Doug B. MacDonald, with the help of Paulette (Johnston) McNally and Hazel (Jenkins) Sanford from the P.E.I. Genealogical Society, has written Nicolaus Henckell the Hessian: A Genealogy of Jenkins Families of Prince Edward Island.
McDonald described the process: “This was a massive undertaking, involving many trips to cemeteries and the public archives and talking to people. At times it became obsessive. My wife has been so patient (with me) during this process,” he says.
Throughout the project a committee of Paulette (Johnston) McNally, Hazel (Jenkins) Sanford and MacDonald worked diligently. “Everyone had collected information on their own, so I put it all together in the text. Then there were those, who after hearing about the project, submitted material they had gathered. No one, on their own, had very much, but when we put it all together, it gave a complete picture.”
Then came the enormous task of writing and editing the book. “With 13,070 pages of text and 6,600 foot notes, we had to use 10-point font to get as much of the information in, as possible.
“Next, all of the genealogical data had to be entered into a computer program called Brother’s Keeper which creates a stilted book. In order to make it readable and correct the information, I had to go through it manually, typing two fingers at a time. Eventually my system crashed,” says MacDonald, with a laugh.
The book also tells the genealogy of that young German immigrant whose name was anglicized to Jenkins and more than 19,600 of his descendants and their spouses,” says MacDonald. Among this extended family are well-known athletes, including Lorie Kane (golf), Dion Phaneuf (hockey), Harry “Kid” Poulton (boxing), George Dandy Wood (major league baseball) and Dr. Wendell Macdonald and his wife, Liz (curling).
You can read more about this huge new book at http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=311322&sc=100.
