The following article was excerpted by Elizabeth Shown Mills, editor, from Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice & Standards (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2018), pp. 265–92. Genealogists think about the information they find and what it might say or imply about the past. They assess both information and the sources that contain the information. These assessments usually[…]Read more
J. Michael Cleverley’s new book, Family Stories . . . and How I Found Mine traces his family history from the present day to the time of William the Conqueror. Mr. Cleverley’s book not only recounts his family’s history but also explains how he discovered and assembled the story. Since the author was determined to[…]Read more
It is amazing to witness how far Ireland has come in the last decade in terms of making record sources available online! You can now achieve so much online: to name, but a few, you can search 1901 and 1911 census returns at www.census.nationalarchives.ie; historic civil birth, marriage and death registers at www.irishgenealogy.ie; transcripts of[…]Read more
The Midwest Books Review, edited by James A. Cox of Oregon, Wisconsin, has for decades been an important source of advice for library acquisition librarians in deciding what new publications to add to their collections. Brian Mitchell’s New Pocket Guide to Irish Genealogy just received a stellar review from Mr. Cox, and we are reprinting[…]Read more
Our August new releases include Joseph Lee Boyle’s latest collection of transcribed runaway servant newspaper ads, and our first “Genealogy at a Glance” publication to cover a Scandinavian nation. Please read on for details. “Fond of liquor, dancing and gaming.” New-York Runaways, 1769-1783, by Joseph Lee Boyle This work marks the second and concluding volume[…]Read more
Last fall, we announced Linda MacLachlan’s book, Finding Early Connecticut Vital Records: The Barbour Index and Beyond. The product of a 10-year examination of Connecticut vital records, this work identifies the original sources of the millions of early Connecticut vital records abstracted in the Barbour Index. It names hundreds of books, manuscripts, and articles not[…]Read more
We’ve written on several occasions about Gary Boyd Roberts amazing two volume work, The Royal Descents 900 Immigrants to the American Colonies, Quebec, or the United States (RD 900). This collection of royal lines possessed by North Americans represents Mr. Roberts’ magnum opus, and it is truly the product of a lifetime of study in[…]Read more
One of the stellar works in our collection of royal and noble ancestry books is the 1996 publication, Plantagenet Ancestry of Seventeenth-Century Colonists, by David Faris. As the subtitle explains, this work traces the descent from England’s kings Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III of British emigrants who arrived in the North[…]Read more
The following essay concerning the nature of genealogical proof was excerpted by Elizabeth Shown Mills from her book, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. 3rd ed. Rev. (2017), p. 17. In it, Mrs. Mills explains the difference between genealogical proof, theory, and hypothesis and offers a cautionary point lesson that any researcher[…]Read more
The following excerpt from our new book, Family Stories . . . and How I Found Mine, by J. Michael Cleverley is from the author’s prologue. In these few paragraphs, Mr. Cleverley captures the essence of what it means for someone to undertake a family history. In a word, it’s a transformative experience because of[…]Read more
