The following stellar review by Bobbi King of the new Third Edition of Genealogical Research in Ohio, by Kip Sperry, appeared in the December 15, 2023, issue of Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter.
“Book Review: Genealogical Research in Ohio – 15 Dec 2023
The following book review was written by Bobbi King:
Genealogical Research in Ohio. 3rd Edition.
by Kip Sperry. Published by Genealogical Publishing Co. 2023. 351 pages.
Mr. Sperry, the author of two previous editions of Research, the last one having been published in 2003, writes this volume to include internet and computer resources, as well as updated information following twenty years of changes, with a bountiful array of new material added upon the historic data written into the previous works.
This book is rich in resource material. Each record type is introduced with a description of its genealogical importance, followed by listings of reference books, articles, urls for websites, and comments helpful in evaluating their usefulness to the researcher. It appears all record types are presented: birth and death, cemetery, naturalizations, military, photographs, and more than twenty more record types.
This book is rich in Ohio information. First chapters include a detailed timeline of Ohio events, the story of its early settlement years, followed by an extensive listing of libraries and archives, their addresses, urls, and descriptions of their holdings, with footnotes that name even more available resources and comments on direction for further research.
This book is rich in data. “Ohio County Records” catalogues every county and the years its records begin for birth, death, marriage, land, probate, and court records. One chapter titled “Addresses-Ohio” lists 35+ pages of Ohio societies, libraries, and associated resources.
And don’t we all love maps. There are numerous maps: ten old maps of Ohio, two maps of canals, a road map from 1810, a map of 18 land grants, and several county maps, all reproduced images to fit the pages and a little hard to read, but discernible with a magnifying glass with readable place names and features.
The word “comprehensive” comes to mind on the contents of this book. This is an all-you-need type of manual for Ohio family history research.
Dr. Sperry’s tenure as Outstanding Educator is secure and his popularity as a lecturer is confirmed. It’s nice to see he has not ceased his efforts to keep us informed and disciplined.
Genealogical Research in Ohio may be purchased from Genealogical.com (the publisher) HERE as well as from Amazon.”
