Genealogy Ink

07 February 2011

Top 10 genealogy writing tips

How do you turn your genealogical research into something that people want to read? Try these suggestions:

Read the top genealogical journals. Besides the articles, check the book reviews to see what the reviewers consider to be well-done genealogies and follow their suggestions for your own article or book.

Cite your sources! Provide full source citations in footnotes and bibliographies. That way readers and researchers can follow up on the materials and references you've used to reach your conclusions. For proper citations, check out Elizabeth Shown Mills’ Evidence Explained:Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace 2nd Edition and Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian. These two books go beyond the earlier Cite Your Sources: A Manual for Documenting Family Histories and Genealogical Records by Richard S. Lackey.

Use standard numbering systems, such as the Register System (NEHGS), the NGS Quarterly Numbering System, the Henry System, and the Sosa Stradonitz System for genealogies.

For grammar and composition questions, follow the The Chicago Manual of Style.

Develop an interesting story, not just a list of begats. Include transcriptions of family letters, journals, Bibles, and other records—if you have them. If not, read histories of the time and place so you can create a setting for your people.

Use photographs (with captions and whereabouts of originals) of people, places, and things. Use maps or other graphics to illustrate a story, such as migration patterns or land holdings.

Protect information about the living. You should not give out personal information and vital statistics. Beware of sharing skeletons in the closet, especially if they may hurt, offend, upset, shock, or embarrass your family members.

Have an editor edit and proofread your work carefully. Double-check all your facts and citations.

Know how copyright affects your publication.

Create a complete index of people and place names.

There are lots of books for would-be writers, including a bunch specifically for genealogists and family historians.

02 February 2011

Top 10 genealogy projects to publish

Have you thought about publishing?

Ask yourself: What research have you done or what materials do you have access to that other people would be interested in?

family history/genealogy, for example, the award-winning More Lasting than Brass: A Thread of Family from Revolutionary New York to Industrial Connecticut by Peter Haring Judd (2004)
profile of an ancestor or family group, such as Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall written by his descendant, Eve Laplante (2007)
surname dictionary (such as a One-Name Study)
photo book of a person, couple, or family (use a digital photo service to create a hardcover photo book)
history of a location
photo history of a location
house history
transcriptions of cemeteries, business ledgers, personal letters, journals, Bibles, family memorabilia, etc.
abstracts of wills, probates, newspapers, etc.
indexes for obituaries, old town/county histories, court cases, etc.

21 January 2011

Top 10 reasons to publish your research

As genealogists, most of us have stacks and stacks of papers related to our family history. Vital records, census records, pensions, land grants, ship manifests, immigration papers, old photographs, and other treasures—all of these pieces of information give us the essential data to create a family tree.

At some point, we always plan to publish our findings, whether it’s just within immediate family members or to the world at large. Here’s some incentive to get you started:

Doing research with the idea that you're going to publish an article or book helps you to focus the direction of your research.
No one can make more sense of your research than yourself, regardless how neatly you've arranged your file folders or family history charts and how accessible your databases are. So collecting dead relatives isn't enough, you have to tell their stories and publish their lineages.
You'll feel a sense of accomplishment when your article or book is in print, above and beyond any money you make off the deal.
Researchers will quote you in their footnotes and bibliographies!
You'll find other people related to your family lines, and one of them may have the long-sought-after family Bible, photos, or other precious memorabilia to share.
Your new-found relatives may have different hypotheses or additional information about your lines that will further your research.
If you submit your book for review, you may learn ways of improving it for the second edition.
You can submit your work to win an award. (For example, NGS, ISFHWE, and ASG awards)
You'll have a published article or book to pass on to future generations.
You're not getting any younger!

09 January 2011

Honorable mention

In the March 2011 issue of Family Tree Magazine, I'm mentioned in the pull-out section of the Boston City Guide for providing cemetery links. Thanks, Sunny!

01 December 2010

Census day

If one of your relatives was born, married, or died during a census year, it’s important to know what date the census taker was using to collect household data. For example, if the census taker arrived August 15 and your ancestor died July 15, will he be listed on the census? That depends on the year. If the census was for 1850, then yes, your ancestor should be listed because the census taker was supposed to be asking who was in the household on June 1, 1850.

Use this chart as reference to the census days:

Census	Year	Series	Census Day
1st	1790	M637	August 2 (1st Monday in August)
2nd	1800	M32	August 4 (1st Monday in August)
3rd	1810	M252	August 6 (1st Monday in August)
4th	1820	M33	August 7 (1st Monday in August)
5th	1830	M19	June 1
6th	1840	M704	June 1
7th	1850	M432	June 1
8th	1860	M653	June 1
9th	1870	M593	June 1
10th	1880	T9	June 1
11th	1890	M123	June 1
12th	1900	T623	June 1
13th	1910	T624	April 15
14th	1920	T625	January 1
15th	1930	T626	April 1
16th	1940	T627	April 1
17th - 20th	1940 - 1980		April 1

For more information about the census, visit the U.S. Census Bureau web site.

21 November 2010

The Mayflower Passengers: Saints and Strangers

Mayflower II (replica)

The Mayflower left England in September 1620 with 102 passengers. Of this number, less than half of them were known as Separatists or Saints—people who wanted a complete separation from the Church of England. Traveling with them were the Strangers—hired men, servants, and others who wanted to start a new life in a new land. Today, the Separatists and the Strangers of the Mayflower are known as the Pilgrims.

After sailing for 66 days, the ship arrived in November 1620 at what would become known as Plymouth Colony. Within the first few months of landing, half of the Mayflower passengers died of "the great sickness."

If you can document descent from any of the passenger names preceded by an asterisk (*), you are eligible to join the Mayflower Society.

*Alden, John.
*Allerton, Isaac.
*Allerton, Mary (Norris).
Allerton, Bartholomew.
Allerton, Mary.
Allerton, Remember.
Allerton, John.
*Billington, John.
Billington, Eleanor.
Billington, John.
Billington, Francis.
*Bradford, William.
Bradford, Dorothy (May).
*Brewster, William.
Brewster, Mary.
Brewster, Love, son .
Brewster, Wrestling.
Britteridge, Richard.
*Browne, Peter.
Button, William.
Carter, Robert.
Carver, John.
Carver, Katherine (Leggett) (White).
*Chilton, James.
Chilton, Mrs..
Chilton, Mary.
Clarke, Richard.
*Cooke, Francis.
Cooke, John.
Cooper, Humility.
Crackstone, John.
Crackstone, John.
*Doty, Edward.
*Eaton, Francis.
Eaton, Sarah.
Eaton, Samuel.
Ely, Mr.
English, Thomas.
*Fletcher, Moses.
*Fuller, Edward.
Fuller, Mrs..
Fuller, Samuel.
*Fuller, Samuel.
Gardiner, Richard.
Goodman, John.
Holbeck, William.
Hooke, John.
*Hopkins, Stephen.
*Hopkins, Elizabeth (Fisher).
Hopkins, Giles.
Hopkins, Constance.
Hopkins, Damaris.
Hopkins, Oceanus; born at sea.
*Howland, John.
Langmore, John.
Latham, William.
Leister, Edward.
Margesson, Edmund.
Martin, Christopher.
Martin, Mary (Prower).
Minter, Desire.
More, Ellen.
More, Jasper.
*More, Richard.
More, Mary.
*Mullins, William.
Mullins, Alice.
Mullins, Priscilla.
Mullins, Joseph.
Priest, Degory.
Prower, Solomon.
Rigsdale, John.
Rigsdale, Alice.
*Rogers, Thomas.
Rogers, Joseph.
*Samson, Henry.
*Soule, George.
*Standish, Myles.
Standish, Rose.
Story, Elias.
Thompson, Edward.
Tilley, Edward.
Tilley, Ann.
*Tilley, John.
*Tilley, Joan (Hurst) (Rogers).
Tilley, Elizabeth.
Tinker, Thomas.
Tinker, Mrs..
Tinker, -----.
Turner, John.
Turner, ----.
Turner, ----.
*Warren, Richard.
*White, William.
White, Susanna.
White, Resolved.
White, Peregrine; born at Plymouth harbor.
Wilder, Roger.
Williams, Thomas.
*Winslow, Edward.
Winslow, Elizabeth (Barker).
Winslow, Gilbert.
--, Dorothy, maidservant of John Carver.

For further research, check out:

Mayflower & Early Families

Caleb Johnson’s Mayflower History

The Pilgrims and Plymouth Colony

The Pilgrim Fathers UK Origins

13 November 2010

Early Boston record books (also known as the Boston Record Commissioner Books) online

Libraries with New England genealogy collections often contain a well-known series of Boston record books published from 1876 to 1909. Over the years, the multi-volume set changed its title (from First [Second, Third, etc.] Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston to Records Relating to the Early History of Boston), making it difficult to find the series online.

Luckily, you can view and search each volume at Archive.org. The site offers several different methods of viewing the books, such as flipping pages online, full text, and downloadable PDFs. To help you find these valuable books at the site, I’ve compiled the series list with direct links to each book online.

Remember to check each volume’s index to browse through the names for variants spellings.

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