Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Book Review: Map Guide to German Parish Registers, Grandduchy of Baden

The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

Map Guide to German Parish Registers, Grandduchy of Baden
by Kevan M. Hansen
Second Edition. Published by Family Roots Publishing Co., Bountiful, UT. 2008. 272 pages.

This is not a book for beginners. This is not a beginner’s guide to conducting German research. Rather, it’s a reference. In order to derive maximum benefit, you need to already know the basics of German research, and an excellent knowledge of the German language would be very helpful. Most of the book, which is comprised of lists of towns, parishes, districts, repositories, and archives is in German. The explanatory text is in English, but there’s not a lot of explanatory text.

Book Review: Secrets of Tracing Your Ancestors

The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

Secrets of Tracing Your Ancestors. Fifth edition.
by W. Daniel Quillen. Published by Cold Spring Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY. 2011. 223 pages.

Secrets of Tracing Your Ancestors would be a good book for the curious genealogist who has an interest in the history of the family, but just does not have the time nor the money yet to go out and do it. I think this book would be great incentive to get the inquisitive beginner thinking about the close-to-home work we all wish we had done when we were younger, in the days before the old folks died.

Tracing Your Ancestors is not a large reference volume, but rather an easy-to-carry-around beginner’s guide, easy to read, and inspirational to the early starter who is still tied close to home. I see this book as a means of giving the family history student some very effective tools to organize the paperwork, and the motivation to do those things within the person’s grasp, such as interviewing the parents, grandparents, and other relatives, and the encouragement to begin collecting the stories that will be gone too soon.

Book Review: Zap the Grandma Gap

The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

Zap the Grandma Gap
by Janet Hovorka
Published by FamilyChartMasters, Pleasant Grove, UT. 2013. 193 pages.

Ms. Hovorka wants to zap the gap between generations as she introduces her super-hero Grandma who is armed with the weaponry of story-telling and the will to leave her family the treasures of the past and help them prepare for the future.

This book is written in a casual style using the theme of the superhero, featuring Grandma in her many super-power roles. Each chapter takes on a theme of super Grandma with her power regalia making family history exciting, inviting the younger generation to experience the past and become inspired to appreciate their ancestors.

A Book Review of an Old Book: "Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain"

At the Who Do You Think You Are? Live! conference in London this weekend, I obtained a copy of a book (Thanks Brian!) that probably will interest many Americans and more than a few Brits. Your father or grandfather probably read this book when he arrived in England during World War II!

Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain was published in 1942 and I am told a copy was given to every American serviceman who arrived in Britain. (I obtained a 1994 reprint.)

Quotes:

"…The British don't know how to make a good cup of coffee. You don't know how to make a good cup of tea. It's an even swap…"

"…When you see a girl in khaki or air-force blue with a bit of ribbon on her tunic, remember she didn't get it for knitting more socks than anyone else in Ipswich…"

"…It is always impolite to criticize your hosts; it is militarily stupid to criticize your allies."

"instead of railroads, automobiles, and radios, the British will talk about railways, motor-cars, and wireless"

Book Review: White Maryland Runaways, 1770-1774

The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

White Maryland Runaways, 1770-1774
Compiled by Joseph Lee Boyle.
Printed for Clearfield Co. by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD. 2010. 364 pages.

The title phrase “white Maryland runaways” characterizes the thousands of white Europeans who did not come to colonies as free men and women. They came as indentured servants, political exiles, or transported convicts. Bound whites preceded the use of black slaves in every colony, and as runaways, they were hunted just as we recall the slaves were.

This book is a collection of transcribed newspaper notices of the white runaways.  The introduction expands upon the history of white servitude in the colonies, a topic not widely discussed nor acknowledged.

New Book: Understanding Documents for Genealogy & Local History

Dr Bruce Durie is a genealogy expert, amongst several other talents. A former neuroscientist, he presently teaches at the universities of Dundee and Edinburgh (in Scotland), is Archivist and Historian to the Chief of the Durie Family and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. I have written about several of his past activities with past articles available by starting at http://goo.gl/xN6DT. Now he has written a new book that sounds interesting. Here is the announcement:

Understanding Documents for Genealogy & Local History by Dr Bruce Durie

To be published 21st February 2013, £20.00 Paperback Original

Book Review: A History of Louisa County, Virginia

The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

A History of Louisa County, Virginia
by Malcolm H. Harris
Reprinted for Clearfield Co. by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD. 2010.

This is a reprint first published by The Dietz Press, Richmond, VA in 1936.

In 1935, Malcolm H. Harris, M.D. completed this very large (445 pages) history of Louisa County, Virginia. From his introductory remarks, I’d say he and his parents were born and raised in the county, and his love for the province is evident in the extensive amount of detail he’s compiled into the book.

His early chapters of Political History sketch out the topographic details of the district. And detailed details they are: “On the North Anna the creeks flowing into that river from Louisa are Hickory, Duckinghole, Goldmine, Contrary, Chamberlains, Elk, Little Rockey, Great Rockey, and Bear Swamp. There are several others of lesser importance. Some have had their names changed. Gladys Creek is, for instance, written on the Fry and Jefferson map of 1775 as Gladey, and lies between Contrary River and Elk Creek.”

Book Review: the various QuickSheets authored by Elizabeth Shown Mills

The following review was written by Bobbi King:

QuickSheets.
Authored by Elizabeth Shown Mills. Laminated, folded, 4 pages, 8 ½ x 11. Published by Genealogical.com.

The QuickSheets are laminated 4-page guides published by Genealogical.com, similar to the “At A Glance” series. Durable book-size pages that can be stowed in a bag, these QuickSheets replace the full volumes of Evidence! or Evidence Explained that are nearly impossible to carry around, say, if you’re in Salt Lake City for the week. These are quickie references that survive coffee drips, sandwich crumbs, and stuffed suitcases.

calibre 0.9.18

calibre is a FREE e-book library manager, e-book reader and converter all in one. It’s the ideal companion to your e-book reader. Books can be categorised manually and searched by author, year or genre. It includes library management, format conversion, news feeds to ebook conversion, as well as e-book reader sync features and an integrated e-book viewer. Calibre also makes it easy for users to find DRM (Digital Rights Management)-free e-books. It runs on Windows, Macintosh and Linux. Also, iPhone users can access Calibre via Stanza.  I have written about calibre before at http://goo.gl/SbIr3.

Now the producers have released an updated version with several new features as well as bug fixes.

Photos Needed for “African Americans of Galveston” (Texas) Book

The Galveston Historical Foundation is looking for photos for an upcoming book titled: African Americans of Galveston. Written by Tommie Boudreaux and Alice Gatson, the book will celebrate Galveston’s African American culture from the 1840s to the 1960s.

Photos should be submitted no later than February 15.

Details may be found in the Houston Chronicle book blog, written by Maggie Galehouse, at http://goo.gl/JZiQB.

Book Review: Scotland During the Plantation of Ulster

The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

Scotland During the Plantation of Ulster
The People of Dumfries and Galloway
1600-1699
by David Dobson
Printed for Clearfield Company by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore. 2008

We recently published a review of The People of the Scottish Burghs by David Dobson in this newsletter.

Scotland During the Plantation of Ulster is a very similar book, similar in format and information provided. It’s one of a series of publications for Scottish genealogists authored by David Dobson.

A New Guide to Virginia Genealogy

Lots of guides to Virginia genealogy have been published over the years but this new one is quite different from the others. It could only be created in an online environment. The new guide on the FamilySearch Wiki can help you discover if anyone has studied YOUR Virginia genealogy.

The new guide works by searching genealogy research on FamilySearch that has already been conducted on your Virginia ancestors. You select the county and then  an extensive list of books and articles appears. Some of these are scanned books available on FamilySearch.org while others could be available most anyplace on the Internet, such as on American Ancestors, Google Books, and Internet Archive. The books may focused on all the residents of a particular county or, in some cases, on only one family.

Book Review: Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families

The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families

Douglas Richardson, author, and Kimball G. Everingham, editor. (Salt Lake City; 2nd ed., 2011). Three volumes, more than 2200 pages, indices of people and events.

These volumes document the lines of descent for over 200 seventeenth-century North American colonists from the Plantagenet dynasty that ruled England from 1154 to 1485. The first family described is that of Geoffrey Plantagent himself, offering forty-six pages of his royal descendants families. Thereafter, the chapters are alphabetized by surname. Each volume contains its own index of people and events. 

Zap The Grandma Gap Book

The following announcement was written by Family ChartMasters:

Are the youth in your family more attached to their iPod or laptop screen than they are to you?  How do you connect to your family members and form the kind of close relationships that will support and strengthen them as they grow into successful and grounded adults?  Teaching your children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and even your brothers and sisters about their family history can create strong bonds in your family and become a framework that protects and empowers your relationships.  Family history connects family members in a way that is personal and unique to your family.  It especially gives children the power to identify with personal heroes, learn life lessons and gain a broad, wise perspective on life.

Book Review: Our Daily Bread

The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

Our Daily Bread
German Village Life, 1500-1850

by Teva J. Scheer
Published by Adventis Press, North Saanich, BC

Paperbound, 221 pages with illustrations, photographs, drawings, images, glossary, bibliography, and index.

We genealogists are always longing to reach back. We travel long distances to see our ancestors’ home places, we amble along the streets where they shopped, we drive out into the rural countryside to see the farms where they lived and worked, and we peer into the churches where they married and baptized their children.

Book Review: Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families

The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families
Douglas Richardson, author, and Kimball G. Everingham, editor.
Published by Douglas Richardson. (Salt Lake City: 2nd ed., 2011).
Paperbound, 4 volumes; more than 2500 pages; bibliography; indices of people and events.

The Magna Carta (“Great Charter”) is the charter of liberties granted by King John of England, first issued in 1215. The Charter was forced upon the King by a rebellion of his feudal lords, and the charter led to way to the establishment of English civil law. It influenced New England settlers’ customs of governance, and inspired the ideas contained with the Constitution of the United States. The text of the Charter is transcribed in the introductory pages of Volume 1 (“23. No village or individual shall be forced to make bridges over the rivers, with the exception of those who from of old, and of right ought to do it.”)

(+) How to Lend an eBook to a Friend

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman.

In recent comments to ebook articles in this newsletter, several people have commented, "If I have enjoyed a book, I get pleasure in passing it to a friend to read. I can't do that digitally without paying again." Actually, with Kindle and Nook ebook readers, that is incorrect. Kindle and Nook owners can legally lend books at no charge. In fact, the process is quite simple.

Kindle

Kindle books can be loaned to another reader for a period of 14 days. The borrower does not even need to own a Kindle! Kindle books can be read on a second Kindle or on a Windows PC, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android device by using Amazon's FREE Kindle software.

Book Review: The People of the Scottish Burghs

The following book review was written by Bobbi King:

The People of the Scottish Burghs
A Genealogical Source Book
The People of Kirkcaldy 1600-1799

by David Dobson
Published by Clearfield Company; printed by the Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore MD. 104  pages.

This book is a compilation of families of Kirkcaldy, Scotland.

The introduction is a brief historical overview of Kirkcaldy, a burgh of barony since medieval times located on the Firth of Forth on the east coast of Scotland.

More Evidence Why Printed Books Will Never Die

I recently published Has the Death of Printed Books Been Exaggerated? at http://goo.gl/knBcv and the article generated quite a bit of conversation in the comments at the end of the article. Now a new article by Josh Catone continues the same theme but goes even further.

Catone writes:

"Measured en masse, the stack of 'books I want to read' that sits precariously on the edge of a built-in bookshelf in my dining room just about eclipses 5,000 pages. The shelf is full to bursting with titles I hope to consume at some indeterminate point in the future.

Bobbi King Named as EOGN Book Review Editor

It gives me great pleasure to announce an addition to the staff of this newsletter. Roberta "Bobbi" King has agreed to become EOGN’s Book Review Editor. As such, she will be writing reviews of genealogy books to be published in this newsletter.

Bobbi King has authored numerous articles for local, regional, and national genealogical society publications, including the National Genealogical Society's Quarterly. She has served as editor and contributor for various society newsletters and quarterlies and most recently served as revision editor for the Bylaws Workbook for the Federation of Genealogical Societies. She is currently the Chair of the Bylaws Review Committee for the Federation of Genealogical Societies.

Bobbi received the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly's Award of Excellence in 2008 and has published several personal compilations of her family history.