At the time of the Revolutionary War about 20% of the colonial population were African American; the number of blacks that ultimately fought for the Americans side was estimated to be over 5,000. By the year 1779, sources indicate that 15% of the army was black. When the war began, George Washington was opposed to[…]Read more
Tag: Genealogy
“Who Fired the First Shot,” by Jack Darrell Crowder
The American Revolution commenced with the faceoff between British regulars and the Patriot militia that occurred on April 18, 1775. To this day, no one can say with certainty who fired the first shot in that momentous engagement. Readers can make their own determination, however, thanks to the second of Jack Darrell Crowder’s new books[…]Read more
Virginia’s Northern Neck Genealogy
Robert K. Headley’s remarkable collection refers to no fewer than 30,000 persons with Virginia’s Northern Neck connections during the first quarter of the 19th-century. Since Mr. Headley here concerned himself with the records associated with someone’s death, the overwhelming number of testators, family members, and others mentioned in the name index at the back of the volume will have[…]Read more
Val D. Greenwood on Land Records
The last few issues of “Genealogy Pointers” have addressed land records in one way or another. Before moving on to other topics, we would be remiss if we failed to share the expert advice concerning deeds and other land records that is available in the 4th edition of The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, by[…]Read more
“The City Directory: A Genealogical Gold Mine,” by William Dollarhide
City directories may be one of the most underused genealogical sources available. Old city directories exist for virtually every community in America, often going back to the establishment of a community. Many of the privately published city directories date back over a hundred years, and some of these collections are complete for every year in[…]Read more
“Fair Use” Explained in Carmack’s Guide to Copyright & Contracts
When you find information in a book, article, or online source and you want to quote or paraphrase it in your genealogy, when must you cite the source? If you quote the information and cite the source, can you use as much of the information as you want? The answers to these questions fall under[…]Read more
Family Bibles as an Underutilized Genealogical Resource — By Michael Hait
(The following article originally appeared in the [Washington] Examiner.com on July 4, 2010.) Family Bibles hold a unique position among genealogical record groups. They are not official records created for use outside of the family. This point cannot be understated, or underemphasized, for often certain facts will appear in a family Bible that do not otherwise appear.[…]Read more