers a journal tucked in with some old family quilts. The journal was written by her ancestor's sister and documents the family's settlement on Elm Creek farm and involvement with the Underground Railroad. As she begins reading its pages, her friend Summer begins doing research at the county historical society. Sarah and Matt begin an archaeological excavation on the property. As a genealogist, I did not want to put this one down! I occasionally wanted Summer to seek out another source that might have held an answer, but it would have been rushing the story to prematurely reach the place that source might have led. This is my favorite in the Elm Creek Quilts series to date!

Book Review: Who Has Seen the Wind by W. O. Mitchell

2011-12-17T03:00:00.000-05:00

This is the story of Brian O'Connal's childhood in a small town on the Saskatchewan prairie. It's full of memorable characters and even some amusing scenes in the life of a small town. I especially enjoyed Brian's first visit to the farm when he lived with his uncle for a time. The dialect sometimes made it difficult to read, but it's a book that would make a terrific read aloud for elementary aged children. The physical dimensions of the book I borrowed through interlibrary loan made it somewhat uncomfortable to read, but the illustrations made up for it.

Book Review: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

2011-12-15T03:00:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that I waited so many years to make the acquaintance of Francie Nolan, her brother Neeley, and her parents Katie and Johnny. They reside in Brooklyn. Francie learns quickly that she is the only one in her class whose parents were born in the United States. The others were children of immigrants. Francie excels in school, especially in writing. She loves to read, although the librarian in her neighborhood library is not going to win any customer service awards. This is just a nice, clean novel about growing up in a poor family and working toward making things better for the next generation than it was for your own. I'm sure that I'll revisit this book in the future.

Book Review: The Body in the Gazebo by Katherine Hall Page

2011-12-13T03:00:00.000-05:00

Faith's friend Pix is leaving town to attend functions associated with her child's wedding. However, her mother has been ill so she gets Faith to check in on her. Pix's mom Ursula begins to share a family secret with Faith in hopes that Faith will be able to solve it. In the meantime, $10,000 of the minister's discretionary fund has gone missing, and Faith's husband Tom is being accused by the vestry. Faith must also work to discover who has framed her husband. Both mysteries are intriguing. Because the mystery of the "body in the gazebo" is 70 years old, this installment is quite a bit different in that involves a lot of storytelling and listening.

Book Review: Murder Past Due by Miranda James

2011-12-11T03:00:00.000-05:00

Athena College archivist Charlie Harris moved back to Athena after inheriting his aunt's home. It was his aunt's wish that he continue to board college students in the large house. The current student is Justin. He's just learned that he is the son of a famous writer who is a native of the town of Athena. No one really likes Godfrey Priest (the famed author). When he turns up dead, suspicion turns to Justin and his mother Julia. The man he's called father all these years is hospitalized at the time. Charlie really doesn't believe that Justin or Julia is responsible for the murder so he sets out to investigate. His housekeeper's daughter Kanesha is the acting chief deputy and is in charge of the investigation. There are lots of motives and lots of suspects when a womanizing man such as Godfrey Priest is the victim. As the novel progresses other motives are discovered as well. I really enjoyed this first installment in the series. Athena does not seem to be based on any of North Mississippi's towns or colleges. It's a private college in a town that appears to be small. There are some aspects that resemble Ole Miss and Oxford, but there appears to be no town square, and the town seems to be smaller than Oxford. The towns with private colleges such as Blue Mountain don't seem to be a match either. I absolutely loved Diesel, Charlie's Maine Coon cat. Diesel goes almost everywhere with Charlie -- to work, out shopping, and even to a memorial service.

What Were They Thinking? or Were They Thinking at All?

2011-12-10T22:44:00.001-05:00

That's the question I've been asking myself since hearing about RootsTech's decision to disallow vendors who don't meet their criteria as technology vendors. I'm more and more convinced that RootsTech is nothing more than a trade show.

I actually considered attending RootsTech this year, but I decided against it because as much as I love the way technological innovations can be of great assistance in one's genealogical projects, I'd much rather attend a conference that presents advanced topics rather than one showing the latest gadgets.

When I go to genealogical conferences, I always look forward to the exhibit hall. I usually have a list of books I plan to purchase at the conference if they are available. I sometimes have software on that list as well. I will sometimes even look for other techie items. However, I do not want to go to an exhibit hall that lacks books. I can spend hours looking at the books. I always come home with more than the ones I had planned to buy. I rarely come home with technology products that were not on my list -- the FlipPal being a notable exception. (I was, however, looking for a portable scanner at the time. I just had expected to purchase it later, and I had a different one on my wish list than the Flip Pal. The rave reviews I was hearing at the conference in the exhibit hall sent me over to their booth to take a look, and I came away convinced it was the one for me.)

The truth is . . . I just can't justify most technology purchases. I can't afford to purchase all of those products. When I make a technology purchase, I have to see a clear need for it and know that I will get my money's worth from the product before it becomes obsolete. There are very few products that actually meet that criteria.

As far as online databases, I'm already subscribing to as many as my current budget will allow. These are the essential ones that I use on a regular basis. Sure, I'd love to have all of them, but the truth is, I probably would not get my money's worth out of most of the other databases. I have to pick and choose wisely. Most of the vendors of these databases display at both the NGS and FGS conferences. I'm able to take a look at them and see what new developments have arisen in the exhibit hall, as I'm browsing the books and visiting with friends.

If I were to go to a conference such as RootsTech that had technology vendors only, I'd be tempted to skip the exhibit hall completely. You can call me a Luddite . . . but I think most of my colleagues at work would disagree with you. I'm one of the techiest people on campus and have taught college-level Computer Information Systems courses. I still love my books. I also love my Kindle, but I still love the ones on paper in soft and hardcover bindings!

By the way, I wonder if RootsTech has considered that most of those books were written and published on computers using software applications of various kinds? I guess not.

Book Review: The Ninth Daughter by Barbara Hamilton

2011-12-09T03:00:00.000-05:00

I have mixed feelings when it comes to making historical figures stars of serial fiction. On the one hand, I love the visit with that time period in a more readable fashion. On the other, I have a problem when it comes to placing the historical figure in situations in which they probably never were. Such is the case with this first installment in a series of mysteries featuring Abigail Adams, wife of later-to-be president John Adams. In this installment, one woman is dead and another is missing. It appears that a member of the Sons of Liberty, perhaps even her husband, may be responsible or have been framed. She is determined to find the real person before the English officials arrest her husband. I loved the references to historical persons. I am familiar enough with Boston and its streets and neighborhoods to have visualized and placed the geographic references. What I couldn't quite believe were the activities in which Abigail Adams engaged in the novel for a woman in that time period. In spite of my problem with the believability of the novel, it was an enjoyable read.

Book Review: A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

2011-12-07T03:00:00.000-05:00

Clara finally has a solo art show at a prominent museum in Montreal. There is a party back in Three Pines after the opening. The next morning the body of a childhood friend (and later enemy) of Clara is found in Clara's garden. The victim was an artist who had been a recovering alcoholic. The beauty of this novel is that it is a novel of contrasts, with the light and dark metaphor playing prominently into it. Her characters are realistic and flawed. Gamache allows Agent Lacoste to take the lead in this investigation to see if she's ready for a likely upcoming promotion. The officers, especially Jean-Guy, are still dealing with the psychological aftermath of the ordeal in the last novel (Bury Your Dead). There are hints of what will come in future installments. Do I really have to wait a year for the next one? The only consolation is that with Penny, it is worth the wait. [Review written in September; it won't really be quite a full year's wait now!]

Book Review: Christian Apologetics by Douglas R. Groothuis

2011-12-05T03:00:00.000-05:00

This is one of the best works on apologetics that I've ever encountered. The author approaches the subject from a philosophical perspective and uses arguments that show how to reason with persons of different religious persuasion whether they believe in a major religion, are atheist/agnostic, or are pluralists (as so many are today). He shows how popular culture has influenced some misconceptions that are frequently encountered as well. He avoids the use of jargon. When he does use a term that might be considered jargon, he explains it very simply and uses analogies/illustrations so that the concept is very understandable. There is also a glossary of some terms. The author's bibliography and footnotes demonstrate his mastery of the subject. The index is great. It is a HUGE book, but it's very readable. Highly recommended.

An Immigrant Ancestor Found

2011-12-04T03:00:00.000-05:00

All branches of my own family have been in the United States (or the colonies that became the United States) since the 18th century (with some here as early as the late 1620s/early 1630s). I enjoy the adventures that I've had helping others with their more recent immigrants. This week one of my colleagues at the library decided to take advantage of the access to free World War II records on Ancestry.com during her lunch break. She searched for her great grandfather, but she did not find him. She decided to see what FamilySearch had to offer. She came across an interesting record there that was in the right location, but the first name did not match what she had always been told. However, when she looked at that World War II draft registration, one thing became very clear. It was probably her ancestor. The birth year on the card did not match, but there was an age recorded which matched what her ancestor would have been (rather than the 10 years later that the birth year would have indicated). The contact person was her great grandmother. It was looking more and more like she had a match, but there was one thing that greatly puzzled her. His place of birth was Austria rather than Poland as everyone in the family believed. She came back to my office quite excited and full of questions. Armed with her new name, I quickly searched the passenger lists and found this person on ships for both 1902 and 1910. I also found a known brother's arrival in 1903 with her great grandfather listed as a contact. We also located photos for most of the ships. The passenger arrival records also cleared up the mystery. Her great grandfather was born in Austria; however, his nationality was listed as Polish, and the town in which he'd been living in Poland was given. (Incidentally, she'd had a family tradition of a town, but the spelling was off slightly and might have led her to a different place.) Now, armed with the correct name of the town, she should be able to locate additional records. She also knows that she'll have to check Austrian records. She now knows his real name. By the way, her great grandmother's name was Victoria, so what do you think he was known by in America? Albert, of course!

Book Review: A Crafty Killing by Lorraine Bartlett

2011-12-03T03:00:00.000-05:00

Ezra Hilton, owner of a Artisans Alley, is found dead. Katie Bonner, widow of Ezra's former 10% partner, becomes executor and majority owner in the business upon his death. She'd had little to do with the business up to that point, but hated her job with an overbearing boss. She quits and decides to run the shop which is about to go under. She also doesn't think the detective is doing all he can to resolve the crime so she sets out to investigate on her own, gathering as much information as she can about the artisans. With Katie's background in marketing, we can begin to see hope for survival of the struggling business as she takes over operations. I found myself liking most of the cast of characters that will likely be repeats (although I must confess that there might be one or two that I wouldn't mind seeing charged with a future crime). I had the feeling that this book is mostly a set-up and introduction for the rest of the series. There's really very little action, and I feel we didn't get to know the detective quite as well as we should, although there were some revelations near the end about him. She did manage to keep me guessing who the perpetrator was throughout the novel although I had already guessed some aspects of the solution. Not a bad start for this series! I look forward to reading more about Katie and seeing how the gallery and her relationships with some of the men progress during the course of the next installment.

Book Review: Windflower by Gabrielle Roy

2011-12-01T03:00:00.000-05:00

This is the story of an Eskimo woman living in northern Quebec's Nunavit region, specifically in Fort Chimo along the Koksoak River, who becomes pregnant by an American serviceman. She did not know the soldier's name because it was a difficult name for her. She refused to name the soldier, even though she recognized him, because she realized he would be disciplined for his conduct. The story is also about her son Jimmy's growth and coming of age. This is a beautiful story with rich language that paints a picture of the harsh life in the Arctic regions of Quebec. The attitudes of the people in that area along with the clashes in cultures between the white man and the natives is also depicted. The novel does a good job of showing the role of religion and the clergy in the area. This is a book that deserves a much wider audience.

Book Review: Bitter Lemons by Lawrence Durrell

2011-11-29T03:00:00.000-05:00

Lawrence Durrell journeyed from Britain to Cyprus in the mid-1950s. He describes his experiences on the island as well as the landscape and culture. He gives an inside look at some of the political turmoil that was taking place at the time. I particularly enjoyed the few passages in the book that mentioned some of the Biblical events that took place on the island. Apparently there is still a tradition on the island that describes how Paul and Barnabas ate olives as they were traveling to a village. In another place it mentions where Barnbas was buried. I cannot say that I really enjoyed the political aspects of the novel. The author mentions in the introductory pages that this is not a political book. It really isn't, but it was impossible to write about this particular period in time without mentioning how the political events of the day were shaping everyday life. There was a strong anti-British element which ultimately resulted in independence from Britain after the days covered in the book.

Book Review: The Moravians in Labrador

2011-11-27T03:00:00.000-05:00

This book, written by an unknown person and published in the mid 1830s, details the missionary efforts of the Moravian Church among the Esquimaux (aka Eskimo) people of Labrador. The work details what like was like among the natives and missionaries. Food was sometimes difficult to come by. After the Moravian missionaries had been there a few years, they finally got to the point that a ship arrived from England once a year. The hardships were incredible, but the Moravians did appear to have a great deal of success in evangelizing the Eskimos. There seemed to be quite a bit of repetition in the book, and there was a lot of what I would call "padding" or "fluff" in the text by including conversations, particularly those of a spiritual nature, which probably were not exactly as they are written. I would have preferred a more concisely written historical account. It's difficult to provide a rating to a book that was written in another time and probably for another purpose other than that which I read it. In the end, I chose to rate it by today's standards. While the book contains glimpses into the culture and into the evangelization efforts, there is little here that would compel an individual to read this account. A journal article or book essay containing the essence of the historical and cultural nuggets and written in a style more engaging for late 20th or early 21st century readers would be much more engaging.

Is recently-deceased poet Ruth Stone related?

2011-11-26T03:00:00.000-05:00

Someone over on LibraryThing posted about poet Ruth Stone's death in one of the discussion threads. As I read her obituary, I noticed that she was born Ruth Perkins. The obituary also listed her father as a printer and part-time drummer named Roger Perkins. Since I'm descended from John Perkins and Judith Gater who immigrated to New England, I thought I'd do a little quick and dirty genealogical research to see if she might be related. Since the obituary showed she was born in 1915, I decided to start with the 1920 census.

I found Ruth in the Roger M. Perkins household, living at 507 18th Street in Roanoke, Virginia. [Roger M. Perkins household, 1920 U.S. Federal Census, population schedule, Roanoke Jefferson Ward 2, Roanoke (Independent City), Virginia, ED 23, dwelling 316, family 376, p. 18A; NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 1912; digital image, Ancestry.com, accessed 25 November 2011] Other family members present were her mother Ruth, a brother named Edgar A., and a sister named Elsie J. This census confirmed that her father had been a printer. This dwelling was a rental property and another family lived there as well. (Family 375 of dwelling 316 was the Vona S. and Mable Carmel family.)

Armed with the information that her father Roger was born about 1892, I turned to the 1910 census. I located Roger in his father Edgar A. Perkins' household in Indianapolis, Indiana at 307 Olive Avenue. [Edgar A. Perkins household, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, population schedule, Indianapolis, Ward 9, Marion Co., Indiana, ED 169, dwelling 214, family 217, p. 9B; NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 368; digital image, Ancestry.com, accessed 25 November 2011] The name of the street is a bit illegible, so I might discover that it is something else if I took the time to locate a map of Indianapolis from that time period. However, this is quick and dirty work, so I decided to just give it my best guess. Roger was the oldest child of Edgar A. and Hattie Perkins. (It was recorded as a first marriage for both parents.) Three brothers (Harry, Edgar A., and Rodney), two sisters (Dorothy and Jennie W.), and one servant (Glenn Arend) are also enumerated in the household.

The family was living at 1906 Broadway in Center Township, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana in 1900. [Edgar A. Perkins household, 1900 U.S. Federal Census, population schedule, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana, ED 38, dwelling 278, family 300, pp. 13A, 13B; NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 387; digital image, Ancestry.com, accessed 25 November 2011] By the way, you may be interested to know that Roger probably picked up his printing trade from his father as Edgar's occupation is listed as printer.

It was now time to find Edgar's parents in the 1880 census. I found Edgar living in the Ellsbury Perkins household at 104 English Avenue in Indianapolis. [Ellsbury Perkins household, 1880 U.S. Federal Census, population schedule, Indianapolis, Marion Co., Indiana, ED 126, p. 622B; NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 296; digital image, Ancestry.com, accessed 25 November 2011]. Interestingly enough, Ellsbury was also listed as a printer. It appears that Roger was the third generation printer in the family. Ellsbury's wife is Emily. Other children besides Edgar in the household include sisters Olla, Bessie, and Norma and brothers Arthur and Harry.

The family was enumerated twice in the 1870 census, both times in Ward 8 of Indianapolis. This time Elsbury was called Asbury in one and "A." in the other. A nice name discrepancy to clear up! [Asbury Perkins household, 1870 U.S. Federal Census, population schedule, Indianapolis Ward 8, Marion Co., Indiana, ED 2, dwelling 25, family 26, p. 480A; NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 339; digital image, Ancestry.com, accessed 25 November 2011] and [A. Perkins household, 1870 U.S. Federal Census, population schedule, Indianapolis Ward 8, Marion Co., Indiana, dwelling 70, family 70, p. 407A; NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 341; digital image, Ancestry.com, accessed 25 November 2011]. The expected children were present, although Olla is called "Ollie" in these censuses.

Hoping to locate Elsbury's parents, I went back to 1860. I only located his presumed mother in this one (since relationships are not specified on this census) in Rushville, Rush County, Indiana. [Nancy Perkins household, 1860 U.S. Federal Census, population schedule, Rushville, Rush Co., Indiana, dwelling 122, family 122, p. 507; NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 294; digital image, Ancestry.com, accessed 25 November 2011] "Elsberry" was the oldest child in the household and had already taken up the printing trade. Two sisters are listed, Laura and Mary E. Mary E. was age 9, so I can presume that I might be able to locate Elsbury's father in the 1850 census.

I discovered Elsbury in the Levi Perkins household in Rush County, Indiana in 1850. [Levi Perkins household, 1850 U.S. Federal Census, population schedule, District 97, Rush Co., Indiana, dwelling 471, family 471, p. 406B; NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 170; digital image, Ancestry.com, accessed 25 November 2011] Levi, Nancy, Elsbury, and Laura are all present. Levi is listed as a laborer.

Since I had exhausted the censuses where every household member was listed and knew that it would take extensive digging to make progress on my quest to discover whether or not I was related to the recently deceased poet, I decided to take the shortcut that all of us criticize when we see it on "Who Do You Think You Are?" I decided to see if I could go back several generations all at once with an online tree. I used WorldConnect's trees for this project and hit "pay dirt" with the Sheehan Clan tree that I found at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:3306581&id=I895. I will just give a quick summary of my findings from this point onwards. You may click through to the tree and see the complete information. I am listing the information as it appears on this tree. All locations should be verified to make sure that they exist as stated at that time in history.

It appears that Levi Perkins died about 1852. The tree's author claims that Levi was serving as the Rush County jailor at the time of his death and that his wife Nancy continued in that role for the next 9 years. It is interesting that no occupation was listed for Nancy in the 1860 census, so I'm unable to verify this without checking records in Indiana.

Levi's father was Newton "Ute" Perkins who was born February 1792 in Lincoln Co., N.C. Newton's father was Augustus Perkins who was born in 1763 in Lincoln Co., N.C. and died 5 September 1834 in Rushville, Rush Co., Indiana. Augustus' father was Robert Biggen Perkins who was born 16 Mar 1734/35 in St. George Parish, Baltimore Co., Maryland and died 6 April 1823 in Lincoln Co., N.C. Robert's father was Richard Perkins who was born 18 Dec 1713 in St. George Parish, Baltimore Co., Maryland and died 9 July 1789 in Lincoln Co., N.C. Richard's father was Richard Perkins who was born 9 July 1689 in Mosquito Creek, Baltimore Co., Maryland and died 5 August 1772 in Rowan Co., N.C. Richard's father was Richard Perkins who was born 1663 in Mosquito Creek, Baltimore Co., Maryland and died 2 May 1706 in Swan Creek, Baltimore Co., Maryland. Richard's father was the immigrant, Chauncey Perkins, born 1645 in England.

The minute the research started going into the Carolinas, I was fairly certain that this was not going to be a line that went back to John Perkins and Judith Gater of New England. This, however, was a fun way to spend a couple of hours avoiding the Black Friday madness!

Book Review: Black-Eyed Susan by Jennifer Armstrong

2011-11-25T03:00:00.000-05:00

Ten-year-old Susie lives with her family on the Dakota prairie in a sod house. Her mother is very unhappy with life on the frontier and quite obviously misses her family and a more affluent life-style back East. Susie wants to find something to cheer up her mom when she and her dad go to town to purchase another quarter section of land. An encounter with a family moving further west proves to be the prescription for her mother's misery. This is a well-written children's novel that does a good job of describing the hardships faced by the pioneer settlers of the Dakota Territory. The author has done a good job with historical research to make the novel accurate in regards to homesteading and other period details. I do question if the target audience would appreciate this work as much as adults. It probably lacks the action younger readers require to hold interest.

Thanksgivings of My Younger Years

2011-11-23T10:41:00.001-05:00

Marian Pierre-Louis made a comment on Facebook about expecting about 40 people for Thanksgiving dinner that made me think back to my younger days when we had extended family gatherings at either our house or at my paternal grandparents' home. When the gatherings were at our home, the usual attendees included my family, wives of my brothers once they were married, both sets of grandparents, some of my maternal grandfather's brothers and their families, and even my dad's brother's family. We could always count on one of the neighbors across the street showing up about the time dessert was served as well. When the gathering was at my paternal grandparents' home, the gathering included my paternal grandparents, our family (including my brother's wives once they were married), my dad's brother's family, and many of my grandfather's brothers and sisters and their families. Sometimes some of my grandmother's extended family members would also be present. There might even be a friend or two of my grandparents there who weren't related. At some point around my pre-teen to early teen years, the gatherings changed a bit. The attendees tended to be my parents, my brothers, their wives and children, surviving grandparents, my dad's brother and his wife, and my mom's brother and his wife once they moved back to Mississippi. Although you might say that the addition of aunts and uncles did make it an extended family gathering, it did not resemble the gatherings of the older days when we had trouble finding places for all the foods and desserts that were brought.

My maternal grandfather always had to have his ambrosia at the holidays. Ambrosia, as I remember it, consisted of oranges and coconut flakes, with each serving topped by a maraschino cherry. We always had turkey and ham. Of course, we had southern cornbread dressing. There was some form of sweet potato, either a casserole or candied sweet potatoes. (I preferred the casserole.) Later, we often had a butternut squash casserole instead of or in addition to the sweet potatoes. There would be green beans and/or English peas. There would be a relish tray that had pickles, olives, and things like that. (I usually skipped that one.) We would have cranberry sauce. It was usually the canned variety. There would often be some sort of sweet salad such as a cranberry salad, "Tops" salad (which had pistachio pudding, cottage cheese, pineapples, and cool whip, I think), or maybe one that had an orange jello base to it. There might even be another vegetable or savory salad. There would be deviled eggs for those who wanted them. We all looked forward to Mom's homemade rolls at Thanksgiving. For dessert, there would be pecan pies and either pumpkin or sweet potato pies (sometimes both). There would usually be some sort of cake also.

We try to incorporate some of those traditional items in our holiday celebrations while adding a few things that my nieces and nephews will eat nowadays. It's almost impossible to find foods that everyone will eat so we have to offer more variety in many cases. This year we'll be having the turkey, ham, dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, green beans, rolls, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie from the traditional meal. We'll be substituting my sister-in-law's fruit salad for the ambrosia. We'll add a hash brown casserole to the mix. I haven't decided whether or not to add some English peas or not yet. It probably depends on how many actually show up and whether some would prefer them to the green beans.

Let me wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are celebrating with family.

Book Review: The Brass Dolphin by Caroline Harvey

2011-11-23T03:00:00.000-05:00

Lila Cunningham learns that her father has borrowed money against their home and that now the bank is repossessing it. Her employer and friend owns a home in Malta that they never use so they decide to send Lila and her father there. They arrive at a time just before World War II breaks out. It isn't long until they are taking cover from the bombings. Lila had begun working for a Count who was a historian, but she begins helping a new friend with her hospital in the city after the war erupts. Lila also begins to see a different side to her father. I really enjoyed most of this World War II story which had some of the feeling of a romantic suspense while not being pretty light on the romance and with more of a war theme than the darker suspenseful tones. Ultimately I did not like the manner in which the book was resolved and lowered my rating because of it. (I gave it 3 out of 5 stars.)

Book Review: A Light In the Storm by Karen Hesse

2011-11-21T03:00:00.000-05:00

Full Title: A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin of Fenwick Island, Delaware
Author: Karen Hesse
Series: Dear America
Publication Information: New York: Scholastic, 1999.

***SPOILER ALERT: This review will contain spoilers.*** Amelia Martin is the 15-year-old daughter of the assistant lighthouse keeper off the coast of Delaware as this diary begins in late 1860 and continues through 1861. She turns 16 in the book She keeps the first watch at the lighthouse.Delaware is a border state in the issue over slavery. Much of the Southern part of the state is aligned with the South, while the north tends to be more aligned with the Union. A group of runaway slaves makes Amelia realize the magnitude of the differences in her parents. Her mother believes the slaves should be sent back to their owners. Her father believes they should be helped to freedom. While Amelia has agreed with her mother in the past, something about her encounter with them makes her realize that her father is correct. It isn't long before South Carolina secedes from the Union--something that Amelia considers completely unacceptable. Other Southern States follow South Carolina's lead gradually. The tension at home begins to mount. Her mother becomes more withdrawn over time and has physical and medical problems. Her mother eventually moves in with Amelia's ailing grandmother. Her father serves divorce papers on her mother. I really enjoyed this look at the tensions in a divided community due to the war. In several places, Amelia referred to what was happening in Tennessee to Union supporters during this time. Since I live a section of Tennessee that had strong Union sympathies, these mentions were interesting. However, there was some unevenness to the writing. I felt that the author used a 20th century solution to the marriage problem. Divorce was not as commonplace in the 19th century as it is in 21st century America, and while it was not unheard of, they were more difficult to obtain. I felt the author made it too easy, even in the strained relations due to ideologies. I also felt that the diary ended rather abruptly and that its conclusion was in an awkward place and that it should have continued until one of the major events in 1862. I also felt that the Epilogue wrapped things up a little too tidily and left little room for the reader's imagination of what the future might have been for those persons mentioned in the diary. It's a good, but not a great, work of fiction.

Google Reader Sharing

2011-11-20T03:00:00.000-05:00

I've been using Google Reader now for several years, but the recent changes incorporating sharing with Google+ have left me at a loss as to how I can define my circles so that only those persons who are interested in seeing my shared items will be troubled with them. I read a variety of blogs. Not all of these blogs are genealogy-related. I know that many people will not care to read many of the topics in my feeds, yet I struggle to know which persons really do want to read them. With the old Google Reader, only my close friends who followed me received my posts. Now with the circles feature, everyone in a circle receives something. I've considered various options such as creating a circle of only persons in a circle who express interest in posts, but that might leave some people who really want to see these out. Another is to just send it to everyone in a circle that is defined for the topic (such as genealogy); however, some might consider it SPAM particularly if they've already read the post through their reader. How do I know which genealogists also share other interests and might be interested in being added to a circle of another interest? Another option is to abandon use of sharing altogether. I really think that Google+ really didn't think this change through before implementation. I'm curious as to how others are handling this sharing -- or have you just abandoned sharing?

Book Review: Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger

2011-11-19T03:00:00.000-05:00

The discovery of the town's judge's body is the impetus that springs former sheriff Cork O'Connor back into action. He is partially Anishinaabe Indian. The frigid northern part of Minnesota is the setting for this mystery that takes place just prior to Christmas. His marriage is in trouble. He claims to want reconciliation even though he pursues an affair with a local waitress named Molly. As the story unfolds, many characters are in danger. More murders are revealed. A native American concept called "Windigo" plays an important role in this novel. I found this to be an interesting read, full of action. While I think there are some elements of the plot that could have been a bit tighter, the action was sufficient to move it forward. The use of the native American concepts reminds me of author Tony Hillerman's use of them. The unique setting of Krueger's novel provides contrast to the deserts of Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.

Jonathan Edwards: Model Father?

2011-11-18T03:00:00.000-05:00

As I was processing a gift collection, I ran across a rather interesting book entitled Marriage to a Difficult Man: The "Uncommon Union" of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards written by Elisabeth D. Dodds. It's a title that was already in our collection. The book is described as a "blend of family guidance book, sociological study, psychologically- and devotionally-oriented American historical biography" on its dust jacket. The dust jacket goes on to reveal that his children really loved him. She offers Jonathan and his wife as examples of parents to modern readers as parents who had found the balance between permissiveness and discipline in their child rearing. (The book was written in 1971.) It really sounds like a fascinating read about the man who penned one of the most famous sermons of all time, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Although the book lacks footnotes, there is a bibliography with references sorted by chapter in the back. The content appears to be mostly historical with "modern" application to its readers. This book is going on my "TBR" (to-be-read) list. It probably offers a fascinating glimpse of what life was like living in a clergy family in colonial New England. Since I had a few ancestors that fit that category, I'm hoping to find some background that might be useful in my ancestors' story.

Book Review: Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

2011-11-17T03:00:00.000-05:00

This is an excellent piece of historical fiction about the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. The narrator is an early teenage girl named Matilda whose family operates a coffeehouse. When the fever hits, many persons begin fleeing the town. Readers will empathize with Matilda as she encounters the attitudes toward fever victims and the treatments, may of which were ineffective, that were used. The author does a good job of bringing the historical elements to life. She explained that Philadelphia was the largest city in the United States at the time and brought the death toll to life for readers when she explained how many were expected to die early in the book. I suspect that the book will be enjoyed by some younger readers and not by others, but this book would be a great springboard for discussion in classes of the epidemic, medical treatments, etc.

Are we headed toward a "Paperless Society"?

2011-11-16T07:49:00.001-05:00

Years ago when I went to library school, I remember reading an article about the world becoming a "paperless society." I believe the term was coined by F. W. Lancaster in an 1978 book entitled Toward Paperless Information Systems. (There's a bibliography which includes many of Lancaster's writings on the topic on the Wikipedia article for "paperless society.") At the time, most of us in the class could not envision such a thing happening. Of course, now most of us can envision it and fear the day it happens. As I was reading the Chronicle of Higher Education's blog this morning, I was reminded of that article. Marc Prensky has written an article entitled "In the 21st-Century University, Let's Ban Books." I have to admit that the thought still scares me. I've seen many books that don't format well on electronic devices, particularly those with footnotes. I much prefer footnotes (or end notes) as used in The Chicago Manual of Style rather than the internal references used by the style guides produced by MLA and APA. Those of us in genealogy use footnotes all the time in our writing. OCR scanning does not handle footnotes well. When you get to a footnote, it appears right where it appeared in the text of the book. The reader has to figure out where this is and try to figure out where the footnotes end so that he can resume the sentence he has been reading. I wish publishers producing Kindle and other format e-books would recognize this and convert footnotes to end notes (at least at the chapter level) before publishing the electronic format of the book. It is such a simple process to do with most Word processing programs. Of course, it's less of a problem if the book is delivered as a PDF. There are some books that don't lend themselves well to ePub and MOBI formats because of the nature of their contents. A style guide, such as Elizabeth Shown Mills' Evidence Explained is one such book. These formats would not preserve the indentations, etc. that are seen in a carefully formatted print publication. One also has to wonder what would happen to books that contain transcriptions of probate and other court cases and such where the case name is bracketed on one side and the content begins on the other. I know that moving print books to storage is in the long range plans of many academic libraries who have embraced the e-book. It's a scary thought, not only from the aspect of losing such a cherished medium, but also from the aspects of job security and the availability of books to those who really cannot afford them. If academic libraries take the lead on this, it won't be long until public libraries follow them down this "slippery slope."

Book Review: The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton

2011-11-15T03:00:00.000-05:00

Lara McClintoch is taking a break from the antique business after a recent divorce from her husband. She doesn't want him to be able for him to obtain a larger divorce settlement. When a friend asks her to come to Merida, Mexico, she does so, even though she doesn't know a lot about the nature of what he wants. When she arrives, he cancels their first dinner and then disappears, turning up dead. The Mexican officials confiscate her passport so that she can't leave the country. She doesn't have a lot of faith in the investigator, so she begins an investigation of her own, placing herself in danger. It was a fun read that I couldn't put down. I'm not sure that I ever sorted all the characters fully in my mind though. I'm not sure if that is because of the rapidity of my reading or if that would have been the case had I read it in a slower manner. I do believe that some of the characters were developed more than others. It's not my favorite in the series, but it's worth the read if one is interested in the Mayan culture.

On County Heritage Books

2011-11-14T03:00:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, someone posted to that Alabama Genealogy Network on Facebook about the Heritage Books that were available for each county. The minute I saw the post, I immediately thought back to my own experiences with such books. I waited awhile to see what people would post. To my surprise, no one was cautioning people about accepting the undocumented contributions without verifying the information through their own research. Finally, I could stand it no more and posted a word of caution to those who seemed to think they may have stumbled onto some sort of resource that was going to solve all their brickwalls. I encouraged them to verify the information because there is a lot of erroneous information that is submitted.

Let me share a couple of examples of such problems. I had a brick wall on one family line. I had researched just about every person within several counties with the same surname in an attempt to resolve that brick wall. I had a promising lead in a county that was a little south of where my family lived, but then there were some things that cropped up as I was researching the family to the south that made me realize that I had some serious negative evidence that this family was not related to mine. I stumbled across a Heritage Book from the county and found a submission that tied that family to mine. I contacted the researcher for her evidence that she had connecting the two families. She sent me what she had, and I realized she had made a jump in her research without fully studying all the evidence. I explained my concerns to the other researcher. DNA has since proven that we could not be related in the manner in which she stated because the two lines have different markers. However, that particular erroneous connection is there in the Heritage Book, and I'm sure there will be others who take it to be the truth simply because it is in print, and they don't take the time to verify the information.

In another case, the wrong first name is attributed to my great great grandmother. I had tons of information stating that her first name was Nancy. The person who submitted the article said that her name was Nora. I have never seen one record of the time that shows her name as Nora. (Most of the records simply use an N. plus her middle name or her middle name alone; however, I do have several that list her first name as Nancy.) I attempted to contact the person at an e-mail address I found online, but I never received a response. To make matters even worse, someone (either her or another person who found the article in the heritage book) purchased a second grave marker to accompany the original marker which listed her only as "& wife." Now we have a marker that permanently identifies her by the wrong first name because someone did not look at all the evidence of what her name was. The person who submitted the article is a very distant cousin who was probably trying to remember some of the childhood stories of the family and remembered the name wrong or confused the name with another person. Most of the remainder of the article did seem to rely mostly on family tradition, so I'm fairly certain she didn't really research much and just wanted to have our ancestor honored. It would have been nice if this person had done an exhaustive search of resources before publishing erroneous information.

I have a third family included in another heritage book. The line is so garbled in the narrative that one is better off completely ignoring that contribution. Even a simple census search for any year will reveal some of the errors in that essay. There are gaps in generations as well in that submission.

Too often these sorts of mistakes are included in the heritage books by someone who means well but really does not perform the reasonable exhaustive search, misinterprets evidence, etc. Do I completely ignore the books? No. I simply use them for clues and hints as I would any secondary source. I have also found that the historical information on various communities in the county is often of better quality than the individual family essays. One still needs to verify that type of information to the best of his ability.

I don't really get excited when I stumble across a heritage book. I recognize it for what it is. I do get excited when I research in original records or when I'm able to build a case using a combination of records. It's a shame that the motivation behind these was to "sell books" rather than to produce well-documented family histories. Maybe one of these days someone will insist that submissions meet genealogical standards. Until then, I'll probably continue to do most of my research before looking at the heritage books.

Book Review: Eggs Benedict Arnold by Laura Childs

2011-11-13T03:00:00.000-05:00

One of the co-owners of the funeral home turns up dead on his own embalming table. He's someone everyone in the town loves, so no one can quite figure out who would have a motive to murder him. As Suzanne and Sheriff Doogie investigate, they turn up a wide range of possibilities and motives. I enjoyed this second installment in the Cackleberry Club series even more than the first. The girls' reaction when visiting an abandoned cemetery is one that many genealogists such as myself often have. There are lots of red herrings. This is one that will keep many readers guessing to the very end, even if they read a lot of mysteries.

Book Review: I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley

2011-11-12T17:29:00.001-05:00

It's nearing Christmas, and in order to keep the family in house and home, the Colonel has agreed to allow a movie crew to shoot on location at Buckshaw. The star of the show is one of the most famed actresses of the time. It's about 40% of the way into the book before we get to the corpse. Needless to say, 11-year-old Flavia will get involved in the investigation. This is the first in the series where Flavia has spent the majority of the time at Buckshaw. I enjoyed this change. Flavia is always a delight! I enjoyed all the literary references in this installment. While the book is set during the Christmas season, it's a book that can be enjoyed year-round. I would encourage reading the earlier books before reading this one because there are some things that will be appreciated only by those who have followed the series. This review is based on an advance uncorrected proof provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program with the expectation that a review would be written. 4 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brain

2011-11-11T02:00:00.000-05:00

Author: Nicholas Carr
Publication Information: New York: W.W. Norton, 2010.

Nicholas Carr, like many others, noted that attention spans are on the decrease. He notes changes in the print media brought about by the age of the Internet. Many newspapers have gone under; others have declared bankruptcy. Formats have changed for both newspapers and magazines to make the experience more Web-like. He acknowledges that sometimes it is even difficult to remain focused on a blog post which is more than a few paragraphs long. He notes the presence of e-readers, but at the time he wrote the book, they had not gained the full audience they have now so he didn't feel that they were influencing reading that differently. There is much to think about in this book because Carr also analyzes the experiences of previous generations and the changes they experienced. One of the most thought-provoking sections is one which shares the results of research on multitasking. I think this title would create great discussion among faculty members. I'm not sure that I agree with all conclusions he makes. I find that I am able to stay concentrated and focused while readings books and e-books on my Kindle reader. I am sometimes overwhelmed by information coming to me by way of the Internet through Facebook or my RSS reader for blogs, newspapers, etc. I find that I'm able to often read a headline and pass up an item. I do have trouble staying focused on longer blog posts because I am usually more pressed for time when I'm reading these online items. I realize the need to be offline, so I've prioritized reading and find other ways to keep myself from staring at a screen (both computer and television). I think that the author alludes to the Internet's ability to be addictive, but he probably doesn't address it forcefully enough. This is an important book that is certain to be discussed for years to come.

Book Review: K.C.: A History of Kansas City, Missouri

2011-11-09T03:00:00.000-05:00

Authors: A. Theodore Brown and Lyle W. Dorsett
Publication Information: Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Pub. Co., 1978.

This is a rather dry and tedious read. It focuses on the political history of the city and very little on its settlement, progress, and other things that would have made it a more engaging read. It is also flawed by its lack of footnotes/endnotes. The authors do have a list of sources used for each chapter at the end of the book, but the failure to tie these references to specific points is a major failure.

Do You Want to Visit 19th Century Maine?

2011-11-07T21:01:00.001-05:00

I heartily recommend reading Sarah Orne Jewett's classic work, The Country of Pointed Firs. I recently read this book which is available as a free download for most e-readers, including my Kindle. I loved the author's descriptions of the landscape and vegetation of the area of coastal Maine which she called "Dunnet Landing" in the book. It features descriptions of change by many of the residents of the area as they tell their story to a vacationer who is staying in the schoolhouse during the summer months.

Book Review: A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley

2011-11-03T06:00:00.000-04:00

Young Flavia befriends a gypsy whose tent burned down. It's not long until the gypsy is injured by an intruder to her caravan. She would have died had Flavia not arrived unexpectedly. Then a local man turns up dead. Flavia finds herself suddenly interested in a religious sect in the area. She puzzles through many clues as well as plenty of red herrings to find the truth. Of course, the Inspector on the case is a bit upset that she keeps contaminating his crime scenes. Flavia's character continues to delight in this installment of the series.

Sunday Afternoon Drives

2011-10-30T17:44:00.001-04:00

As I was at church this morning, I heard a comment which made me remember the Sunday afternoon drives that used to be quite traditional for persons in the South. Usually around 4:00 in the afternoon, we'd load up the car and take a drive out into the country and down some back roads. I'm not really sure what the purpose of the drive was except to get out of the house and see a little of the county. We would always go back and eat leftovers or a sandwich before heading to church for the evening. It was a simpler time. The late afternoon ball game was probably on the television network we didn't get. This gave us a way to get out of the house and do something together as a family.

Genealogy Conference in Sevier County

2011-10-28T07:55:00.001-04:00

TheSCPLS 2011 Genealogy Conference focuses on the 150^th Anniversary (Sesquicentennial) of the CivilWar. The conference dates are Thursday, November 3 – Saturday, November 5.Conference location is at the Sevier County Public Library System (SCPLS) KingFamily Library, 408 High Street, Sevierville, TN.

A pre-conference session features “Rediscovering Sevierville Walking Tour.” Atour of the historical sites and buildings in downtown Sevierville hosted byCarroll McMahan starts at 12:00 P.M. at the SCPLS King Family Library. The tourends with refreshments at the library followed by a Local Author Receptionfeaturing Fred McMahan (Auto Parts, Pickin’ and Politickin’: The Three Livesof Fred McMahan) and a review of the book, Images of America: Gatlinburgwith Kenton Temple and Karen McDonald, Anna Porter Public Library.

A special part of the pre-conference will be the unveiling of the “Laura C.Cooper and David A. Cooper Memorial Collection” of genealogical materials. Thecollection represents a wealth of work covering over 15 years of research anddata collection of the Cooper, Cowan, Buchannan, Thomas, Silver, Rice, Quarles,Peay, Cooper, Pearson, Lewis, Householder, and many more surnames. Thecollection will be on display during the conference and available for use afterthe conference.

Conferencesessions for Friday, November 4 start at 9:00 A.M. include:

DuayO’Neill - Talk on the Civil War
Dr.Stanley A. Mize – Mize Family in the Civil War
Don Williams– The White Caps & the Blue Bills
HannahClevenger & Julie Ferguson – The Fields Ran Red: Battle Field Medicine inthe Civil War

Finishing the day from 6:00 – 8:00 P.M. will be the “StoryTellers’ Dinner &Down-Home Silent Auction.” The auction of local handmade items and bookcollections will start at 5:30 P.M. The story telling dinnerfeaturing Conny Ottway, Music & Songs of the Civil War, begins at 6:00 p.m.

Conferencesessions for Saturday, November 5 starting at 9:00 A.M. include:

CarolRoberts - Tennessee State Library & Archives: Conservation Basics forFamily Collections
Bill Walker – Civil War SurgicalExperience
KathrynRutherford – Identification and Care of Photographic Collections
Dr.Gail Palmer – Cemeteries of the Smokies
DonnaStinnett – Plants and Herbs Used During the Civil War

The SCPLS Foundation is sponsoring the Sevier County Public Library SystemHistory Center 2011 Genealogy Conference. The registration fee for thethree-day conference, including evening meal on November 4, will be $75.00 or$50.00 for the three-day conference and $25.00 for the StoryTellers’ Dinner& Down-Home Silent Auction.

The Sevier County History Center is located on the third floor of the KingFamily Library at 408 High Street in Sevierville. Brochures and registrationforms for the conference are available at the King Family Library, the SeymourBranch Library @ 137 w. Macon Lane in Seymour, and the Kodak Branch Library at319 West Dumplin Valley Road in Kodak. For more information regarding theSevier County History Center Genealogy Conference, please contact Tim Fisher orTheresa Williams at (865)453-3532 or www.sevierlibrary.org.

Main Street Public Library by Wayne A. Wiegand

2011-10-02T00:01:00.000-04:00

Wiegand provides histories of four upper midwestern libraries and then devotes a chapter to analyzing the catalogs of these libraries up to about 1970. The libraries studied are The Bryant Library in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, The Sage Library of Osage, Iowa, The Charles H. Moore Library of Lexington, Michigan, and the Rhinelander Public Library in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The study is interesting as it shows the development of these small town libraries through the ages. Today's libraries scorn censorship, but it was not a problem for most of these libraries in their early days. They scorned some of the dime novels of the day. Book selection was usually made by committee in the early days and later became a responsibility of the librarian. One thing that really surprised me were the late hours many of the libraries kept. Libraries often did not open until mid-afternoon and were open until as late as 10 p.m., closing during the supper hour. The bibliography is fairly extensive, providing an excellent starting point for those interested in further research. Wiegand has done a good job researching the literary history of these communities. My only criticism is that the text becomes mired down with details that make for tedious reading in places. This book, however, is intended for a more scholarly audience, and persons interested in these communities as well as persons interested in literary or library history will find it fascinating. This review is based on a advanced readers galley received through NetGalley for review. 4 stars.

Review: Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading by Tony Reinke

2011-09-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

Have you ever read a book that wasn't quite what you expected, but which was quite good nonetheless? This is such a book. I expected that the author would employ a reader's advisory tone in his writing; however, he approached the subject from the perspective of learning to love books and literature. He demonstrated the value of reading both Christian and non-Christian books to one's spiritual growth. He also offered tips on how parents could inspire children to love books and to pastors on how to get church members appreciate and read books. There are many quotes from the Bible and from other writers throughout the book on the value of reading. He encourages readers to create marginalia, but only in books which are their own. Even though this book was not what I expected, I found it to be extremely valuable. I received an advanced electronic galley from the publisher through NetGalley for review, but I intend to purchase my own print copy of the book. I found myself highlighting many passages as I read through the galley on my Kindle which will be valuable to me as a librarian who enjoys promoting reading and literature. 4 stars.

Book Review: Shaking the Family Tree

2011-09-24T21:00:00.002-04:00

Jackson, Buzzy. Shaking the Family Tree: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.

Buzzy Jackson, who earned a Ph.D. in history, shares her ventures into the world of family history. She begins with her first local genealogical society meetings, has her own mtDNA and her father's Y-DNA tested, goes on a genealogical cruise, encounters her Alabama relatives, and visits the Family History Library in the course of the book. While I enjoyed the book, I didn't love it. It was written in a slightly more contemporary conversational tone than many books of this nature. It was interesting to see her impressions of some of the most prominent genealogists in the field. Some of these descriptions had me laughing. Although she emphasized the importance of documents, I sometimes had the same feeling that I have watching episodes of "Who Do You Think You Are?" on television, namely that too much was jumped. I realize that her intention was not to provide a detailed account of tracing her line, but I would have preferred an approach that resembles the methodology taught by the leading genealogists. I purchased this book after hearing the author speak at the National Genealogical Society's conference in May 2011. Because I enjoyed her keynote address so much, I expected to like the book more than I did. There are portions that should be read by those new to genealogical research. They will identify with someone who was going through what they are encountering as they begin their family history research. Experienced researchers have little to gain by reading this, except for an occasional laugh or two as they recognize their genealogical colleagues and picture them as the author did. (3 stars)

Need Chainsaw

2011-09-06T19:47:00.003-04:00

Anyone have a chainsaw? Free wood available. My loss due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee.

The Sandburg Connection by Mark De Castrique

2011-09-06T00:01:00.000-04:00

Sam Blackburn and his partner Nakayla Robertson are investigating an insurance claim case. When the person being investigated dies while exerting herself more than she should have with her injury, it doesn't take long for Sam, who had been tailing her, to realize that there is something not quite right with the circumstances surrounding her death. Much of the book is set in the Asheville, North Carolina area. Part of it is set at the Carl Sandburg home south of the city which is part of the National Park Service. UNC-Asheville, Warren Wilson College, and downtown Asheville play parts in the setting as well. I enjoyed the mystery which was not as predictable as some. I enjoyed the setting tremendously. This is the first of the mysteries featuring Sam and Nakayla that I have read, but I now want to go back and read earlier installments. Persons who enjoy literature, Civil War history, or just the Asheville, North Carolina setting will likely enjoy this mystery. This review is based on an advanced e-galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley for review.

Book Review: Saint's Gate by Carla Neggers

2011-08-30T00:01:00.002-04:00

Agent Emma Sharpe has been called back to the convent where she was once a novice by Sister Joan to comment on a painting. Emma's family had been involved in art restoration for years and now Emma investigates art crimes for the FBI. Sister Joan goes to the tower where the painting is located, surprising a thief. When Sister Joan doesn't return as expected, Emma sets off to find her. She encounters a novice named Cecelia along the way. She finds Sister Joan dead, it becomes a matter for local law enforcement, but naturally, she gets involved. Another FBI agent, Colin Donovan is in the area. Her boss Matt Yankowski comes up from Boston. Colin's friend Father Finian Bracken also plays an important role. All the crimes seem to be related to a period shortly after Sister Linden made the convent known for its art. I found this an enjoyable read. I liked the Maine setting. I enjoyed the characters. The plot was different from a lot of mysteries. While there is a touch of romance, I wouldn't necessarily classify this as a romantic suspense because the lead female character is law enforcement official instead of a governess, secretary, or other household servant. This review is based on an electronic galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley for review.

The Legacy by Katherine Webb

2011-08-30T00:01:00.001-04:00

After inheriting Storton Manor from their grandmother, sisters Erica and Beth Calcott go back to a place that has haunted them since the day of the disappearance of a friend years ago. In poking through some things, she finds a photo of her great grandmother Caroline with a baby -- one which surely must have been born before Caroline's known marriage.

In a parallel story covering the early part of the 20th century, we learn that Caroline, a woman from New York, married an Oklahoma rancher, and traveled west to meet him and live. We learn of the trials and tragedies of the short time she spent out west before she left the area and what prompted her to hide that part of her life from her descendants.

I really enjoyed the Oklahoma portion of the novel far more than the contemporary portion and would have liked to have seen it be the star of its own novel. The contemporary sections were not as engaging, and the manner in which they were presented sometimes made it hard to determine if it was 20 years ago or present-day since the characters involved were the same. It is also clear that there were repercussions of Caroline's past in the manner in which she treated those around her, including her own daughter. As a genealogist, I was also disappointed that Erica, as she began her search, did not try to research American records to determine if there had been a previous marriage and to see where this might have taken her. There were certainly enough clues interspersed throughout the narrative that would have led me to several sources which would likely have told more of Caroline's story for her descendants. I certainly appreciated Erica's consulting with a relative who had done some family history research, but it was clear that the author did not seem to understand genealogical problem solving.

Recommended for persons who can appreciate the historical aspects of the story without being too disappointed in the disjointed nature of the contemporary story. This review is based on an Advance Readers Copy of the book offered by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. 3 stars.

Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site

2011-08-06T20:39:00.004-04:00

What better way is there for literary friends to celebrate than to tour the home of an author? We visited the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock, NC (south of Asheville and Hendersonville).

We had to climb a quite steel 3/10 of a mile trail to get to the home. It was pouring down rain. We are thankful for umbrellas. About halfway up, we got our first glimpse of the home.

This is a view from the front porch of Connemara.

One of the many shelves of books in the house. There are over 12,000 books in the house (although 4 bookcases in one room had been removed for dusting). We learned that Carl Sandburg liked all sorts of books except for one kind -- mysteries. How sad! That's my favorite genre. We made a comment that we were certain that we had seen some in his legacy library on LibraryThing. The guide told us they belonged to his daughter. There were some in the house.

This table had rather interesting provenance. Apparently the wood came from the Lincoln White House.

Connemara. The home was named by its previous owner, a Charleston businessman who summered in Flat Rock. He named it Connemara because it reminded him of the hills of Ireland.

The lake. It's very near the parking area.

This is a splendid mountain view from one of the windows in the upper floor of Connemara.

Tupelo Honey Cafe in Asheville

2011-08-06T20:30:00.002-04:00

Enjoyed lunch today at the Tupelo Honey Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina.

This was their wonderful Charleston Chicken Sandwich that comes with a cranberry mayonnaise on it!

Of course, we had to take a photo of the official jar of Tupelo honey. One person in our party ordered the rosemary peach lemonade. She said it was very good.

They brought biscuits to everyone (along with honey and some preserves).

Three LibraryThing friends meet up at the Tupelo Honey Cafe.

Invisible by Lorena McCourtney

2011-07-21T00:01:00.001-04:00

Ivy Malone is an elderly woman whose best friend dies. Her best friend rents an apartment to a young woman going by the name of Kendra. When Kendra disappears and a body is found matching her description, Ivy comes forward to identify the body. The woman had been using the identity of someone deceased. Ivy is not satisfied that the police are being thorough and sets out to investigate. There were parts of this story I enjoyed. The opening chapter has Ivy and her best friend in a cemetery and appalled by the vandalism that had taken place there. Having seen cemeteries in this condition, I can completely identify with the outrage. Ivy, however, has some neighbors who are obsessed with genealogy. Unfortunately the author seems to be making fun of their avocation. Genealogical research is not pictured in a favorable light, and the author's unfamiliarity with professional genealogical standards is quite apparent. This is a minor plot line, but it marred my enjoyment of the book. There is a problem with believability. I really cannot picture an elderly woman such as Ivy crouching all night in a cemetery behind tombstones hiding out or being willing to do so. There are also other things that just do not seem that plausible. Ivy is a likable sleuth. This is a work of Christian fiction, and at times I felt that the author was being evangelistic rather than allowing testimonies to take a natural course. All this said, Ivy is likeable, as is one of the detectives, and I would probably read the second book if it is offered as a free Kindle download as this first one was. 2.5 stars.

A Passage to India by E. M. Forster

2011-07-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

An excellent book that shows the culture clash between the British colonists and the native Hindus and Muslims of India. The first section of the book is largely prefatory and introduces us to the cast of characters. The second portion of the book is the central section of the book, dealing with Miss Quested's experiences in the Malabar caves. The third section, which is the briefest portion of the book, is somewhat like an extended afterward. I enjoyed reading about the cultural differences, and the tension that was created because of the British view of themselves as being superior to the Indian natives. We also get to see the Indian system of government and justice at work in the novel. I loved this novel for the sense of place it created, but I can certainly understand why the British found it offensive at the time of publication. It reminds one of some of the other literary works that served to expose needed reforms. 4 stars.

Thoughts on Borders Liquidation

2011-07-18T21:31:00.003-04:00

I remember the excitement when Cincinnati (where I was then living) got its first Borders store. It was on the cutting edge then in combining music and books at one location. While I didn't give up trips to other bookstores or to the library, I did find myself going to the store nearest my home quite a bit.

When I moved to East Tennessee, I discovered that I liked the Borders stores in Knoxville better than the Barnes & Noble and BooksAMillion stores in the city. (The BooksAMillion in Sevierville is much better than the Knoxville store.) The Borders store also did things for the education community that were not replicated by the other stores -- such as an Educators Appreciation Day. Now, if the news reports are to be believed, liquidation of all Borders stores will begin as early as Friday. That's just 4 days away. I'm losing a familiar friend. I'm not very happy that it is my favorite of the area "new" bookstores that is closing. [I do purchase more books at McKays (our wonderful used book dealer).]

What does this mean? I've already begun to use the library more often. I also opted for a Kindle so Amazon.com gets most of my e-book business (unless something is DRM-free and can be converted). I will continue to purchase books at McKays, especially fiction books that I am not going to keep forever. However, it means that Barnes & Noble in Knoxville and BooksAMillion in Sevierville will now be vying for the dollars I spent at Borders. How will they win the battle for my dollars? They'll need to have the types of books that I'm seeking in stock! I often purchase local history books at an area bookstore, especially things by small presses or that are privately printed. If they can come up with some unique ones that I just have to own, they'll get my business. As far as bricks and mortar stores, the East Tennessee Historical Society's store probably does a better job here. Stock the mysteries on my wish list. I tend not to browse as much as I once did because my wish list of books to read is massive. Stock interesting social histories that bring to life the world of my ancestors. Neither of them do this very well. I usually do better at the used bookstore or Amazon.com for this type of book. Offer interesting cookbooks on the discount table rather than the canned ones that are always there. I don't want to pay $35 for a cookbook. I'll wait until it shows up at the used bookstore or until I find a deal on Amazon.com. Keep some piano music books in stock. Borders definitely had the best selection of these when I was in the mood for a keyboard collection of some sort. I usually prefer stuff like Broadway hits, jazz, 70s music, TV tunes, etc. for the occasions when the music-buying urge hits. The bookstore that caters to my music mood will get that business because I want to look at the books before purchasing them. I generally won't be ordering these from Amazon.com. Offer better discounts. They tend to only offer discounts on current bestsellers. If a discount is offered, it is only 10% (which basically, in Tennessee, means that they are paying your sales tax.) Why should I pay full price in the bookstore when I can order it online and have it delivered to my home for less? One thing against both of them is that they both charge for their "rewards" or "perks" cards. One thing that both already do right is that they both have coffee shops. I enjoy drinking a hot or iced coffee beverage while shopping.

When I look at my list of demands and my book habits, it's really a wonder that any "new" bookstore can stay in business. I guess I should be thankful I still have some. When Waldenbooks folds with its parent Borders, there will be many communities without bookstores.

Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott

2011-07-17T00:01:00.000-04:00

Alcott’s short book provides a glimpse into the life of a Civil War hospital in Washington, DC from the viewpoint of nurse Periwinkle (Alcott herself) who came from the Boston area. It shows a contrast between the way various hospitals were run. I loved her descriptions of the towns as she was traveling through them in the early chapters of the book. Very descriptive; good writing. 4 stars.

A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick

2011-07-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

Recently divorced, Evelyn visits New Bern, Connecticut and decides to leave Texas and open a quilt shop in the small town. This book is about quilts, friendship, cancer, faith, and love. I loved the characters and the setting. Although published by a mainstream publisher, it is obvious to me that the author of this book is a Christian. Many of her characters either share their faith when the circumstance arises or they have "old-fashioned values." It also makes me want to grab some fabric scraps and start stitching them together. My only complaint is that the author seems to champion machine quilting because she mentions needing machines at various times. While I'm sure machine quilting is much faster, some of the best quilts are those which were done entirely by hand. I will look forward to my future visits with Evelyn, Abigail, Liza, Margot, Charlie, Garrett, Franklin, and all the others in New Bern in future installments of the series. 4 stars.

The Cross-Country Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini

2011-07-13T00:01:00.000-04:00

In this third installment of the Elm Creek Quilts novel, the focus is less on the staff of the quilting retreat and more on the campers. We are introduced to Sylvia's friend Grace, a renowned quilt artist who finds herself out of ideas for new projects because of a condition she is battling. We are also introduced to Internet friends Megan and Donna. Megan has won this trip because of a quilt contest and convinces Donna to join her. Megan as a single mother is dealing with a negligent father and the problems her son is having because of no male role model. Donna is struggling with her college daughter's sudden behavioral change due to a relationship in which she is involved. Then there is Julia, an actress who needs to learn to quilt for a role she will be portraying. Returning once again is Vinnie, a lady who is determined to find a match for her grandson who has just ended a long-time relationship. Before leaving the camp, they agree to create a challenge quilt but can only work on their piece when they have resolved or made efforts to resolve the problem. The book alternates between the women showing the progress they are making during the year and future meet-ups. This book is all about friendship and how friends can get you through the toughest of times. The characters are well-developed and quite likeable. I absolutely loved this installment in the series and am looking forward to the next installment. 4 stars.

Churches of the Smokies by Charles W. Maynard

2011-07-11T00:01:00.000-04:00

This small booklet describes churches which were in existence when the Great Smoky Mountain National Park began whose structures remain today. While the author does mention the total number of churches which were on the North Carolina side when the lands were purchased from settlers, the author did not actually research the number on the Tennessee side, making simply an estimate. I would have liked to have seen a listing of all the churches that had been on the park lands, even if the ones no longer there were not treated further. I found the coverage of the churches to be uneven. Having read church minutes from the earlier periods, I know that the author could have found many more stories that would have been interesting to readers and expanded the book if he had done further research. It seems to be a book that was primarily written for the tourist audience, and unfortunately about all one gets is the information that would be presented to tourists by a guide. The information contained is very readable, but I would have preferred to have known a little more about the churches and their members. 3 stars.

The Land of the Smokies by Tim Hollis

2011-07-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

This is a history of tourism in the Great Smoky Mountains area, primarily in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville areas in Tennessee and Cherokee area in North Carolina. However, the author did include comments on places in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina in the Boone and Blowing Rock areas and a chapter on attractions in the Chattanooga area. It was a fun trip down memory lane. While I'm too young to remember what it was like before the mid-1960s, we had ViewMaster slides, postcards, and other memorabilia around my house depicting those areas then so much of it was not foreign to me. It is interesting to see how changes have been made over the years and also, since I live in the area, to recognize changes from the time the book was published until now. While no book can ever be comprehensive in its treatment of the area's tourist attractions, this one does a good job of making it interesting. There are lots of vintage photographs and advertisements included throughout. My one criticism is that the author often left things that could have probably been tracked down better ambiguous. I suspect he was dealing with publication deadlines, but it left me with a feeling that there were still things that needed to have been researched before the book went to print. In spite of that flaw, it is still a great trip down Memory Lane for persons familiar with the Smokies. 3.5 stars.

The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch

2011-07-07T00:01:00.000-04:00

Jakob Kuisl is the hangman of Schongau in 17th century Bavaria. His daughter Magdalena is attracted to Simon, the son of the local doctor, even though such a relationship is forbidden in the culture. When orphans are found dead bearing a mark that is widely thought to be a sign of a witch, the local midwife is imprisoned. Jakob and other are convinced that she is not a witch, although it would be much easier if she were to just confess to the crime. It is up to Jakob, Simon, and Magdalena to find the truth behind the murders before Jakob has to kill the woman who brought his children into the world. I really enjoyed this tale based on the author's own family history. He, of course, has taken liberties with the story and plot, but it has brought to light the witch scares in Germany that preceded the one in Salem here in the United States. A great piece of historical fiction! 4 stars.

Taste of Romania by Nicolae Klepper

2011-07-05T00:01:00.000-04:00

This is not a terrible cookbook. It is just one that failed to inspire me as others do. It was interesting to see the kinds of food that Romanians eat, to learn a little about the history of the country, to read a folktale or two, to read a couple of poems that describe the country, etc. Many of the dishes seem to be somewhat similar to goulashes. Romania wasn't a country until the latter half of the 19th century. This relatively new country's cuisine has, therefore, been influenced by the cuisines of many nearby countries as well as France. There is an extensive bibliography in the book, and the indexes appear comprehensive. The predominant cheese used throughout the book is caşcaval. In the Kindle version of the book, there is often a footnote indicated by one or more asterisks. Unfortunately it is very difficult to determine which asterisk goes to which page because they begin at about 97% of the way through the book on the Kindle edition with each footnote being on a separate page. I was able to determine that the one for this type of cheese was usually a footnote indicating other cheeses that could be used for Americans unable to locate this cheese. One thing I noted about Romanian cuisine is the extensive use of sour cream in just about everything. I've decided that I can just add some sour cream to a dish and call it "Romanian." It's an interesting book, but it's not one that I'll be using often. 3 stars.

Book Review: From the Jewish Heartland

2011-07-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

Steinberg, Ellen F. and Prost, Jack H. From the Jewish Heartland: Two Centuries of Midwest Foodways. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2011.

Authors Ellen F. Steinberg and Jack H. Prost have done a marvelous job combining social history with cookbooks and recipes to create an outstanding book on Jewish foodways in the Midwestern United States over the last two centuries. The authors have examined extensive published and unpublished sources, and their research is evident. As a genealogist, my favorite portions of the book were those which talked about Jewish culture and shared recipes from eras long ago, especially when the sources of such recipes were handwritten cookbooks or other manuscripts. I loved that they had researched in newspapers and manuscript collections to find the materials to adequately document their research. They did not overlook the many resources which can be found on the Internet. Carefully chosen photographs and facsimiles illustrate the text. This book will be treasured by persons interested in Jewish history, those interested in foodways of various ethnic groups, and by genealogists and other historians. This review is based on an advance reader's e-galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley with the expectation that a review would be written.

It's My Blog's 7th Anniversary

2011-06-08T14:53:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Thomas for letting me know it was today! I'd almost forgotten that I started this on the 8th of June. I did, however, remember it was in the month of June. I actually created my first post in a blogging workshop at the library conference I'll be attending next week.

I haven't been keeping on top of blogging as much as I should lately. It's what you call having too many irons in the fire. You see, the library conference I'll be attending next week is being held in Ohio. I actually have Ohio ancestry. I've done most of the Ohio research for my Amish line, but I really need to get some additional records on some of my New England lines that made their way to Ohio. I won't have a lot of spare time on either side of the conference -- part of a day on the front end and one full day and two partial ones on the tail end -- to do research so I've been busy making lists of what is held by 3 repositories so that I can compare their holdings, get the things unique to a repository while at it, and prioritize the items I need based on research goals. If I have a little extra time after meeting my goals, I will explore other resources. I haven't had an opportunity to work on these lines in quite some time, so I'm really looking forward to getting to work on my own research for a change.

Skyward by Mary Alice Monroe

2011-05-31T22:53:00.001-04:00

Harris Henderson owns and operates the Birds of Prey Rehabilitation Center in Awendaw, South Carolina. His wife abandoned him and his daughter, but now he finds that he is unable to manage his daughter's juvenile diabetes without help. He advertises for a nanny who preferably has some medical knowledge. Ella Majors responds to the ad. She had been a pediatric nurse in Vermont before she had seen one child too many die. Ella develops a love for the child, the birds, and even for the father. The rehab extends not only to the birds but also to some of those working there. This book has lots of well-developed characters. I love the gullah man "Lijah" who brings in an injured eagle and stays around to help until the eagle is able to thrive on its own. I also love the change brought in some of the characters. The birds are the focus of the story. There are parallels between their rehabilitation and what is taking place in the lives of some of the characters. The story's pace is slow at times, but never so much that I wanted to give it up. The story also creates an awareness for juvenile diabetes. This is based on an e-galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley with the expectation that a review would be written.

Pearl of China by Anchee Min

2011-05-22T21:16:00.000-04:00

Author Anchee Min has fictionalized author Pearl Buck's life. She tells it through the life of Willow, who is a composite of several persons Pearl knew in China over the years. I enjoyed the story, but I knew that it differed from accounts of Pearl's life that I had read years ago. Pearl was the daughter of a Presbyterian missionary. In the story, Willow is the daughter of one of Pearl's father's first converts who eventually becomes a leader in the church although his initial motive for joining was purely selfish. The book covers a wide range of time, including the period after Pearl left China during the Revolution and never returned. The biggest problem with the book is the liberties that the author took with the story. That is always a danger when fictionalizing the life of a real person. Perhaps the author would have been wise to stick with the facts and make that narrative readable rather than creating a composite individual who would have know Pearl throughout her time in China. This book was received as a complimentary copy through GoodRead's First Reads Program with encouragement to write a review.

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

2011-05-10T06:00:00.000-04:00

Norway has its first serial killer who leaves behind a snowman as his signature. Harry Hole is the only detective with experience tracking serial killers. He sets out to find the person responsible for the deaths in what appears at first to be a missing persons case. It's a mystery filled with suspense -- much of it a little too nightmarish for my personal taste. Although I understand why the author used it, I don't enjoy reading things that involve sex crimes. While this one doesn't go all that far in that direction, it did so to an extent beyond my comfort level. It's a well-plotted mystery, full of action that builds the suspense. There are some formatting issues with the Kindle version that make it a little awkward to read in places. It's not on every page but there are awkward line breaks and breaks in the middle of words. This review is based on an advance reader's e-galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley, and it is hoped that the formatting issues will be resolved in the final version. 3.5 stars.

This book is scheduled for release today, May 10, 2011.

Digital Disciple by Adam Thomas

2011-05-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

I expected to like this book much more than I did. The author is an Episcopalian priest. He identifies himself as a member of the Millennial generation, and unfortunately the writing is so geared toward the Millennial generation or to those younger that it was difficult to follow his thoughts. Even though I am quite familiar with Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media, I could not identify with metaphors he used from World of Warcraft and other computer games as I had never played them. The copy that I read was an advance Kindle-version e-galley provided through NetGalley. There were serious problems with the formatting that marred my reading enjoyment. It appears that they used OCR to convert the book. Drop caps were letters that were a line above the second letter of the word in opening chapters. Footnotes appeared exactly following the word where they appeared at the bottom of the page. This means that every time I got to footnotes that I had to skip one or more of them and locate the line where the rest of the sentence continued. Sometimes it was difficult to tell that you were beginning the text of the footnote or to identify where a footnote ended and the top of the next page began. I sincerely hope that the publisher will convert the text to utilize endnotes (either at the end of the book or at the end of the chapter) in the final Kindle version. I've always been a fan of footnotes in print publications, but after reading this book, I will admit that they don't work in the MOBI format. 2 stars.

Among the Departed by Vicki Delany

2011-05-01T04:00:00.000-04:00

When RCMP officer Adam Tocek along with his girlfriend Constable Molly Smith of the Trafalgar police locate a boy who wandered from his campsite in the nearby provincial park, they happen across some human bones. The first person that pops into Molly's mind is the father of one of her childhood friends who went missing about 15 years earlier. Can the bones be identified? Was foul play involved? If so, who committed the deed and why? It will be up to Molly's colleagues to find out. I loved the characters of Adam and Molly and of most of the people in the town. They were quite fun and pleasant. This novel, however, did have a few problems. The one that nagged at me from early in the book is an error which showed poor research on the part of the author. They were discussing the find of the bones and how identification could be made through DNA. One of the characters made the statement that mitochondrial DNA could be collected for comparison. Then they went to the son of the person to whom they believed the bones belonged to attempt to collect a sample. Mitochondrial DNA is passed along by the mother instead of the father, so the son would not have been a match had he agreed to give a sample. Instead, they should have been collecting a sample from a sibling of the person. Fortunately, the son refused to give a sample, and they ended up making identification through dental records, so I didn't have to congratulate them upon finding their mother's brother. There were a few proofreading errors that would not have been caught by spell check that were present. I'm also pretty sure that the dish one of the characters enjoyed while dining was huevos rancheros instead of huveros rancheros as the book stated. In spite of the problems, the characters make this an enjoyable read. This review is based on an Advanced Readers Copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley. The book is scheduled for release May 11, 2011. 3 stars.

At My Grandmother's Knee - by Faye Porter

2011-04-21T20:23:00.003-04:00

Porter, Faye. At My Grandmother's Knee: Recipes and Memories Handed Down by Women of the South. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011.

Every Southerner will recognize the recipes in this collection. If they were not prepared in your own family, you knew someone who brought them to the church dinners. This is a collection of recipes compiled by the author. The recipes are headed by short vignettes that include a quote from a granddaughter about her grandmother who made the recipe. The graphic design and layout of the book were nice and the food photography was excellent. Unfortunately the cookbook suffers from a major problem in regards to organization. The order in which groupings of recipes were presented was problematic. For example, there is a section on pies and cobblers, then cakes, then cookies, then one on chocolate pies, and then on other desserts. Why are the pies and chocolate pies not combined or at least together? The earlier sections also suffer organizational issues. I was actually disappointed in the book. The author, in her introduction, calls this book part history and part cookbook. Unfortunately the book failed to deliver on the history aspect. The vignettes were so short that a reader never got a sense of the grandmother in most cases. If this book was a tribute to grandmothers, why weren't there photographs of the grandmothers to accompany the recipes? The e-galley I read was missing the index so I'm unable to review that aspect of the book. I probably won't go out of my way to purchase a new copy of this book, but if I do happen to find it at a bargain price in a used bookstore or on a bargain table, I might consider it. This review is based on an advance reader's e-galley provided by the author through NetGalley. 2.5 stars.

Thoughts on Newbery Book Rankings

2011-04-12T17:30:00.000-04:00

Allen County Public Library created a ranking of Newbery Medal Books based on how much enjoyment their biased group of readers had from reading them. The top book was Lois Lowry's The Giver. I don't think that would have been my first choice, but I'm sure it wasn't the top choice of each of their biased readers. Russell Freedman's Lincoln: A Photobiography was number three. This book was all the rage about the time I was studying in library school. It's nice to see that it has lived up to all its hype at the time. Lois Lowry's Number the Stars came in at number four. I really enjoy Holocaust fiction, so I'm glad to see this one with such a high ranking on the list. Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time from 1963 came in at number six. This one has certainly stood the test of time. Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia came in at number seven. This one was a favorite of a professor of mine in library school although we were well aware of the controversy surrounding the book which often made it a "banned book." Mildred Taylor's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry came in at number eight. It deals with African-Americans in Mississippi during the 1930s. It was a difficult book for me to read when I read it about 20 years ago. I think my biggest problem with it then (which is still a big problem for me today) is that it seems that Mississippi is ALWAYS portrayed as prejudiced against blacks. Almost all the books and even scholarly research seem to be centered on the Civil Rights era. I'd love to see some other depictions about the state in which I grew up. I am not denying that this existed, but it seems that literature ignores everything else about the state of Mississippi and gives people a lasting bad impression of the state. I was a bit surprised that Patricia MacLachlan's Sarah, Plain and Tall did not rank higher than twelve. Of course, I've always enjoyed a good frontier story. This one is set a little later than that, but it still evokes a simpler time and place. Linda Sue Park's A Single Shard is in my to be read pile. I hope I can get to it soon. It came in at number fourteen and deals with a 12th century Korean potter. I wish Joan Blos' A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal 1830-32 had ranked a bit higher than thirty-four on the list, but some of the biased reviewers probably don't like history and genealogy as much as I do. I was surprised that Elizabeth George Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond only came in at number forty-six. It's such a classic. Another one that I'm surprised ranked as low as it did is Scott O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins. It came in at fifty-nine. I have to agree with their assessment of Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Brink (#61). It is a bit dated for today's audiences. I remember enjoying, but not being blown away by Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey (#68). As someone who used to collect dolls, I had to read Hitty, Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field. It's #72 ranking doesn't surprise me. In fact, I'm surprised it's not a bit lower. Apparently the group considered it a miracle that they made it through Virginia Eggertsen Sorensen's Miracles on Maple Hill (#74). I honestly don't remember it being that bad. I have to be honest about Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of Little Women by Cornelia Meigs (#80). The librarian at our public library thrust this book at me when I was in about the second or third grade. I didn't like it then. I never tried to read it again although I loved Alcott's books. Maybe I should re-read it and see if I agree with the group's assessment of it. The lowest of the 89 books that I've actually read was #85, Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright. I don't remember that much about it, so it left no lasting impression.

It's certainly an interesting list. It's really no surprise that my personal favorites are probably those which are more in the category of historical fiction or set in times in the past.

Crowdsourcing the Summer Reading List

2011-04-06T07:49:00.004-04:00

This morning I came across a post in The Chronicle of Higher Education where the author talked about "crowdsourcing" his summer reading list. His list contained one book that is already on my wish list of books to read -- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration. It's on my list for obvious genealogical reasons. I began to wonder which books (primarily those which have been published in the last two or three years) that other genealogists have read lately that they would recommend for others to read. I cannot promise to read every book that is mentioned here because I've got a huge "to be read pile" that I need to reduce, several books that I'll be utilizing in creating additional presentations or in seeking background materials for families I'm researching, and several library books that I'd really like to read. However, I'm always on the lookout for other books to add to my "black hole" (as one of my reading friends calls it), some of which will even take priority over ones already there!

So, here are the rules, if you choose to participate. I will post my own response as I

Books on the list should have been published in 2008 or later. (If they are older than that, they should already be on our radar.)
Books can be fiction or non-fiction. They do not necessarily have to be genealogy-related or history-related, but that is always a bonus.
Leave a comment here with no more than 5 books listed in the thread. (We want only the cream of the crop.) If you choose to post your response on your own blog, please leave a comment with a link to your blog here so I don't miss your response! With so many great blogs out there now, I can only follow a few. I wouldn't want to miss yours.
Deadline for submissions is April 30, 2011. I will post a summary of the results before I leave for the NGS Conference.

I'm looking forward to reading your recommendations. I suspect that a few items in my black pole will gain priority and that a few more will be added. I also suspect that I will have read a few of the items. I'll be posting my own 5 to the list as soon as I've had time to think about which 5 books are the best. I read over 100 books last year. I've already read 56 books this year, but my reading will slow down now that I can get out and about a little more. My Kindle has made it far easier for me to read almost anywhere now. I still read "real books," but I've grown to love the convenience of my Kindle.

SNGF: The 1940 Census

2011-04-02T17:59:00.003-04:00

I'm looking forward to the 1940 census' arrival as are most genealogists and family historians. I'm so glad it's only a year away. I remember the wait for the 1930 census seemed endless. I'm sure there are those who believe the wait for this one is endless as well. I've wanted it a few times when working on something for a client, but I've rarely needed it for my own research as I have a plethora of resources for family members who were alive in that period.

Which family members were alive then? Both of my parents were alive at that time. They weren't married yet. Both were in Monroe County, Mississippi, although they did not live all that near one another. Their parents were alive at that time. All of these were living in Monroe County as well. Dad's brother was younger than he was and was still at home. Mom's sister Daisy was probably in college at East Mississippi Junior College in Scooba, although she may have been teaching at Bigbee by then. (I guess I need to locate that school program from Bigbee Schools that was done while she was teaching there to check the date on it.) I feel fairly sure that she had not begun her studies at Mississippi State College for Women by the spring of 1940. Mom's brother "Bud" may have been in the NYA or CCC program in the Tupelo area by that time or he may have already gone to Whitehaven (now part of Memphis) to an aeronautics school. I don't have the exact dates of his participation in each of these.

Now for my paternal grandfather's siblings: He was one of 12 children. His sister Ila, the eldest of the 12, was married and living in Osceola, Mississippi Co., Arkansas. They were already there by 1930, and that is where she and her husband died in the 1970s. I am not sure when his sister Carrie moved to the Mobile, Alabama area, but if she and her husband are not still in Monroe County in 1940, I will check Mobile County for them. I do know they were in the Mobile area by the early 1950s. I'm also not sure when his sister Virgie moved from Monroe County (where she is in 1930) to the Tuscaloosa, Alabama area (where they are in the early 1950s), but I will check Tuscaloosa County if they aren't in Monroe. I suspect that his brother Earlie had moved on from Memphis to Arkansas by 1940. I'm not sure exactly where he would be, but I know the most probable ones. The remainder of my paternal grandfather's siblings should all be in Monroe County, Mississippi.

My paternal grandmother's siblings: This could get complicated. She was one of 15 in the blended family. She had 5 step-siblings which I will not include here. She had 5 half-siblings. She had 4 other full siblings. Three of her full siblings were deceased by 1940. Her sister Norma was living in Memphis in 1930. I have no idea if she was still there are had moved elsewhere. All of her half-siblings were in Monroe County, Mississippi.

My maternal grandfather's siblings: Two of his siblings were deceased. His brother Lee will probably be in either Oktibbeha or Noxubee County, Mississippi. His sister Emma was in Telfair County, Georgia in 1930. She may be in Glynn County, Georgia or she may have moved back to Monroe County, Mississippi (or she might still be in Telfair County). His sister Marie should be in Monroe County, Mississippi. His sister Bess is probably in Clay County, Mississippi.

My maternal grandmother's siblings: Seven of her siblings had died before 1940. Her sister Mattie was in Lamar County, Alabama then. (A couple of years later she would be taken to Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa to spend the rest of her days. That's another story for another day!) Her brother Charlie was in Monroe County.

My great-grandmother Bennie Duke Thornton was alive in Monroe County, Mississippi. What is even more surprising is that all four of her siblings were also still alive. I believe her brother Jim will be found in Hot Springs, Arkansas at the time of the 1940 census. He later returned to Monroe County, Mississippi. I believe her sister Myrtis will be in Itawamba County, Mississippi at that time, although Monroe County is a possibility as well.

My great-grandmother Jennie Phillips Fowlkes Howell was also alive in Monroe County, Mississippi. She had no known siblings.

This concludes a rather lengthy post for "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun."

An Editor Can Make or Break Your Society's Publication

2011-04-02T10:53:00.003-04:00

In yesterday's mail I received the publication of one of the many societies to which I belong. As I began to leaf through the publication, I knew that there had been a change in editors without even having to search for the information. What had once been one of my favorite publications had, in a single issue, become a major disappointment.

Let me tell you some of the problems:

I have not counted the number of fonts used throughout the publication, but every single article in this "double issue" appeared to be in a different font -- many of them quite dated fonts.
There was not enough original material. Too much of this material had been reprinted or lifted from other publications. In fact, in one place they kept the logo of the publication from which it was lifted.
Some of the material was lifted from other publications, but notices of permission to reprint were not included, and neither were proper citations. In one instance where the article was taken from a society publication which was received in their library, they include the cover image of the journal from which it was taken but do not include the author's byline. There is a disagreement between the cover image and the citation (which was attempted in this case) as to the year in which it was published.
It is obvious that someone cut and pasted several of the ads in the publication because the lines from where they cut the ad are present and because the ads do not sit square with the page.
There is too much discrepancy in the manner in which articles are arranged. Some articles have a single column for the page. Others have two. Some are double-spaced; some are single-spaced. In one of the double-spaced articles, they accidentally failed to double-space between one of the lines, leading me to believe that this particular article was created during typewriter days.

I sincerely hope they get their act together and find an editor who will resume the high standards of the previous editor.

The previous editor wrote most of the issues from the last several years alone. He spent time digging in the courthouse for new records to abstract; he spent time looking at old newspapers to glean abstracts; he knew that fresh content was what people wanted -- not recycled content that can be found using PERSI. He also knew that copyright laws existed and that proper attribution should be made. He sometimes used materials from pre-1923 books which were in the public domain, but even then, he gave credit where credit was due. He adhered to standards set forth by BCG and frequently printed these in the publication. (It's a shame the person who edited the issue that arrived yesterday did not read those standards.)

I'm sympathetic to the fact that many editors of society publications have a very low pool of submissions and have to do much of the work on their own; however, there is no excuse for not adhering to standards and copyright when producing a society publication. I know that I'm guilty of not writing articles for publication when I should be doing this regularly. These society publication editors need our contributions -- whether they be articles, abstracts, or even images.

It's then up to the editor to present the materials in a unified format and to tighten up the writing and grammar so that readers have a quality publication instead of a scrapbook.

I have avoided mentioning the specific society and publication in question throughout this article. Why? Because I suspect there are many other cases just like this one out there in society publications throughout the world.

The ironic thing is that it is now time to renew my membership to this society. I probably will rejoin, but I'm doing so in a less enthusiastic manner this year because the value of this membership has declined with the decline in their publication's quality. I wonder how many others who received this issue and saw the renewal notice said, "If they are going to print stuff that I've used in the book I purchased from them and in this other publication to which I subscribe, I'm not going to renew this year." I suspect some will do as I plan to do and renew, but others will face the decision that many persons in these tough economic times are facing and decide that the value for the money is not there and that they are going to let this membership lapse for awhile. How sad!

George Washington's Legacy

2011-04-01T12:01:00.000-04:00

As I was cataloging books today, I stumbled across a volume entitled George Washington's Legacy: The Towns Named in His Honor by Donald E. Howard which had been donated to our library. While the first portion of the book is biographical, the second part is very interesting for persons interested in local history. There are chapters on towns called Washington in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Georgia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, District of Columbia, Mississippi, Ohio (actually this one is Washington Court House), Indiana, and Illinois. Then there is a chapter that gives shorter blurbs on other Washingtons or Washingtons with words added such as Port Washington and Washington Island. There is even one town called "George, Washington" that is listed! The ones that have full length chapters are illustrated with photographs, some of which are historic. My favorite photographs are the ones which accompany the article on Washington, Kentucky.

Catching Mistranscriptions While You Read

2011-03-28T22:24:00.002-04:00

I'm reading Mark Kurlansky's The Food of a Younger Land at the moment. It is a combination of history and cookbook. The author basically looked at WPA-produced manuscripts that never reached the intended final form of a book to be entitled America Eats. [Actually another author utilized the same manuscripts the year before this one was written to write a book by that title.] Because the manuscripts were in very rough form and intended for an editor to revise later, some of the entries are more readable than others. I was delighted to discover that Eudora Welty had written some of the items for Mississippi. Her entries are very readable; however, Kurlansky must have as much difficulty reading handwriting as many genealogists. Welty was describing foods across the state of Mississippi. She included mentions of a couple of persons from my home county of Monroe. When I saw that Kurlansky had transcribed one of the names as "Lubb" instead of "Tubb," I knew that he was having difficulty deciphering Welty's handwriting.

The entry was for a "Mrs. C. L. Lubb." This would have been Mrs. Carlos Lovol Tubb whose maiden name was Verlie Cordelia Ritter. Her parents were Thomas Halon Ritter and Viola Louise Towery. I have six children recorded for the marriage of Carlos and Verlie. Her husband's parents were Alphonso "Fonzy" Tubb and Mary Virginia Flynt.

This particular family is not related to me by blood, but I have information on them because of the interconnectedness of the Tubb family with one of my families.

States in Which My Ancestors Lived

2011-03-23T09:40:00.001-04:00

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Writings on American History

2011-02-15T12:31:00.003-05:00

We are moving a set of seldom-used books from Reference to In-House Storage today. I noticed that many of the pages of this set of books had never been cut. As I was looking at the pages that I was beginning to cut, I recognized the value of this set for genealogical researchers. Entitled Writings on American History, the set was published (at least in the late teens to early 1930s) as a supplement to the Annual Report of the American Historical Association. It was later published without the supplement annotation. It ceased publication in the early 1960s and when it resumed publication, a set covering the missing years (1962-73) was published. It ceased publication after the 1989/90 edition. It is often difficult to find indexes to older periodicals, but this one does just that. It also includes books published as well as book reviews. It covers mainly the United States, but to a lesser extent it covers all the Americas, including Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central, and South America. Let me give you a sampling of some of the articles that might be of interest to genealogical researchers from the 1919 issue of the publication.

Condict, Lewis. "Journey of a Trip to Kentucky in 1795," New Jersey Historical Society Proceedings, n.s. vol. 4 (1919): 108-127. - Described as a "journal of a horseback trip from Morristown, N.J., to Kentucky."

Dow, George Francis, ed. "Topsfield Selectmen's Records, 1704-1730," Topsfield Historical Society Collections, vol. 24 (1919): 90-112.

Kenny, Laurence J. "The Gallipolis Colony," Catholic Historical Review, vol. 4 (Jan. 1919): 415-451. - Described as "an account of this French colony on the Ohio, as the first successful western Catholic colony."

Bradwell, I. G. "Battle of Cedar Creek, Va.," Confederate Veteran, vol. 27 (Nov 1919): 411-412.

Hough, Frances L. "History of Pulaski County Episcopal Church," Illinois Historical Society Journal, vol. 11, no. 3 (Oct 1918): 418-421.

Thompson, Joseph J. "The Irish in Early Illinois," Illinois Catholic Historical Review, vol. 2 (Oct 1919): 223-238.

Hull, John T. "The Old Eastern Cemetery in Portland, Maine," Sprague's Journal of Maine History, vol. 7 (Aug 1919): 79-80.

Goodwin, Cardinal. "The Movement of American Settlers into Wisconsin and Minnesota," Iowa Journal of History and Politics, vol. 17 (Jul 1919): 406-428.

Reynolds, Louise Wilson. "Tax List of Greene County, State of Tennessee, for the Year 1783," D.A.R. Magazine, vol. 53 (Apr 1919): 196-203.

Bowman, George Ernest. "Capt. Peter Bennett's Will (1749) and the Estate of His Wife Priscilla," Mayflower Descendant, vol. 21 (Oct 1919): 171-175.

Perkins, Emily Ritchie. "The Perkins Family: A Sketch of Intercolonial Migration," Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania Publications, vol. 7, no. 2 (Mar 1919): 163-178.

"Marriage Licenses of the District of Columbia, 1801-1820," National Genealogical Society Quarterly, vol. 8 (Apr 1919): 27-31.

Conger, John L. "South Carolina and the Early Tariffs," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, vol. 5 (Mar 1919): 415-433.

As you can see, this publication holds a wealth of information that is useful to genealogists. I'm looking forward to seeing what gems I can find that will help me in my personal research and to making notes of articles that may be useful to me in the future.

I've Been Working on the Railroad . . .

2011-01-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

Railroads play an important role in the lives of many of our 19th century ancestors (and even 20th century ancestors). A recently distributed government document details many of the cartographic resources relating to railroads that are available in the National Archives. Entitled Records Relating to Railroads in the Cartographic Section of the National Archives and published as Reference Information Paper 116, the 142 page government document describes each collection for researchers. The 2010 edition was compiled by Peter F. Brauer and can be found in most depository libraries under the SUDOC classification AE 1.124:116. Be sure to check an individual library's catalog as there are some libraries which incorporate government documents in Dewey or LC classification numbers.

Clara Barton

2011-01-26T10:31:00.003-05:00

There's an interesting government document that should be arriving in most depository libraries entitled The Life of Clara Barton: A Chronology, 1821-1912. It is put out by the Clara Barton National Historic Site which is administered by the George Washington Memorial Parkway as part of the National Park Service publications. It appears to be online at http://www.nps.gov/clba/forkids/chron1.htm. To get to the parts after 1860, you must click on the links at the bottom of the page. While the resource lacks documentation, it is an interesting read and does show how to incorporate other history and social history into a person's life to give a fuller picture of that person and how he or she fits into history.

San Antonio in the Mid-19th Century

2011-01-25T10:59:00.003-05:00

As I was cataloging government documents today, I came across a rather interesting publication entitled The Post at San Antonio, 1845-1879. It was published by the Fort Sam Houston Museum as part of the Historic Neighborhood Awareness Program in 2002, but it has just recently been distributed to federal depository libraries. Its SUDOC classification is D 114.20:77. The publication has many historic photos and maps as well as historic information on this area. If you had ancestors who were in this area during this period, you'll want to take a look at this publication.

White Nights by Ann Cleeves

2011-01-16T08:30:00.001-05:00

Cleeves, Ann. White Nights. New York: Macmillan, 2008.

A local artist Bella Sinclair is hosting a joint exhibition at her home, the Manse, in Biddista, Shetland Islands. A mysterious man shows up at the Manse and when Jimmy Perez, the local policeman, speaks to him, the man is acting rather confused, claiming a case of amnesia. The next morning Jimmy is called to investigate a body that has been found. It turns out to be the man no one claims to know, holding a mask in his hand. Roy Turner from Inverness comes in to help with the investigation. They must determine who the man is and why someone in Biddista would want the man dead. It's an interesting case. There were plenty of options as to whom the murderer might be. I had not completely settled on a suspect in my own mind when the outcome was revealed. I did enjoy this second installment, although I believe I enjoyed the first one slightly more. This review is based on an Advance Readers Copy loaned to me by a friend. 4 stars.

Which Sign Do You Follow?

2011-01-14T08:18:00.002-05:00

I'll admit that I've never really followed astrological signs that much but apparently there is a debate about whether one should follow the sidereal or the tropical zodiac. Apparently if we follow the sidereal zodiac of Eastern origin, most of us would be under a different sign than we'd believed we were under all our lives. For example, my sign would no longer be Aquarius but Capricorn.

As I began to think of this, I remembered my first encounter with something of this nature. It arose out of my own genealogical research. I looked at my great grandfather's birth in his family Bible. The entries for each child read something like "Firstname" was born on "date" under the sign "name of sign." It was of course written in German script instead of English, but instead of seeing the standard tropical zodiac sign that I'd expected with his birth date, it gave a different one. As I began to examine the other members in his family, I knew that there was some other zodiac system in place because they all differed. My curiosity was peaked, and I had to do a little research to figure out exactly why all the signs were different. I discovered that the Amish used "moon signs" which were important for planting instead of the traditional astrological ones.

I believe that we'd all discover that we had three different signs if we chose to add the moon ones -- the traditional Tropical Zodiac signs of Western origin, the sidereal signs of Eastern origin, and the moon signs that were important to planting.

Touched by an Angel

2011-01-11T09:57:00.002-05:00

Last night I received the news that one of my classmates had died. He was our most famous classmate. You all probably know him better as the "Angel of Death." I first met John Dye back in Kindergarten. Back in those days, kindergartens were private and not everyone went to one, but we both attended Mrs. Murphree's Kindergarten, affectionately known as the Little Red Schoolhouse. The Kindergarten was really in an attachment to her home. We were tracked by ability level all the way through middle school. John and I were in what was the "high" track. Our group of about 30 classmates were pretty close to one another because we pretty much shared the same classes all the time. I remember activities on the playground as well as in the classroom with John. He was a fun person to be around and had the kind of personality that we all enjoyed being around. I remember working on class projects with him outside of class as well. On one occasion, we all had met at another classmate's house. (The classmate was David Stokes. David recently died as well.) We were supposed to come up with some sort of model to accompany a short story we had read in English class. I remember that it was a story about a flatboat because we left at some point to buy modeling clay to build the flatboat. Back then, you could get sheets of modeling clay as well as the play-doh like versions. We knew we could get the brown sheets, and they would look just like the log flatboat that we had envisioned because of the little ridges. However, that project was not so memorable because of the project itself which we did in a short time. It was that we had plenty of extra time to have fun. We took a break at one point, heading up Main Street. We were playing "Truth or Dare" as we walked up the street. This was John's idea, as I recall. There were five or six of us in the group. When it was John's turn, he took the dare. Someone dared him to go into Fred's Dollar Store and ask if Fred was there. Fred's was a chain that had been founded in the Memphis area by Fred Baddour. We all knew that it was unlikely that Fred would be there because we all realized it was a chain. John went in and asked the cashier while we were all out on the sidewalk giggling. He came back and said that Fred wasn't there today. We giggled some more. I think most of us took "Truths" after that because we were afraid of what the others might come up with if we took the dare.

John moved away but then came back during his high school years to live with his grandparents in a nearby town. He no longer went to school with us, but we were able to keep up with him and see him from time to time. By the time we had our 10th year reunion, John was a "star." He'd been in several movies and was portraying a medic on the television program Tour of Duty. By our 20th reunion, John was in the long-running show Touched by an Angel. It's sad that he won't make our 30th reunion later this year. The reunion dynamics are certain to be different without him there.

We'll miss you, John.

Behind as Usual, Snow, and a Book Review

2011-01-10T09:52:00.002-05:00

It's already January 10, and I am not doing a very good job of keeping up with the blog. I guess that once you get out of the routine, it's hard to get back into it.

We're having an unusually snowy winter in East Tennessee. We had so much snow and ice at the close of last semester that some of us began to dub it "the semester that never ends." This is the 3rd snow event in about 4 or 5 days for us, and we have another on the way. A friend of mine said he was sending snow our way, and I replied that he could keep it because I'd already shoveled more than my quota for the year!

I participated in a read-a-thon over the weekend. One of the books I read was Francis J. Bremer's Puritanism: A Very Short Introduction. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009). I ordered the book from NEHGS recently when the item was on sale. I want to share my review of it with you all because I suspect many of us have early New England ancestors.

Author Francis J. Bremer delivers exactly what is promised by the title of this book -- a brief introduction on Puritan thought. There are a few quotes, mostly in shaded sidebars. While one could tell the author was familiar with primary source writings, she utilized quite a few secondary sources in this overview of the Puritan movement. There are no footnotes, but there are bibliographies which accompany each chapter, leading the reader who wishes to explore the topics more fully to good sources. We learn a bit about the history and theology of the movement, how the Puritan interacted in society, and about personal lifestyle. The weakness of the book is in describing the decline of Puritanism and describing the genealogy of present-day groups claiming some level of origin with the Puritans. This book, however, is well-suited to persons who just want an introductory level of knowledge about Puritan history and theology. 3.5 stars.

The Best Laid Plans . . .

2010-12-31T08:47:00.004-05:00

I've come to realize over the years that I can plan and plan but that, in the end, I often go astray from those plans. Why? Because I'm human. I don't see the whole picture. God does though. This past year I had to change my plans several times. I'm thankful to the people with whom I was working on the FGS Conference for Knoxville who knew when they needed to help a little more when I was dealing with my mother's diagnosis with cancer, surgery, extended illness, and ultimate death. I had to slow down a bit after a foot injury at FGS caused me to have to stay off my feet a bit more for much of the remainder of 2010. My left foot healed by October, but my right one is just now at a point where I can bear to apply fairly normal pressure on it. I have been able to research in some facilities, but others which required more walking were not an option for me. As far as 2010, our church choir had planned to go on a mission trip to northern Vermont. I was looking forward to going there because Vermont is one of the states that I've not had the privilege of visiting. I was also going to be able to cross the border into Quebec and add another Canadian province to my places visited category. Those plans were shattered when a long-time employee of the church was discovered to have embezzled 1.5 million dollars. Much of our operating funds were frozen for a time while the investigation took place so we were going week to week there for awhile. I decided to see if there were any openings at Samford (which had been a conflict with the choir mission trip) and found that there was one opening in the Military Records class so I signed up and went to Samford instead. I made several research trips to Nashville -- some of those included client work, but many were able to include at least some personal research. All of these were not in my original plans for the year, but it's hard to imagine anything else at this point.

Now - what are my plans for this year which will likely alter over the course of the year?

In the next few weeks I'll be updating the handout for my NGS presentation about Mississippi research. This is a fairly recent handout so it probably won't change drastically, but I like to update them from time to time.

I'm planning to carve out a little more time to work on FamilySearch Indexing projects. This is likely to take place by making myself indexing at least one census image which usually requires about 15-20 minutes before beginning another project.

I want better access to the articles in the journals and magazines in my personal collection, so I'm going to continue to gradually add these to LibraryThing as titles owned, tag them, give the remaining bibliographic citation (journal title, volume, issue, publication date, pages) in the publication field, etc.

I'm planning to take on more client work this year so this will slow down my own research even more. However, I am planning to focus my research on about three of my families. The first of these is my Mosely/Mosley/Moseley family which ended up in middle Tennessee. They are quite challenging because they spent most of their time in a burned county (Giles). I've found records in several surrounding counties. One of the interesting things is that there is another Moseley family in the same area which is usually connected to a completely different line. I want better evidence than has been published by other researchers that the families are not connected and that ours comes from a different line. The other two families are some that landed in Southeastern Ohio -- the Dearborns and the Taylors. I am speaking at a library conference that will be held at Cedarville University in Cedarville, near Springfield, Ohio, in June. I'm hoping that I can spend some time before or after the conference researching these families who lived in Washington, Morgan, and Athens Counties in the early to mid 19th century. (My Rathbone line was also in the area so I may get a little more information on that one although I have a bit more documentation on this family than the others. Also Lovica Rathbone Taylor married Capt. William Davis later, so I may need to spend a little time with that surname as well.)

I have a couple of lectures that I'm extremely interested in developing. I've had them on paper for awhile and need to get them "ready to go." I suspect that finding examples that I can use to illustrate my slides and getting permissions to use the images will be the time-consuming part.

I have one goal which I don't wish to share publicly at this time. I will spend time working on this goal off and on throughout the year. It's actually one that is already in progress. With a full-time job and other commitments, it will likely take longer than this year to achieve.

Will all this be achieved? I don't know, but God does.

This post was composed for the 101st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.

The Roots of Elvis Presley

2010-12-30T08:15:00.002-05:00

This morning I happened to notice an article in the morning paper advertising a new book entitled The Roots of Elvis Presley. I got excited thinking that someone had documented his family's ancestry, but the deeper I got into the article, the more I realized that the book had been mistitled. The book might be a good source of information if you want information on Elvis and his parents, but it apparently has very little to do with genealogy beyond his immediate family. The book came out just in time for the celebration of Elvis' birth which attracts many visitors to the Tupelo area. I suspect a lot of people are going to pick it up with expectations that the book will delve further into Elvis' ancestry and are going to be disappointed.

Push & Shove

2010-12-29T10:48:00.003-05:00

I'm still in Mississippi for the holidays. Last night I decided to venture out to a store called Hudson's Dirt Cheap. I've been several times when they had a great supply of closeout books, but I wasn't that lucky last night. I'd been told that they had a lot of Christmas close-outs from Target earlier during the day, but either they were gone or I just didn't find them. (Someone said they'd been able to get a 7.5 foot Christmas Tree for $1.) My mom used to call the store "Push & Shove." That's about what you have to do there. The aisles are too narrow. You can't meet anyone else with a cart on them because the aisles are nearly too narrow for a single cart -- much less for any to pass. I don't have the patience to pick through the clothes which have size labels on the racks which are meaningless. I know a lot of people have found quite a few bargains, but it's too crowded with not enough space for browsing. The electronics in stock appeared to be the ones returned to various stores with problems. All the boxes were damaged as well. There were a bunch of DVDs that looked as though the shrink-wrapped containers had been dropped in a giant mud puddle. The floors are filthy. Many aisles are barricaded with yellow "crime scene" tape (making you wonder what folks did on those aisles). It's particularly aggravating if you get to the end of one of those narrow aisles in the clothes section only to discover that you cannot exit into the main aisle to round the corner to the next aisle. It's no fun backing your cart back up the entire aisle. There's no room to turn around and go forward. While I'm enough of a book addict to take the time to sort through those when available, I'm not willing to take the time to search through other things. Push and shove is exactly what you have to do. I'm not sure why people are willing to put up with a filthy store and all the inconveniences. I guess it is the feeling they get when they do find the bargain. I really prefer to find my bargains in cleaner stores. I'm just surprised that the health department hasn't condemned that one!

White Christmas

2010-12-25T10:52:00.002-05:00

It's a White Christmas in 2010! These pictures are taken from my Dad's house in Mississippi which is where I am for the holidays, but it's a White Christmas at home in East Tennessee too.

Now, for a little look at a Christmas past. This was my very first White Christmas at the age of 10 months.

Mom's Cranberry Fudge

2010-12-23T07:58:00.003-05:00

After Mom retired, she and Dad traveled throughout all of the lower 48 states. They didn't make it to Alaska or Hawaii, and I think she really would have loved to have gone to Alaska. Of course, Dad had been to Hawaii during World War II in his naval service. While they were in Oregon, Mom came across cranberry fudge. She tried it at multiple places, but the one she really loved came from one lady's shop. She ordered it at Christmas for the family, but after a couple of years, the store went out of business. She ordered some from an alternate location, but it just wasn't as good. That's when she decided to try making her own. She tried several times and finally got a recipe that tasted very close to the one she had loved so much.

Cranberry Fudge

3 cups sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup chopped cranberries
4 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine sugar, cranberries, evaporated milk, butter, and salt in heavy pan. Bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in marshmallows and nuts. Stir vigorously until marshmallows melt. Beat until thick. Add 2 to 3 drops of red food color, if desired, for a darker color. Pour in greased square-shaped pan and cool.

Mom used her Kitchen Aid stand mixer to beat the mixture after removed from the heat. It takes quite awhile to get it to a thick enough consistency that it will set. If you don't have a stand mixer, you will want to take turns beating it because you'll get tired pretty quickly! Dad says she sometimes left it for a couple of days before cutting it into pieces.

First Christmas

2010-12-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

This appears to be a picture of me enjoying my very first Christmas. I'm probably about 10 months old in the picture. I won't tell how many years ago it was! This was, however, back in the days when we had a real tree instead of an artificial one!

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

2010-12-19T18:16:00.003-05:00

I've spent some of the last couple of days scanning photos that were at my dad's house. I'd brought a bunch with me to scan this past summer and to return at Christmas. I'd done quite a few, but I still had a lot to go so I buckled down and started scanning.

I honestly do not know who is pictured in this photo other than the notes on the back. There is a resemblance between some of the men and some of the men on the Thornton side of the family. I do plan to ask my dad about the photo when I see him at Christmas.

Let's just say this is one place I was surprised to see a donkey!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

2010-12-15T19:37:00.002-05:00

With the cold frigid temperatures, snow still on the ground from earlier in the week and snowing now with the possibility of a layer of ice on top it by morning, I was reminded of this poem that we memorized in elementary or middle school.

Blog Caroling: O Holy Night

2010-12-14T18:18:00.005-05:00

One of my favorite singers is Gerald Wolfe who sings lead with the group Greater Vision. There are two Christmas songs that he sings that are among my favorites. One of these is the song written by Lanny Wolfe called "Cherish That Name." I couldn't find a YouTube recording sung by Gerald of it so I opted to go with the other one, "O Holy Night."

According to Wikipedia, "O Holy Night" was composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847, but the version we know came to be in 1855 when John Sullivan Dwight, a Unitarian minister, created a version for singing based upon the French song.

O HOLY NIGHT

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angels' voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

A Simple Christmas by Mike Huckabee

2010-12-14T17:17:00.003-05:00

Huckabee, Mike. A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories That Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit. New York: Sentinel, 2009.

I really enjoyed this collection of stories from Governor Huckabee's life that remind us that sometimes simple is better. They also show us the depth of his faith in Jesus Christ. They challenge us to remember the true meaning of Christmas. One of my favorite portions of the book was the introduction. I would have enjoyed hearing him preach that message! Throughout the book, the Governor made reference to many members of his family. As a genealogist, I wanted to go hunting for his ancestors as most of his information on the distant generations appears to have been passed down through oral tradition rather than having been properly documented. I still loved the stories of his family and of himself. One of the most touching stories involved the last days of a family member who died to cancer. Having lost my mother to cancer in the last year, I found myself in tears in that section. While I doubt liberal Democrats would enjoy the book, I do think there are many other classes of persons to whom this book would appeal. The stories are touching. It's a great Christmas read! (4 stars)

The Piano Teacher by Lynn York

2010-12-13T19:40:00.003-05:00

York, Lynn. The Piano Teacher. New York: Penguin, 2004.

Miss Wilma is a small town piano teacher in North Carolina. Her daughter Sarah and granddaughter Starling arrive for an unexpected visit. Her son-in-law Harper and Jonah Branch turn up just as the body of an officer is found -- just in time for Jonah to be accused of the murder. Sarah, her mother, and her mother's friend are convinced of Jonah's innocence and must work to prove it before Jonah lands behind bars for good. I really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't grip me. I liked Miss Wilma's character well enough, but the story line just didn't hold me. There was also a thread early in the novel about a piano student auditioning that just kind of fizzled out in the midst of the book with absolutely no resolution. I was more interested in this thread about the promising piano student than about the murder investigation so it left me unsatisfied. (3 stars)

Reflections on Genealogy Blogs & This Blog

2010-12-13T19:06:00.004-05:00

Most of you are aware that it's voting time for Family Tree Magazine's favorite blogs. As I began to go through the choices -- and yes, I loaded every blog to give all those with which I was unfamiliar as well as those I read regularly an equal chance, I noticed some trends. I tended to not vote for blogs which had almost meme-related posts exclusively. With the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories in full swing, I had to scroll back all the way to November to see non-meme posts for some blogs to see what those writers I did not regularly read brought to blogging which was unique. Blogs that only posted to memes such as the tombstone and wordless ones showed little creativity in my opinion. Blogs with super long entries also did not fare well in my voting. With the number of blogs that I try to read, it would be impossible to read entries like that on a daily basis -- especially if they were not immediately relevant to my own research or to areas in which I spend a great deal of time researching. Blogs that focused almost exclusively on reviews also did not get my vote. I think I've seen too many software reviews lately. One blog that I used to read regularly and enjoyed is so full of software reviews now that I've considered dropping it from my feed reader. It used to be more eclectic in nature.

I haven't been blogging as much lately. There are a variety of reasons contributing to my lack of blogging . . . other priorities, illness in the family, blogging burnout, and working on client research rather than my own. I have good intentions, and I know I need to get back to it, but I haven't. I also noticed signs of this same problem among some of the blogs that were nominated. One blog (which used to be a favorite) had not been updated in the last calendar year. I've at least written a handful of posts in that time. Others were infrequent, having only a handful of posts as well. Other blogs seem to be suffering a little "fatigue." They aren't quite as engaging as they once were. It's as though they were writing out of a sense of obligation rather than having something about which they are excited to share. I'll also confess a little secret to you. I hate the word "geneablog." I prefer to use the phrase "genealogy blog" or "family history blog," a term which is much more likely to be utilized by those looking for genealogy-related blogs than an invented term. I know that the English language is evolving, but that's one term that I'd rather have omitted from dictionaries. It's so prevalent that its use will be continued in genealogy blogging circles regardless of my thoughts on the matter. I think the one thing that bugs me about the use of the term is that I feel "trapped" by it. When I began Smoky Mountain Family Historian back in June of 2004, my intent was never to blog exclusively about genealogy. My intent was to blog about anything that interested me or caught my attention. It was to be a reflection of my whole person. I often shared reviews of books that I read. I shared things about my cat. I shared other things. In order to recapture my enthusiasm, I'm going back to my original intent for this blog. You are going to see many aspects of my life as well as glimpses into my genealogical research. I hope that this change back to the original direction of my blog does not cause you to leave. I just need to recapture my enthusiasm for blogging!

The Picky Eater

2010-12-01T07:57:00.003-05:00

Yes. There truly is one in every family. It's impossible for our family to create a meal without alternatives around the holidays. It's not the older generation that is the problem. It's the ones under age 35. Turkey . . . fortunately most of the family will eat this. Of course, it is my cat Brumley's favorite part of the holiday meal. Cornbread dressing . . . only those over age 35 will eat this. Fortunately those of us over 35 don't mind because it leaves more for us (until we've had it as leftovers for a 3rd time). Cranberry sauce . . . This is a tricky one. My dad, my brothers, and I will eat this. Mom always served the jellied kind out of the can. I prefer making it myself, but the family eats the jellied kind better because of tradition . . . so I usually suffer. Rolls . . . this is one item everyone will eat. Green beans . . . generally speaking, it's those of us who are older who eat this, but I was shocked when, at Thanksgiving, one of my nephews actually put some on his plate. He didn't eat a lot of green beans, but he ate a few. There may be hope for that younger generation yet. Sweet potato casserole . . . some will eat; some won't. Cheesy potato casserole . . . one of my newer favorite dishes. We started making it because one of my nieces really liked it. We're not sure if she knew it had onions in it when we first started serving it, but she does now, and she still eats it. Mashed potatoes . . . served as an alternative for those who won't eat the cheesy potato casserole and/or dressing. Fruit salad . . . another food that everyone will eat. Carrots with ranch dressing . . . for my youngest niece who is now a senior in high school. Pecan pie, Pumpkin pie, Cheesecake supreme . . . everyone will eat at least one of the choices offered (although why some of my nieces and nephews would ever eat the boxed cheesecake you buy at the grocery store after eating the homemade variety we serve, I don't understand). Chocolate . . . Can you believe that I have a niece who won't eat chocolate? We even have Swiss ancestry!!!!! She needs to learn to embrace her inner Swiss. I always tease her that I'm not sure we're related. Of course, we have coated pretzels, fudges, cheese balls, summer sausages, and other things to munch on during the holidays as well.

SNGF: Where the Blame Lies

2010-10-16T16:22:00.002-04:00

This week's Saturday night genealogy fun challenge is:

1) Read Brenda Joyce Jerome's post Who or What Do You Blame? on the Western Kentucky Genealogy blog. She asks these questions:

* Can you identify person or event that started you on this search for family information?

* Did you pick up researching where a relative had left off?

* Did your interest stem from your child's school project on genealogy?

* If you have been researching many years, it may be hard to pinpoint one reason for this journey.

2) Write your responses on your own blog, in a comment to this blog post, or in a note or comment on Facebook.

Now, I can honestly say that I'm the only one to blame for my own genealogy addiction.

When I began researching genealogy that I knew of no other relatives who had researched a single thing about our family. We had no school projects on genealogy. The only thing I knew is that my Mom had always wanted to know something more about her great grandfather Walton Harris. At the time I began researching, I was living in Cincinnati. I knew that it was one of the top genealogical libraries in the country. I just decided to try my hand at it -- a surprise for Mom. It didn't take me long to move to other branches of my family. I found more interesting lines and pursued those. I was shocked when I discovered New England ancestry. I'd grown up in Mississippi and never imagined that I'd discover ancestors in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. However, my New England ancestors are by far my most interesting ones. In those early years, when I got discouraged on a Southern brick wall, I'd always turn to my interesting New England ancestors which would put me back in the discovery phase and get me past the feeling of being defeated by a particularly difficult brick wall challenge.

I mentioned that when I started that I knew of no one else in the family who had researched the family. I did learn about some who had after I started. I learned that Mom and Nanny (Mom's mom) had gone to the courthouse in Pulaski, Tennessee (Giles County) only to be told that all the records had perished in a fire. I'm really not sure who they talked to, but there are quite a few records which did survive. They just found an unhelpful clerk on that date.

I also learned that Mom's Aunt Marie had researched the Lantz and Taylor lines fairly extensively. However, by the time I discovered this, I already had these lines well under way with much of the same documentation she had. I've never actually seen Aunt Marie's research, but her granddaughter has much of it, and I've corresponded with her.

Someone on the Thornton line had done a little bit of research too because the reunion booklet shows signs that some research was done, even though it was not documented. I'm still not sure who compiled the information in that older booklet, but I do know that Dad's first cousin took it and researched some more -- as did I.

I later found another Hester researcher who had more information on descendants of other branches than I did. (Of course, I was able to help her get forward on some of the ones she didn't have as well fleshed-out.)

However, I was addicted before I made the discoveries of other researchers -- and I have no one to blame for myself!

An Interesting Family

2010-09-28T12:34:00.003-04:00

I stumbled across a rather interesting family (at least according to the online family trees which are in various states of documentation ranging from none to mediocre). I had copied various Harris and Davis marriages from the Lincoln County index in Mrs. Harry Kennett McAdams' book Kentucky Pioneer and Court Records: Abstracts of Early Wills, Deeds and Marriages from Court Houses and Records of Old Bibles, Churches, Grave Yards and Cemeteries (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1961). One of the marriages was for a Samuel Harris to an Elizabeth Van Cleve on 25 October 1784. (p. 112) I will admit that this Samuel Harris is in Kentucky earlier than my family appears to have been.

I decided to see if I could find anyone researching this couple in an effort to discover how these families might or might not be related to my Harris and Davis families. As I inserted the couple in a search in WorldConnect (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/), I came up with something quite interesting just from the locations mentioned for Samuel's birth and death. Samuel was said to have been born 20 Nov 1763 in Bechman Twp., Dutchess Co., N.Y. I recognized that immediately as the area where the Beekman Patent was. At least one tree stated that he was born in neighboring Nine Partners rather than Bechman Twp., but it was still in the area. There is a note in one tree that states he was a member of the Reformed Dutch Church. His death location was listed as Pleasant Hill, Mercer Co., Ky. I immediately recognized this as what we call "Shakertown." In fact, some of the trees elaborated a bit more on this connection. It appears that Samuel and his wife Elizabeth, said to have been a North Carolina native, became Shakers in 1806. Seven children were listed in one of the trees, and it was noted that all of their sons eventually left the Shakers, but that the daughters remained. Samuel and his wife Elizabeth are said to be buried in unmarked graves at Shakertown.

I found this connection between the Beekman Patent and Shakertown to be very interesting. I'd love to do further research on this family to try to prove or disprove the claims made in the online trees.

Things That Make You Go Hmmm . . .

2010-09-27T11:00:00.003-04:00

In the process of my efforts to make sure all my notes, photocopies, etc. are filed in a more easily retrievable manner, I began tackling a notebook that contained some of my earliest attempts in genealogy. This particular notebook contains information from at least three families that were connected with each other. I've not worked on one of the families in at least a dozen years (maybe even longer). As I am going through the materials, I'm trying to see what is in my database and what isn't, if it pertains directly, in an identifiable manner to my direct or collateral lines, and add it if necessary. For things that were attempts to crack the brick wall on this line, I'm going back to try to annotate some of the research so that I can see if I can make it a bit more meaningful to try to get past the brick wall, and typing it up (with footnotes) to get it in a more retrievable format. I've come across some interesting things.

I had handwritten notes on notebooks in 3 ring binders without reinforcements. I've discovered a page of notes with the bibliographic information missing on one of the items. What I do know about the source is that on pages 143-147 (at the very minimum) is a list of early marriages of Cumberland County, Kentucky. My notes indicate that the source stated that the county was formed in 1798 and included large parts of several counties, one of which was Wayne County. I also have a note that the list that follows was made by Mrs. Nora C. McGee before the courthouse fire of 1933. (I've summarized for you here, but I had the actual wording in my notes.) Then I included the marriages for two surnames that I was researching in Wayne County. Oh, how I wish I'd known then to make sure that the source information appeared on each page that I wrote by hand. I sent an e-mail to a couple of friends who do a great deal of research in Kentucky. I mentioned to them that I'd probably gotten it from the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County. I also mentioned that if they couldn't identify the source that I'd have to hope that either the McClung Collection or Tennessee State Library & Archives had it. One of them quickly replied that it was not one source and that it was probably another which was available at TSLA. To look at that source is now on my "to do" list for my October visit to TSLA.

Since I'm trying to identify the parents of Dicey Davis who married Charles Harris in Wayne County in 1811, I thought it might be helpful if I looked at some online family trees to see if any of them could shed some light on some of the marriages that I had collected. We all know how entertaining some of those trees can be, especially the undocumented ones. For example, I found the same marriage attributed to one husband who was said to have belonged to different sets of parents. I was attempting to locate a Marice Carter who married a Betsey Harris 10 Dec 1806 in Cumberland Co., Ky. I found a Morris Veale Carter, who married a Nancy Brown in 1813 in Nelson Co., Ky., whose parents were listed by one researcher as Edward Carter and Margaret Mason, but by most researchers (including ones with a greater degree of documentation) as Peter Carter and Amelia Veale. None of these trees identify an earlier marriage to a Betsey/Elizabeth Harris, but at least I have an annotation about it which might help in unpuzzling something in the future.

Then you have the cases of the underage marriages. Did an 18-year-old man marry a 10-11 year old girl as one tree seemed to indicate in the marriage of Robert Davis to Sally Smith in Lincoln County, Kentucky in 1796? The tree, which lacks documentation, states that Robert was born in 1778 and was the son of Robert Davis and Jane Jopling. It states that Sally was born in 1785/86 to Martin Smith and Hannah/Joannah Stephens. Do we have incorrect birth dates? Or is this a case of misidentifying the wife? Or did an 18 year old really marry and underage girl? Once again, I have an annotation with plenty of questions for further research attached to this one for further investigation.

I'm not a person who uses online family trees as a source for a final report. I'd much prefer to get as close to the original records as possible. These trees only provide clues for me. I want to see if I can build the families from the original records. I just need to know what other people are saying about the relationships and see if I come to the same conclusions from my own research. If there are disagreements between my conclusions and theirs, can I resolve the conflicts? This is a case where my annotated notes will prove more helpful than my genealogy software. I have not identified any of these families as my own, although they are in the same area as my families.

Another Book Has Arrived

2010-09-21T21:19:00.005-04:00

As I was reading reviews at work the other day, I ran across a review of Middling Folk: Three Seas, Three Centuries, One Scots-Irish Family by Linda H. Matthews. (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2010).

I'm excited about this book because it's published by a press known for good literary works. This is definitely a history of the Hammill Family who came from Scotland. It is divided into five parts:

Part I: The Hammill Family in Scotland and Ireland
Part II: Charles County, Maryland, 1725-1778
Part III: Prince William County, Virginia, 1778-1845
Part IV: Prince William County, Virginia, 1845-1896
Part V: The Hammill Family in the Far Northwest, 1880-1928

I'm really looking forward to reading this book. The "blurb" on the dust jacket is a sentiment that many of us share about our own families that we have researched:

Matthews combines meticulous research and deft storytelling to show how the Scots-Irish Hammills--millers, wagon makers, and blacksmiths--lived out their lives against a backdrop of the American Revolution, the Civil War, and westward expansion. Readers will come away with a newfound respect for the ordinary families who helped shape this country and managed to hold their own through turbulent times.

The UPS Man Arriveth

2010-09-17T18:19:00.003-04:00

I just love it when the UPS man comes to my house. He brings packages with such interesting things. Today's delivery was a book I'd ordered from Amazon.

Rohrer, S. Scott. Wandering Souls: Protestant Migrations in America, 1630-1865. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.

The book addresses migrations of several religious groups over the period of time mentioned in the title. The first chapter deals with the Puritans. The second with the Anglicans of Virginia. The third with the Scots-Irish Presbyterians. [The author of the book called them Scotch-Irish. I remember being told that Scotch is something you drink or a brand of tape. People from Scotland are Scots. However, most of us realize that we have to live with both spellings for this ethnic group.] The fourth chapter deals with Pietists (such as the Moravians). The fifth chapter deals with Methodists, specifically in the area that became Ohio. The sixth chapter deals with Baptists and Congregationalists. The sixth chapter deals with the Amana Colony in Iowa. The seventh chapter deals with the Mormons. I'm really looking forward to using this volume as I research my ancestors and the ancestors of others. I'm really glad that I stumbled across a reference to it the other day in a book review that crossed my desk at work.

Facebook Cousins

2010-09-06T10:09:00.005-04:00

Yesterday morning, I decided to check Facebook before heading out to church. There was the beginning of a discussion on a photo that Pam Sayre had posted about a photograph of Linda Woodward Geiger and a Perkins cousin and his wife that she had met at the Museum of Appalachia during the FGS Conference in Knoxville. Linda had posted a comment about being descended from John Perkins and Judith Gater of Ipswich, Massachusetts. I quickly chimed in "Cousin Linda" for I, too, am descended from that couple. It wasn't long until Polly Kimmitt joined those claiming kinship. After comparing lines of descent, we discovered that Linda & I are 9th cousins once removed (with the common ancestor being the immigrant John Perkins and his wife Judith Gater), Polly & I are 9th cousins once removed (with the common ancestor being the immigrant's son John Perkins and his wife Elizabeth Evelith), and Linda & Polly are 9th cousins twice removed with the common ancestor being the immigrant once again. Since then, Bill West has also claimed to be our cousin. We'll have to calculate the degree of kinship when we have his line of descent. Now the really interesting thing was coming up with a way to cite a comment on a Facebook photograph that would meet Evidence Explained standards. I don't claim to have done it the way Elizabeth might have, but I came up with a way to do it since it is temporary documentation anyway (and not on my direct line).

Update (9/7/2010): Bill and me are 10th cousins once removed. Bill & Polly are 11th cousins. Bill and Linda are 9th cousins twice removed. Other Perkins cousins found are Melinde Lutz Sanborn, Natalie Cottrill, and Randy Seaver. We don't have enough info at the moment to calculate the degree of relationship to the last three. Natalie and Bill do share a descent through John & Judith's daughter Mary.

Update (9/9/2010): Randy Seaver and Linda are 9th cousins twice removed. Randy, Bill, and Polly are 11th cousins. Randy and me are 10th cousins once removed.

Sunday Ramblings

2010-08-29T13:20:00.002-04:00

I've just returned from worship today. Our pastor is wonderful, and his message today was very uplifting. Only a few more hours until the launch of a new ministry for our teens with which I'll be working. It's called "Exalt!" and will involve praise and drama teams. I will be working with the praise teams.

I stopped at O'Charleys on the way home to grab a bite to eat. I ordered the black and blue salad, but I kind of feel that I was cheated on the blue part. The blue cheese crumbles were so fine inside the dressing that you couldn't even see them. If I had not tasted the flavor, I would not have known they were there. The steak was cooked as ordered and was tasty, although it was definitely not the best grade of meat available. The bacon crumbles were almost overpowering. I think I would have preferred their omission. I guess that it just wasn't like the black and blue salad I would have made!

My feet are beginning to recover from those concrete floors at the FGS Conference in Knoxville. I think that they'll be fine by next weekend.

I spent yesterday scanning 297 pages of documents that I photocopied on a recent research trip. I will be using these documents along with some other materials already in my possession and some research yet to be done to create an account for future publication. I'm just not sure yet how far into the future it will be, but I will be writing, documenting, and looking for any gaps in the narrative as I go.

I think it's about time for the Sunday afternoon nap! My cat has already begun his.