What is the genealogist to do when the information he’s looking for is not online or in a genealogy book? Short of finding another hobby, it usually means venturing beyond the comforts of home. It may be as simple as going to the local library or archive, but in many cases some overnight travel is required.
Packing for a genealogy research trip requires anticipating—within reason–to pack to support the effort. Pens, notebooks, blank genealogy forms, a laptop to be sure—but what else? Obviously, there’s going to be an outside limit on how much you can pack, and that’s why Judy Jacobson’s paperback, A Field Guide for Genealogists. 2nd Edition, could be the best extra pound you take with you. Here are a few illustrations:
Let’s say you’re looking for a Bartholomew Jones in the 1900 census for Maryland. You found a Bat Jones, but could that be your Bartholomew? You would learn from Jacobson’s Field Guide that Bat was a common nickname for Bartholomew. In fact, the Field Guide has a table with hundreds of male and female nickname/given name equivalents. And that’s just one kind of tip you’ll find in the book.
In another scenario, you run across a photograph of one of your ancestors, but there is no date attached. So how might you narrow down the timing of the picture? A Field Guide contains a decade-by-decade list of the dominant men’s and women’s hair styles and a similar chart of clothing styles for children and adults. These clues could point you to the correct decade for finding more about these family members in the federal census, a tax record, or any number of official documents.
Fact is, you cannot appreciate just how many tips and safeguards you’ll find in A Field Guide for Genealogists unless you examine the book, or, at the least, study the detailed Table of Contents. That’s why we have reproduced the contents below.
