The question most frequently asked by the laity and the person who is contemplating ancestral or genealogical work is where to perform the genealogy search and find material regarding family history. The answer to this question requires much thought for it is the crux of the whole matter. If sufficient information can be found the preparation of an Ancestral History or a Gen­ealogy is only a matter of editorial work, and if the data can­not be found all the literary and editorial ability in the world cannot produce a family history. To insure success, family facts must be found. Considered as one problem the task seems enormous, but really in the last analysis it is the simple plan of doing only one thing at a time and allowing the ac­complished work to suggest the next step to be taken.

In ancestral work the problem of tracing the family lines is largely one for the individual worker. He is jumping with such rapidity from one line or one family to another entirely disassociated that he cannot well interest any one else in his problems. Then, too, he is working with so many individual lines that it is probable that he can find much of his material in printed genealogies of the various families with which he is concerned. He is not working for publication and any­thing that he can find he may feel free to appropriate for his own compilation without question of plagiarism. Not in­frequently he may be able to copy or abstract from a printed genealogy a long line of ancestors in some one of the families from which he is descended. In that case his genealogy search is merely one of abstraction and arrangement in its proper place, in his history or on his chart.

For the Ancestral History it is an easy matter to race back over the printed books which may-be found on the shelves of Genealogical Libraries and copy from them such bits as may be desired for the search in hand.

When this has been done, however, the real work of col­lecting genealogy search data begins. Then must be brought into action some or all of the methods of securing information which will be discussed in this chapter, as it applies to ancestral and genea­logical work alike.

In genealogy search the problem is somewhat different. The project is of interest to many people of many branches of the family and members of those branches will be inter­ested to help with the work. Then, too, various printed genealogies will not be found, or if found, will not be of so great assistance, for only one family is under consideration. If there were recently printed genealogies of that family there would be no need for the work of preparing another. Therefore there must necessarily be gathered much more information from original sources.

In examining all sources of information, whether published or original, the examiner should bear in mind that there are often changes of surnames. These changes occurred usually in the early generations and probably were most often oc­casioned by the limited education of the times. They were changed sometimes for euphony and not infrequently for no apparent reason at all. No attention will be given here to the development of surnames from the time of William the Con­queror when he conferred them on his subjects, until the settlement of America, as those changes have no part in the preparation of an American genealogy other than in its intro­ductory chapter which will ordinarily be furnished by some English genealogy search expert or examiner experienced in the profes­sion.

In the search for Ancestral History if the examiner wishes to pursue the study beyond the point covered in the intro­duction to the various genealogies which he has occasion to use he should consult some good authority in the matter.

Many old English names have not been changed since their early use, as for instance Stone, Cushing, etc. Others have had a variety of spellings but have always kept to the same general sound, such as Josselyn-Joslin-Joclyn. In other instances still greater change is noted as in Whiton-Whiting, Stodder-Stoddard and Linkhorn-Lincoln. In some instances various spellings have been retained by different branches of the family as Crooker and Crocker both of which have de­scended from the same original name. Sometimes these vari­ous spellings were used interchangeably as Munroe-Munro-Monroe all of which forms have continued in different lines of the family down to the present time. Many of them were definite changes as in the Linkhorn-Lincoln name, the old form having entirely disappeared.

The genealogist will find a family by the name of Stodder moving out of one town and becoming Stoddard upon their entry into another town. This indicates that in histories and records all similar names should be examined, and especially if the family is lost by their change of town residence.

Phonetic spelling had its strong advocates in early town clerks, but it is suspected that they knew no better rather than that any orthographical principle was involved.

PRINTED SOURCES OF INFORMATION

1. Genealogies and How to Use Them

There is so much individuality displayed in printed geneal­ogies that it is somewhat difficult to set down any general rule governing their use. Usually, however, one of two num­bering plans is employed by the genealogical writer.

The first, and by far the most common practice, is to num­ber consecutively from I, representing the emigrant ancestor, to as high a number as is found necessary for the completion of the work. This is the plan recommended by the New England Historic Genealogical Society and is usually desig­nated by its name, and may be explained thus:

The emigrant or beginning ancestor is numbered I, which constitutes the first generation, his oldest child is numbered 2y the next child j, and so on throughout the family. If he had ten children the tenth child would be numbered I I, I having been used for the father, and these ten children would constitute the second generation.

Assuming the oldest child to have been a son with a family, he would be the first one to be picked up and carried on. When he was picked up for further consideration the same number would be given him that was previously assigned to him in the list of his father's children, i.e. -?, and his first child would be numbered 12 which would be the first unused number, and so on progressively throughout his family. If he had twelve children his 12th child would be numbered 23. The next family to be given consideration in the book would be that of the next child of the emigrant's family to be picked up and carried on. Assuming that the second child was a daughter who died during her minority and did not marry she was therefore dropped. The third child of the emigrant may have been a son who married and had five children. He would therefore be the next to claim consideration. He would be given his previous number of 4 and his first child would be numbered 24 and his last child 28. This plan would be continued throughout the book, running the numbers into thousands if necessary.

It is, briefly, giving the common ancestor the number / and adding the next unused number for each person of the blood named until the end of the book is reached, using the first number assigned to the child carried forward when he is again picked up later as the head of a family in his own gen­eration.

By this method if it is desired to back up the line of any particular person it is necessary to look up each generation, stepping back from one generation to that preceding it, and there is no way of comparing descendants from any specific ancestor.

It is not uncommon in this system to find a genealogist who in practice has omitted the numbers of those persons who were not picked up for further consideration. By this method something is saved in the use of large numbers, and if this plan were adopted by a genealogist it would be found in the illustration above that the second child of the ancestor, who was a daughter, unmarried and dying before reaching maturity, would have no number and the following child would be numbered 3 instead of 4. There is very little to be said for or against this modification of the plan. Where every child is given a number it is common practice to place a plus sign or an asterisk in front of the numbers indicating those who will be considered later in the book.

The other plan of numbering most often found is that adopted by the compiler of the Chapin Genealogy where numbers are used, and by Mr. Waldo Lincoln in the Lincoln and the Waldo genealogies where letters are used. It may be described by quoting from Mr. Lincoln's introduction to the Lincoln Genealogy as follows:

"The earliest emigrant of the family, in this case Samuel Lin­coln, is lettered a, his children are lettered aa, ab, ac, etc. The children of the oldest child are lettered aaa, aab, aac, etc., of the second child aba, abb, abc, etc. and so on through each succeed­ing generation, each descendant having as many letters as the generation to which he belongs, and letters showing exactly his line of descent. For example, take the last name in this volume (Lincoln Genealogy), Mordacai Abel Lincoln, adaaa bbcgb. For conven­ience in counting, a space corresponding to a decimal point is left after the fifth and tenth letters. There being ten letters, he belongs to the tenth generation and is descended from ad, the fourth child of Samuel, a. To look up any of his ancestors it is only necessary to leave off a sufficient number of letters and to turn to the person indicated by those remaining without resort­ing to the index or the intervening ancestors. For instance, to learn the record of his great-grandfather, leave off the last three letters, cgb, and there is left adaaa bb, which is the index letter of Thomas Lincoln. Take now the index letters of President Lincoln, adaaa db, and it is clear he and the aforesaid Thomas were own cousins, the first five letters showing that they had the same grandfather. In the case of children, to save space, only the final letters are used and to obtain their full index letters it is necessary to affix the final index letter of each child to the index letters of the parent. For instance, see Deborah Lincoln^ aabab, her oldest child, John, is that of his mother, aabab, with the addition of his own letter, a> making his complete index letters aabab ay. "

The Chapin Genealogy follows the same general plan with the use of figures instead of letters. The children of the emi­grant ancestor are numbered I - I, I -2, I -3, etc., the third generation being numbered I - I - I, I – I-I -2, I-I-3j, etc. In the figure plan there is only room for the insertion of ten children without running into the complication of the eleventh child being read either as I I or I - I which would throw the child off one generation. This means that the figures have to be hyphenated. Thus the person lettered by Mr. Lincoln's plan adaaa bbcg would have to be numbered by the Chapin plan I-4-I-I-I-2-2-3-7.

Nothing is to be said in the description of the two plans as to the merits or dements of either. In a later chapter this matter will receive attention with methods of use. The point here is to assist the searcher in the use of what others have done.

In ancestral work an examination of the index for the name nearest in line of the person about whom the examination is centering will show the beginning place where the book will be of assistance. If the name of the immediate ancestor is not found, that of the next earlier generation should be sought. For example, if the examiner whose name is James West, son of Thomas West, knows that his grandfather West was named Samuel, he should first look in the index for a Thomas whom he can identify by the dates, marriage etc. as his father. Failing to find him, he should then search for a Samuel whom he can identify as his grandfather, and so the genealogy search should be continued until an ancestor is found in some generation who can be identified in the line.

Having found a starting place in the book the examiner will find set against the name, if the consecutive numbering plan explained above is used, a number, perhaps 347. He will then turn back in the book until he finds the same num­ber against the same name in a list of children. This will not be difficult, as numbers are in sequence. Glancing at the father of this list of children he will note that he is numbered, perhaps 264. He will then repeat his process of turning back to find 264, and so on until he reaches the person who is numbered / and is the progenitor about whom that geneal­ogy is written. This is termed "backing up the book," or "backing up the line."

Thus the examiner will skip from back to front of the book and abstract what he wants for those families in direct line of ancestry, or having noted the line he may begin at the per­son numbered / and abstract forward to where his line is dropped, or in the case of a female ancestor, is merged by marriage, thus rendering the balance of the book of no inter­est in that particular genealogy search.

The second method of numbering described as having been used by Mr. Lincoln with its variation as in the Chapin Genealogy will be followed in the same way from back to front of the book with the exception that with each genera­tion stepped back the last letter or number on the right-hand side of the combination will be dropped. For example if James West is 1-3-4-5-6-7, his father, Thomas, will be 1-3-4-5-6, and Samuel will be I-3j-4-5, and so on back to I. If letters are used instead of numbers, the same process of dropping the last letter in each generation stepped back applies.

There are various plans of numbering and arrangement which are original with the compilers of the books in which they are found, and if not original, they are so seldom found in other books that their explanation is not attempted. They are entirely strange to common practice and, while they may have some points to commend them, they will have to be studied carefully by the examiner unless their author has included a description of the plan in the introduction to his work. Some of these plans are freaks, so complex in their detail and scheme that they render the book in which they are found almost useless. Only by the most careful study can they be followed and then with a feeling of suspicion on the part of the examiner that he may be entirely wrong in his interpretation of the plan and erroneous in any findings he may abstract.

For genealogical work the plan of use is entirely different. In that case the examiner is not concerned with his own line only, but with all lines bearing relationship with the family upon whose history he is working. He will seldom find a genealogy in which the surname about which he is building a genealogy will be carried along in the male lines, as that would be a part of his own genealogy. He will find females of the ancestral surname who have married into the family of the surname about which the genealogy he is consulting has been written, and it is of these marriages and their offspring that he will be seeking information. He will, therefore, need to pick up in the index every reference to the surname upon which he is working and abstract the record, carrying his genealogy search into collateral lines so far as he has previously decided regarding this point.

2. Town Histories

Hundreds of histories have been published covering the interests of various towns, especially in New England. The larger number of these histories not only cover the historical development of the towns about which they are written, but also contain a section of genealogies of the families which have entered into the life of the town. In the Weymouth Town History, for instance, two entire volumes are devoted to genealogies.

These histories usually cover pretty thoroughly the de­velopment of the town along various educational, religious, civic and industrial lines, and frequently mention is made of those men and their families who have attained prominence in town affairs. In this way can often be found the place and importance of the family in the community.

The genealogical section in these histories is usually arranged alphabetically and ordinarily begins with the advent of the family into the town, with a sketch of the early history in direct line from an emigrant ancestor. They quite care­fully give the genealogy of those who spent all or a part of their lives within the confines of the town. And therein is to be found their limitation. For instance, in the History of Hanover•, Massachusetts', on page 389, is found:

"William Studley, son of Nathan, married June 10, 1832, Elizabeth C. Haskell, daughter of Jonathan Haskell of Ips­wich. They had nine children born in East Abington only TWO of whom we follow."

The History then proceeds to carry along the families of two of the nine children who made their homes in Hanover. This all helps, but it does not account for the other seven chil­dren which will be wanted by the compiler of the genealogy, and if they are wanted for ancestral lines the one wanted may be one of the seven who did not live in Hanover and thus this town history is of little use.

However, Hanover says the nine children were born in East Abington, and in the Abington History is found on page 441 the names of all nine children. It will be seen that the Hanover History was valuable as suggesting where fur­ther genealogy search should be made.

Unlike this, however, may be a reference to a town which has never published its history, or if so, has omitted the genealogical section, in which case the genealogist must re­sort to other means in following the family.

Families out of New England are not so easily followed by means of town histories, as the custom of printing them has not been so generally prevalent in other sections of the coun­try. Settlements were of more recent date and the need for getting early records into print has not become so apparent. In cases where branches have migrated to the central and mid-western sections of the country, it is usually necessary to work from both ends towards a middle connecting link, running the line in New England until it is lost by removal, then backing up on the various families found in that section of the country to which the migration from the east was supposed to have been made, trusting that thereby a con­necting link may be established.

The removals are ordinarily not so early in date as to be entirely out of memory of some member of the family. Some old person can often be found who will remember hearing his grandparents tell from whence the family came in the east. A good illustration of this is found in the recently published book, Grandmother Brown's Hundred Years.

Care should be exercised in the use of town histories to observe the date of publication. Not uncommonly, the brief statement "No children," will be marked against the record of a husband and wife, or only one or two children will be enumerated, when it is known that this family actually did have a number of children. The examination of the date of publication will show that the history was compiled soon after the couple married or during the early years of their married life. What the historian has intended to convey is the fact that at the date of writing he had included such members of the family as then existed. Some of these town histories date back many years to publication. Dean's His­tory of Scituate, Mass., was printed in 1831, and Winsor's History of Duxbury, Mass., was printed in 1849, and they are both exceedingly vague in their genealogies of that date as the following taken from Dean's book will indicate:

"There was Benoni Studley in Scituate, whose children John, Abigail, Joshua, Gideon, Sarah, and Benoni were born from 1702 to 1723."

Caution should be exercised in, following names of towns. When it is written in a Massachusetts history that a certain family removed at an early date to Littleborough, Maine, and it is found that there is no such place in Maine, it must be borne in mind that a great many towns, especially in Maine, have changed their names for one reason or another.

Littleborough, Maine, is now known as Leeds; Port Royal is Livermore, etc. Many towns and localities and even streets which had been named from mother country associations were changed at the time of the Revolutionary War. King and Queen Streets in Bristol, Rhode Island, became at that time Constitution and State Streets. One must not be sur­prised to read that certain early settlers were given grants of land in Canada to which place they removed with their families, and later find that these grants were in no other place than what are now northern Worcester County towns in Massachusetts where the family was located as having settled on their "Canada Grant."

Lists of many changes in names and lines of towns will be found in the legislative year books and manuals published regularly by many of the states. These books may be se­cured through the offices of the several Secretaries of State, or through legislators.

Not only were town names changed, but large towns laid out in the early times have been cut up and new names given to those sections created as new towns. Early town records were often carried into the new town rather than being left with the old town. Smithfield, Rhode Island, is one of the older towns of the state, but its early records will be found in the City of Central Falls. They were removed from Smith-field in 1895 when the territory now comprising the City of Central Falls was set off from Lincoln, which in turn had been set off from Smithfield in 1871.

State lines have been shifted and it is found that the early records of that part of the present City of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, lying east of the Seekonk River are with the county records of Bristol County, Massachusetts, the territory hav­ing been a part of the old town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts; later known as Pawtucket, Massachusetts, and now Paw-tucket, Rhode Island. Thus boundary lines were changed which moved families from one township to another and from one state to another without moving them from the house in which they had lived for years or perhaps for a life­time.

An interesting situation was recently revealed regarding this point. John Joles was supposed to have been born, to have lived and to have died in Warren, Rhode Island. It was found by the record that he died in Bristol, Rhode Island, an adjoining town. This record greatly disturbed some of his descendants who appealed for help to establish the facts in the case. It was found that the old Warren-Bristol line passed directly through the Joles house which stood not over half a mile south from the center of Warren village, and that the family bedroom where John slept was on the Bristol side of the line. The town line was later moved south one mile leaving the entire house a mile on the Warren side. At the time John died, however, if he died in his bed, he was in Bristol. But if he ate in the old-fashioned kitchen, a custom prevailing in the early days, he ate in Warren. Therefore he doubtless was born and died in Bristol, but lived in W7arren all his life, and actually was born, always lived in, and died in the same house and in adjoining rooms.

The obituary of a man who recently died in East Provi­dence, Rhode Island, stated that he died in that town, but that he was born in Seekonk, Massachusetts, and followed the statement by saying that he was born in the house in which he died. This was all true. The record of his birth will be found in Seekonk, Massachusetts, and that of his death in East Providence, Rhode Island, the latter town having been incorporated in 1862 by the settlement of the boundary line between the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

What has been found true in the instances recited will be found in more or less degree in all of the eastern states. These instances will show the necessity of examining records of ad­joining towns for data lacking where they supposedly should be found. In consulting town histories this should be borne in mind and histories covering adjoining territory should be examined. The use of a map showing locations and adjoining towns will be helpful.

Regarding the use of town histories as a source of geneal­ogical information it should be remembered that while gene­alogies proper are usually prepared by some one who had either professional training or the interest of the family uppermost in mind, town histories are frequently pre­pared in commemoration of some historical anniversary in connection with the town and prepared somewhat sketchily by a number of people whose work is patched together as best it can be, with the result that many and glaring inac­curacies are displayed.

3. Genealogical Indexes

The genealogist will frequently find that there is no pub­lished genealo'gy of the family name and no town history covering the locality where the family was known to have lived. He will find there is no one fund of information and his work will necessarily be built up by gathering here a bit and there a bit and piecing the bits together.

There have been several attempts to gather information of families which is contained in books, pamphlets, histories, genealogies, magazines, etc. into a cumulative index in order that the genealogist may find under the surname in the index what has been published relating to the family. These in­dexes are exceedingly valuable and are great time savers. They are quite frequently keyed to save space and a small book will be found to contain a surprising amount of infor­mation.

One of the newer indexes is that prepared by Donald Lines Jacobus, M.A., published in 1932 from which the fol­lowing example is quoted to illustrate the general character of the work:

Hawes, Edmund.    Duxbury    Yarmouth A.i. (65-160)         D. (20-73)

By consulting the key it is found that the above means that the New England Historical and Genealogical Register (A.i.) volume 65 at page 160, and The Mayflower Descendant (D) volume 20 at page 73 will contain information relating to Edmund Hawes who was in Duxbury and Yarmouth.

Of the older indexes which are well known and reliable should be mentioned Munsell's List of Titles of Genealogical Articles in American Periodicals and Kindred Works 165 pages, published in 1899, m which information is given in the following form:

"Sherman, Ancestry of Rev. John Sherman and Capt. John Sherman (of Dedham, Mass.) by a descendant of Capt. John Sherman. New England Hist, and Gen. Register LI (1897) 309-15."

and Derrie's work, also published by Munsell in 1886 and entitled Alphabetical Index of American Genealogies and Pedigrees, 245 pages. Both of these are old and of course much has been published to be indexed since they were printed, still they are standard and authentic and by no means should be shunned because of the date of their publi­cation.

Another good work is Index to American Genealogies and Genealogical Material contained in all Works such as Town Histories, County Histories, Local Histories, Historical Soci­eties, Publications, Biographies, Historical Periodicals and Kindred Works, Alphabetically Arranged. Its information is shown in the following form:

Landon.

American Ancestry II 69 Burleigh's Guild Genealogy 96-8 Champian Genealogy 390 New York Gen. and Biog. Rec. XXVIII 24-7 Va. Mag. of Hist, and Biog. II (1895) Wyman, Hist. Genealogy 116

For English ancestry, Marshall's Genealogical Guide is recommended. It is also advisable to consult the Catalog of the Library of Congress under the subject of American and English Genealogies.

4. Genealogical Dictionaries

The best known and most used dictionary of genealogy is undoubtedly the one prepared by James Savage, published in four volumes in 1880 and entitled A Genealogical Dic­tionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of those Who Came before May 1692.  Since only three generations are shown, the first of which must have come before 1692 there is no need for recent editions and the original printing of i860 is as useful as though Mr. Savage had revised to the time of his death. The following is his method of imparting his knowledge:

Bentley,

John, Charlestown, perhaps s. of William, d. 20 Nov. 1690. Richard, Charlestown in 1690, had w. Margaret. William, a passeng. to Boston 1635 aged 47 in the "True-love," with John, 17, and Alice, 15, perhaps his ch. but where he pich. his tent is unkn. to me, as is also anything a. Mary, a passeng. the same yr. in the "Defence," aged 20. Bentley is a parish in the Deanery of Doncaster and is part of Yorkshire.

In some families Mr. Savage gives very full consideration as is seen from the abstract of the Breck family as follows:

Breck,

Edward, Dorchester 1636, freem. 11 May 1639, came prob. from Ashton in Co. Devon, was an officer of the town 1642, 5, 6 and after, d. 2 or 6 Nov. 1662. Had Robert wh. he brought from Eng.; John; Mary, Bapt 6 Aug. 1648; Eliz. and Susanna. The w. d. 11 Nov. 1653. His wid. Isabel, who was his 2nd w. and had been bef. wid. of John Rigby of D. m. 14 Nov. 1663 Anthony Fisher; Mary m. 9, Jan. 1687 Samuel Paul; Eliz. m. 11 Mar. 1670, John Minot; and Susanna m. 20 Mar. 1674 or 5 Jonn Harris. But he must have had ano. d. for his will of 30 Oct. 1662, only 3 d. bef. his d. ment. d. Elinor."

Thus it will be seen that Savage by the tremendous use of abbreviation crowds a great deal into small space and in his four volumes imparts much information.

Another Dictionary to be recommended is that of John Farmer under the title A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England, Containing an Alphabetical List of the Governors, Deputy Governors, Assistants or Counsellors, Ministers of the Gospel in the Several Colonies from 1620 to f6p2> Representatives of the General Court of Massachusetts from 1634 to 1692, Graduates of Harvard College to 1662, Members of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Co. to 1662, Freemen Admitted to Massachusetts Colony from 1630 to 1662, With many other Early Inhabitants of New England and Long Island, N. Y. from 1620 to 1675. To which has been added Various Genealogical and Biographical Notes Collected from Ancient Records, Manuscripts and Printed Books. This work was published in 1829. The following is quoted to show his style of treatment:

Stewart,

Duncan. One of the early settlers of Newbury, d. in Rowley in 1717 ae. 100 yrs. Coffin. John, Springfield in 1654 d. 21 Apr. 1690 (See Stuart). Richard, member of ar. co. 1652.

While this work bears date of over one hundred years ago, it deals only with those settlers from 1620 to 1675 and the date of publication does not greatly matter. The book is still a standard of use.

There is also an index prepared by Charles Henry Pope which is very good. It is much the same as Savage and Farmer. It is entitled The Pioneers of Massachusetts. A descriptive List Drawn from Records of Colonies, Towns and Churches and other Contemporaneous Documents. It contains about five hundred pages and was published in 1900.

There is an index for Connecticut published by Royal R. Hinman in 1852 and entitled A Catalog of the Names of the Early Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut, with the Time of their Arrival in the Country and Colony; Their Standing in Society; Place of Residence; Condition of Life; Where from; Business etc. as far as is Found on Record.

John Osborne Austin's, The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island. Comprising three Generations of Settlers who came before /6po> published in 1887, gives the same treatment to the families of Rhode Island which Hinman does for those of Connecticut.

For southern families, Armstrong's Notable Families is recommended. The genealogist may also consult The Hand­book of Genealogy, published by the Genealogical Society of Utah, which may prove helpful.

There are many more books published on this order and with varying degrees of reliability and usefulness which will be found on the shelves of Genealogical Libraries and His­torical Societies and which the genealogist will find useful. He should be certain, however, before quoting them or using the information they contain that they are reliable.

5. Genealogical Magazines

The best known of the Genealogical magazines is the New England Historical and Genealogical Register which is pub­lished by the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston. It has reached its ninetieth volume and contains a great fund of genealogical information which has been carefully checked for correctness and is carefully indexed.

Closely following it in importance is the New York Genealog­ical and Biographical Record of which there are sixty-six volumes of valuable matter.

The Essex Institute of Salem, Massachusetts, has pub­lished a large historical and genealogical collection of which there are to date over seventy volumes. In the south there are the Virginia Magazine and the William and Mary College Quarterlies which are good. There are many other publica­tions of the sort, some of them authentic and valuable and some which are not so carefully checked as they might be. It is suggested that before using any work which has not passed the test of accuracy the genealogist inquire from an authority or the librarian of some reliable historical or gen­ealogical society as to its value and authenticity. It is no sure sign because a statement appears as fact that it is indeed so, and caution is advised even where there would seem to be no need for it.

6. Publications of Hereditary Societies

Many of the hereditary societies print the family record of their membership and for the most part they can be relied upon because entrance to the various societies is pretty well guarded. The best known of these publications is the quar­terly printed by the Daughters of the American Revolution which has reached its one hundred and twenty-eighth vol­ume. While these records may be relied upon, the informa­tion conveyed is largely based upon war records of the Rev­olution and little of general family history will be found other than lines of descent from those who saw service in that war.

The quarterly of the Mayflower Society printed under the name of The Mayflower Descendant like that of the above named society draws its information from one class only, namely the passengers on the Mayflower and deals only with them and their descendants.

The advice regarding the use of the genealogical maga­zines and quarterlies may well be extended to embrace the publication of the lesser known hereditary society records. They should be relied upon only after the recommendation of some one who is familiar with them and knows their worth.

7. Published Early Vital Records

Some of the states have accumulated and published in whole or in part copies of the vital records prior to the date at which recording by towns and municipalities became obligatory. This has been done in some instances with rec­ords prior to 1850 at which time Massachusetts and Rhode Island enacted a law requiring towns and cities to keep a record of births, deaths and marriages'. In some of the states the obligatory keeping of vital records is of very much more recent date.

There were spasmodic attempts both by law and by ambi­tious town and city clerks to keep vital statistics from the very beginning of New England settlements, but officials were lax in this matter and in many instances made no at­tempt whatever to make the records.

The Eddy Town Record Fund of the New England His­toric Genealogical Society has enabled that society to pub­lish for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the vital records of many of its towns. In these publications authority is given for all records and any variation from different sources is carefully noted. The books constitute a valuable collection of great usefulness. No claim is made as to the completeness of these records. The family doctor may have noted in his diary the birth of two children in a family. The minister may have baptized three children of the same family, the name of only one noted being the same as those mentioned by the physician. The family burial lot may have headstones for a couple more children whose names were not mentioned by either the doctor or the clergyman, and there may have been still others who escaped the physician, bap­tism and the grave and grew up to rear in their time sizeable families. The compilation of vital statistics will probably get the record of the doctor, the minister and the gravestones, giving each credit for the information furnished.

Nor is there any claim as to the correctness of either names or dates. There is a very successful claim for the correctness in copying what was found, but the copyist could not vouch for what the original record lacked through carelessness or misinformation. It is evident that those who kept diaries in the old days were not very unlike those who keep them now, and the writing was sometimes delayed until the combined efforts of the entire family, called in for assistance, could not fix the correct date or name. It is not surprising to read in the minister's diary that on a certain day he attended the funeral of some one whose death, according to the doctor's diary, did not occur until several days later. Nor must the genealogist be disturbed if he finds the record of a will brought in for probate several days prior to the death of the testator, thus showing that a town clerk did not keep his records written up to date and that either a slip had been made in entering the date of death, or the probate proceedings had been inadvertently recorded as a part of the business of a session of the court prior to that in which it was actually taken up. All mankind is human, even town clerks.

Allowance must be made for difference in given names and for nicknames. If the doctor was told that the new baby was to be named Sarah, he entered it so in his diary if he entered it at all. If, after thought, it was decided to name the baby after an Aunt Maria, Maria she was baptized, and Maria she will be found, if at all, on the records of the minister or the church. Or it may be that the doctor entered her as Polly and the minister as Mary, and both were correct as Polly was the old nickname for Mary.

What the New England Historic Genealogical Society has done for a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, James N. Arnold, working alone attempted to do for the entire state of Rhode Island. Mr. Arnold's work was pub­lished at the expense of the state and is a valuable contribu­tion to published records. The task, however, was too large for one man to accomplish with the care that the work should have received. Mr. Arnold could not in the time at his dis­posal canvass families for private records or copy inscriptions from cemeteries. The result was that his work is not as com­plete as the work done in Massachusetts, and the genealogist using his books must not expect to find as complete or as accurate a record as he might desire.

War Records

Several of the states have attempted to gather the war records of those men who lived within their bounds and saw service in the American Revolution, that the information of their services might be preserved in orderly fashion. Notable is the work done by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in its Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War in seventeen large volumes.

It is sometimes difficult to recognize and use the informa­tion after it has been found, as is evidenced by a recent search for the record of one Joseph Thompson who was known to have seen service from Massachusetts. It was not known from what section of the Commonwealth he served and the records show twenty-seven Joseph Thompsons who were credited with service during the war. It is a question which, if any one of them, is the particular Joseph who was wanted by the inquirer; and the whole matter is as much a question now as it was before the genealogy search was undertaken.

Little has been done with records of the wars subsequent to the Revolution because records of soldiers and sailors in the later wars were more standardized and are more easily ascertained from the files of the various government depart­ments, such as those of the War and Navy and the Pension office at Washington.

State and County Gazetteers

Library shelves are filled with these voluminous works. They are usually published with funds privately solicited and contain biographical and genealogical sketches of varying historical importance which have transpired in the history of the town or county about which they are written. Their real value as a source of genealogical information is rather limited and the examiner for family facts may be disappointed in his use of them.

Court and Land Records

There have been published and distributed for the general use of libraries several sets of books dealing with Colonial court and land records, as for instance, Probate Records of Essex County Massachusetts which are a copy of the early probates in that county; and Suffolk Deeds which is a set of a dozen of more volumes covering early land transactions in Suffolk County Massachusetts.

There are rich finds in these old records and it is a great convenience if the genealogist can consult them in a near-by library instead of having to travel to Salem or Boston, Massachusetts, to examine the originals. If, after having located what he wants in the transcripts, he desires to see the originals, he knows where he may find that which he seeks and no time or money is wasted in the genealogy search. It is a pity that some of the shelf room taken up by "Gazetteers" and "Biographical Sketches" could not be occupied by authentic records of this nature.

Biographical Sketches

A large number of sets of books, usually gotten up with
attractive covers and pretty well filled with steel engravings
or photogravures have been brought out and are still being pub­
lished under such titles as "Representative Men of --------," "Encyclopedia of Biography," etc. They are printed by pri­vate subscription and contain biographical sketches of those persons and their immediate families who subscribe to the publication, the amount of the subscription determining whether or not a photograph is included. The biography is either written by the subject himself and is his estimate of himself and his family, or is prepared by an editor from ma­terial furnished by the subject of the sketch.

The "Representative Men" are too frequently those who represent the subscription price without regard to their real worth as biographical characters in their community, and, also, too often there are omitted the biographies of those persons of real worth who should have representation in a work of the sort, but who, because they are not financially interested, are not counted as "Representative Men."

It is needless to say that the only value of these books to the genealogist is in stray genealogical lines which may be found in them and those lines only lead to the subject of the sketch and are by no means a family history. It should also be said that the genealogies contained in these works are quite likely to be a mixture of fact and tradition with no demarcation between the former and the latter.

Heraldry

The subject of heraldry and coats of arms will be only slightly touched upon. It is a subject sufficient for a treatise in itself and there are many good works on the subject. It is sufficient for the purposes of this textbook to refer to a few standard works and to advise the genealogist, if he wishes to delve deeper into the matter, either to employ an expert on heraldry or secure and study some of the standard textbooks dealing with the subject.

Standard works to be found in any good library having a genealogical department will include John Burke's Diction­ary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire; Sir Bernard Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland in 3 volumes; Vermont's America Heraldica; Crozier's A Registry of Amer­ican Families Entitled to Coats of Armor from the Earliest to the Present Time. Clark's Introduction to Heraldry is often recommended to the student as is also Fox Davies' Complete Guide to Heraldry.

English Records

There are many sets of books treating of English records of various sorts. They embrace Court, Church, Parish and other records and lists, and are very good for consultation. They are so varied in the information which they impart that it is not advisable to list them, but to recommend to the genealogist when he reaches that part of his work where he has need of consulting books on English ancestry and origins to discuss the matter with the librarian where he is working and let him suggest the best books available in his library covering the matter.

Membership in Historical and Genealogical Societies

Before leaving the subject of books and their use in gene­alogical work something should be said regarding membership in Historical and Genealogical Societies. If the genealogist resides in a city whose public library has a good genealogical section he is fortunate, for he can then avail himself of the books, or at least some of them, for home use.

If, however, he is resident far from library facilities he will find it advisable to join some one or more of the historical and genealogical societies near his residence, or even across the country, from whose library he may be privileged to borrow books. So little can be accomplished by actual work in libraries, where usually the use of a typewriter is forbidden, that it is a decided advantage if books can be used at home where more and faster work may be accomplished.

Membership fees are not high in these societies, consider­ing the advantages which are offered. The New England Historic Genealogical Society, offers the use of its library, one of the largest of the kind in the country, to its member­ship, and books may be borrowed by mail by payment of postage both ways which, under library privileges with the Post Office Department, is a small amount. This offers the facilities of this large library to any member, and though he may live in the most isolated section of the nation he is as near a first class library as he is to his mail box.

Not all books of course are open to borrowing privileges. Some are too valuable to be sent out and, in the case of reference books, the call for their use is too constant to allow their being taken from the library. But the number of bor-rowable books is great and the genealogist is wonderfully assisted by his membership privileges.

ORIGINAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Every searcher for family history will be tremendously impressed by the large number of families, some of them very prominent in American life, about which nothing of conse­quence has been gathered and published in historical form. Large genealogical libraries which raise high hopes in the mind of the prospective genealogist will contain on every shelf disappointments galore. He will discover that the con­tinuation of his work will lead him to record offices in large cities where he will find well ordered files and indexes, and to small towns where there is little order in the arrangement of records; to cemeteries where he must dig among the grass roots for inscriptions grown indistinct with time, and to homes where old family Bibles once much used and showing wear and age will be brought down from the attic that their faded entries may be consulted.

In the published books he will many times secure great masses of material in a short time, but in unpublished rec­ords he will slow down to a snail's pace of progress in his construction. Many times this will be the test of the true genealogical mind. It is one thing to copy those items which are readily found and quite another thing to travel miles and spend days digging over old records and items almost un­readable to get one needed date of birth, death, or marriage.

Original Vital Records

As has been said under the subject of "Published Vital Records," the obligatory keeping of such statistics by mu­nicipalities is of comparatively recent date. A letter to the Secretary of any state whose records it is necessary to ex­amine will bring to the genealogist the needed information on this subject.

If it is found that the records as kept by town clerks and augmented by such records as could be gathered from the diaries of clergymen and physicians, from church and parish books, and from cemeteries have not been published, it will become the genealogist's duty to go to these various deposi­tories and search the originals. It may become necessary in the case of published records to do this, as many errors ap­pear in some of the printed books on vital statistics. In the author's own family name, the record of the children of Cornelius Stetson, of Westerly, Rhode Island, will be found in Mr. Arnold's work under the name of Austin instead of under Stetson where it belongs.

If original genealogy search is to be undertaken, arrangements should be made with the custodian of the records, otherwise a trip may be wasted. Some of the smaller town offices are open only certain days of the week or for only a short time each day. In many instances the records are kept in buildings and vaults where there is no heating arrangement and if the genealogy search is made in winter months the record books must be removed to some place where conditions will permit of the work being done. Unless previous arrangement is made, the genealogist may quite likely be told that the books he wishes to consult cannot be reached immediately and that he will have to come another day. This is discouraging information if he has traveled far for this particular task.

What was said under "Published Vital Records" regard­ing their completeness also applies to original genealogy search. Omis­sions and errors are abundant and there is nothing that can be done about it. In land and court records entries were usually correct, but in vital statistics and diaries they were entered without compulsion or supervision and they are exactly what the recorder chose to enter or omit. It was with him purely a private matter and he was answerable to no one but himself.

Nor is it unusual to find family differences creeping into the records as is evidenced by the following instance. On the occasion of looking up the heirs of a man who died several years ago there was found one living child, and the examiner was told that there was one son who died in infancy. The records showed the birth of a John and, soon after, the death of a Richard aged only a few weeks. Was John living? If so something was wrong with dates. Upon consultation with the mother, the examiner was told, "I wanted to name the baby John and his father wanted to name him Richard, but we named him John." It is interesting to read between the lines. Mother had her way, but Father got in the last word, even if it did complicate the records.

Thus vital statistics prior to obligatory recording, if not complete or in every instance correct, are very suggestive. Their record should be taken as good unless evidence to the contrary can be clearly established.

Court and Land Records

The indexes of Probate Courts and Land Records should be run for any help they may give. Wills usually recite the children of the testator by name and give the name of the surviving wife or husband. Administrations ordinarily recite the heirs at law and next of kin of the deceased. These are always helpful in furnishing information. Often will be found the names of other relatives, particularly if the deceased died without children.

Land records will furnish the given name of the wife or husband. When land is sold by a married person the husband or wife is obliged to sign off his curtesy or dower rights in order to convey good title. The discovery of an unfamiliar name will sometimes reveal a second marriage which had not been found from other sources.

The records of the Equity Court may also prove very help­ful and should be examined if there is any hint of a division of property by the courts.

It should also be ascertained if there are early court rec­ords to be found. In the cases of early settlers these may prove useful. They are often deposited in the archives of some state department at the Capital of State House. They are available for examination and should be consulted for early history. Attention should also be given to early census reports, muster rolls, etc. as they are exceedingly helpful.

Family Bibles

The keeping of the record in the Family Bible was a uni­versal custom in the early times, and of all available records is to have first preference as to its reliability. If a father and mother did not know such intimate matters as their birth dates, the date of their marriage, and the dates of the births, marriages and deaths of their children, there is no hope for the correctness of any other record. There is a record on the Clerk's books of a lower Rhode Island town that certain parents had a son Benjamin, born there July 9th 1772, but two family Bibles, kept by two of Benjamin's sons, give his birth as July 31st 1772. Without doubt these two sons who kept independent records knew from their father when he was born. They agree on the date, as they do on all other dates that are entered regarding the family. It is obvious that the Town Clerk could not enter a birth twenty-two days before its occurrence, but the doctor could have sent it in weeks after it occurred, or there may have been no phy­sician in the case and the report was handed along by some neighbor woman, helpful at such times, so long after its occurrence that the definite date could not be fixed with certainty. Or the Town Clerk may have neglected to make the record until he was uncertain about the date. Or, the birth having taken place four miles from the center of the town and the record office, that was greater distance for news to travel in 1772 than ten times around the world would be today. At that early date the whole matter was probably passed along by word of mouth, and the wonder is, not that it was incorrect, but that it finally reached the records at all. Benjamin's was one of two births to be re­corded in what was known to have been a large family of children.

The genealogist must consider all these matters and be charitable with a feeling of thankfulness that he finds as much as he does in the records, and he will consider the find­ing of an old family Bible as the discovery of gold.

Cemetery Records

In the minds of genealogists, gravestone records should have next place to the family Bible as to correctness, others place them after vital records in reliability. Stone engravers sometimes made mistakes which were allowed to remain un-corrected because of the cost involved in their correction. Sometimes mistakes were intentional as is evidenced by:

Underneath this pile of stones Lies all that's left of Sally Jones. Her name was Lord, it was not Jones, But Jones was used to rhyme with stones.

And sometimes ambiguity was intended as is found on a stone in central Massachusetts, where is read:

/ was somebody, who, is no business of yours.

Incorrect dates on grave stones are not infrequently found. Sometimes the stone was not erected until long after the death occurred and until exact dates had become hazy in the mind of whoever gave the order for the cutting of the stone.

Gravestone records are very helpful for information in early times. The modern custom of giving only years, thus: 1830-1910 (which if the birth was in January of 1830 and the death in December of 1910, or if the birth was in December of 1830 and the death in January of 1910 gives a variation in age of about two years), was not in vogue in early times. The gravestone was usually explicit regarding dates, and often gave other valuable information. Sometimes the in­formation was of questionable value, as on a stone in a north­ern New York cemetery where is recorded the name of the minister who preached the funeral sermon and the biblical reference to the text used. On a stone in an eastern Massa­chusetts cemetery is cut a niche in which is inserted a tin­type photograph of the deceased over which is hung a marble cover so hinged as entirely to protect the picture.

Gravestones even become at times the medium of adver­tising as is shown by the following:

Here lies Jane Smith, wife 0/ Thomas Smith, Marble cutter. This monument was erected by her husband as a tribute to her memory and a specimen of his handiwork. Monuments of this style are two hundred and fifty dollars.

An examination of the stones in a family burial lot is strongly recommended. It not only may fix dates, but it may reveal members of the family whose record is nowhere else to be found.

In the Benson Family Record (published) is a list of the family of David and Jane (Seymour) Benson in which are the names and dates of ten children. These were found on the various records relating to the family. In the family burial lot, however, are stones for "Son David" and "Daughter Jane." In no other place are these children mentioned and were it not for a search of the cemetery there would be no knowledge of these two children who evidently died in in­fancy. They were a part of the family and should be included in any genealogy recording the children of their father and mother. By examination of the birth dates of the recorded ten children it will be found that between the fourth and fifth and between the eighth and ninth children as listed there was a much longer period than between any other births, and it was in those places probably that these two children came in the family.

Information Sought from the Family

The amount of information to be derived from members of the family will depend entirely on the type of work being undertaken. If an Ancestral Chart or History is the aim, not as many people will be interested as would be if a Genealogy were in preparation. In the same proportion, not as many people will have information to furnish for an individual line as would have for all lines of a family. While the range of sources of information is governed by the class of work, the method of procedure to acquire the desired information does not greatly differ.

Whatever the nature of the work, the first thing to do is find the persons in the family who have knowledge to im­part.

In an Ancestral History many different families are under consideration and so few individuals in any one of them have identical interest with the searcher that there is no great amount of work to be accomplished through family correspondence. In the Handbook of American Genealogy, a yearbook published by the Institute of American Genealogy of Chicago, will be found an alphabetically arranged list under the caption of "Genealogies in Course of Construction." This list is keyed to another section of the book and will show who are known by the publishers to be interested in genealo­gies of certain family surnames. Correspondence with persons thus listed as interested in families of the surnames under consideration may prove helpful in securing information.

Because the busy genealogist should always, for the sake of labor and time saving, as well as for economy, use the printing press in place of his pen and typewriter where possible, a form letter is suggested to reach the persons found in this way. The letter should be printed on fairly thin paper because, as only one inquiry should appear on a sheet, several forms will sometimes be sent in one letter.

Carbon copies of this form letter should be taken, so that a record may be preserved and follow up letters sent out if necessary to secure a reply. In this, as in all inquiries, a self addressed and stamped envelope should be included with the letter. The letter may be phrased something like the following:

To…………………   Dear………………… In preparing the records of the………………… Fam­ily I am seeking information of the ancestors and descend­ants of the persons indicated below. I note that you are interested in families bearing the same surname. I shall appreciate any assistance you may be able to render or any suggestion as to a source of informa­tion which will help me in following out this line. I shall be glad to reciprocate with any matter which I may have in my files. Sincerely yours, 395 Everett St., Erie, Pa. ……………………………………193

This same form letter may be used for genealogical work to secure information of the families of daughters who have married into other surnames which appear in the index ex­amined if it is desired to include them in a full genealogy.

If a Genealogy is contemplated the task of securing infor­mation from the family takes on greatly increased propor­tion. There are a great many more people interested in the outcome of the work, therefore many more sources of informa­tion from connected families and individuals. Less can be gained from published sources of information and corre­spondingly more must be found from private and unprinted sources. The task, while approached in the same general way, is multiplied many fold.

The problem of finding and getting in touch with the vari­ous members of the family is an important one for the gene­alogist. There can be no real genealogy unless the members of the family are found and data secured about them. It must be realized that information is to be sought and found in every corner of the country, and that a small genealogy will index at least ten thousand names. That means data must be secured from a great many people concerning many individual families with which to build a genealogical struc­ture. In this broad survey it is a most discouraging under­taking, but when separated into its various departments it is not so discouraging.

Like every constructive proposition it is progressive. The genealogist must be architect enough to see the completed edifice before the ground is broken, and builder enough to realize that the greatest structure is built by placing one stone upon another from the deepest foundation to pinnacle capstone.

The quest for information directed toward the family may well begin with a collection of Family Bible records. If there is a Bible stowed away somewhere wherein is written a record of a grandfather's family it should be taken out and copy made of its entries, and if there are other Bibles containing family records, in other branches of the family that are known to exist, they should all be hunted up and examined for additional items and variation.

With these items for a start the genealogist may visit the oldest members of the family who have retained good mem­ories, if they are within his reach, and ask them as many questions as the traditional Philadelphia lawyer. These old memories should be started to working and encouraged to ramble on and tell all the history and tradition that they have stored in their years of intimacy with the family. These recollections should be carefully written out. They can be sifted and sorted later. All names and localities mentioned should be noted whether they are associated or not. The writer of a genealogy now in process of construction recently said that as a child he had a hazy remembrance of hearing his grandmother tell of cousins in a western New York town. No other member of the family remembered anything of them or their place of residence, but investigation found people of the same name in that town who had lost the line of where they belonged in the family. The grandmother's remark of many years ago seemed to be suggestive as a key to the whole situation. The names of these cousins were not remembered, but the name of the town, one word, was as­sociated with the grandmother in memory and it is appar­ently enough to connect two large branches of the family.

Records should be made of the names of every person or place mentioned regardless of whether it is known at the time when and where they are going to be used, or whether or not they will ever be used.

There is perhaps no period in the development of the fam­ily from early settlements to the present generation which is so elusive as that age just prior to the memory of those living. Early history is pretty well known, and memory will reach back for three generations without trouble, but it is the in­tervening period that joins the early and the recent that seems to prove most troublesome.

The genealogy search within the family should also include any manuscripts. Almost every family can produce one or more members who at some time have been ancestrally minded, and have attempted in a more or less perfunctory way to write their part of the family history. It may be that they have only made jottings of items, and never reached the writing out period. But the genealogist is usually told of an "Aunt Emma" or an "Uncle John" who once started to write the history of his immediate family. These histories may quite probably be found to consist of pencil notes on half a dozen odd-sized sheets of paper; rather a brief attempt to be called by the dignified name of a history, but valuable grist for the genealogist's mill. Several attempts may have been made by various members of the family all of which should be gathered and pieced together.

If there is a local historical or genealogical society it should be visited and its catalogues examined for any such frag­mentary histories which may have been deposited there. Papers of this sort found after death which no one in the family cares to keep are often given to a local historical society where they are placed in an envelope, properly catalogued, and filed for reference. Sometimes such manu­scripts are deposited by the person who has gathered the material and who realizes that it is too meager for publica­tion and too valuable to be destroyed. Or it may be con­cluded that no one in the family has sufficient interest in the matter properly to care for the work and it is placed in safe keeping during the life, rather than left to chance after the death of its compiler.

There are many long and quite complete and valuable compilations that reach the historical society library in manuscript form because there were no available funds for publication. These are usually found in notebook form and sometimes represent years of painstaking work. Much valu­able material may be found in this genealogy search.

In order to reach the large number of members of the family it will be necessary to make lists. Up to this point the genealogist, whether working on an Ancestral History or preparing a Genealogy has been working practically alone. In ancestral work he will continue to do so, but in genealogi­cal projects the time has arrived when he must cease making independent examinations, copying his own findings and conducting the entire project as a lone worker. Help must be enlisted from all corners or" the country which are full of living members of the family. From being a lone compiler he becomes an editor joining the work of others with his own compilation. It is essential that interest in the project should become family wide. Every living member of the name should be reached if the whole family bearing the surname is being covered, and every one of the living members of the lines to be carried down should be reached if the work is limited.

Telephone offices may be visited where will be found a collection of directories of different exchanges and cities. The offices of the various city and town directory publishers may also be visited where can be consulted a sizable library of directories reaching from Maine to California. All of these sources of information should be examined for lists of those of the name under consideration. The larger public libraries also have in their business section, files of telephone and city directories.

The genealogist should get in touch by correspondence with members of the family in widely separated areas and have them all cull from directories and mail in lists from their sections of the country.

A genealogist recently said that in making lists she ran the indices of every genealogy and town history in the library of the Rhode Island Historical Society for names of her family. This should be done in some good library having a genealogi­cal department.

The building up of a mailing list will consume much time and be wearisome. It is preliminary drudgery, but it must be done. If some members of the family having leisure time can be persuaded to assist in this work their help should be enlisted. Slight errors any one may make are not vital, as this is not to be any part of the finished work.

These lists will furnish the names of a large number of people who will comprise for the most part the male lines of the family. The female lines will have to be secured from questionnaires sent out and from correspondence.

In sending out questionnaires it is advisable that with the return of the questionnaire, lists of all known members of the family with addresses be included. These replies can be checked against the mailing list already gathered.

The Questionnaire

Information is to be sought from many people in preparing the genealogy. Obviously, personal letters cannot be written to all the members of the family who have been found, and if they could, the result would prove very disappointing. A delightful correspondence would be established containing a minimum amount of needed information, and that small amount

Head of family Parental line of ancestors Parentage Birth or baptism Death Burial Residence and removals Occupation Military service Other biograph- ical data             Parentage Birth or baptism Death Burial Biograph- ical Other marriages

.........Generation        .......Family      __________      (__________ ________) son of ......... and ......... (........) ......... was b ....... at ....... died ........ at ............ buried at ............Cemetery Resided ................. ............. ............. ............. ............. ............. ............ ............ .............. ............... He married __________ on ............ at ........... dau. of ........ and .......... (..........) ........ She was b ......... at ........... and died ............. at .............. buried at ............Cemetery .............. ............. ........... ........... ......... (OVER)

 

Names in full, date and place of birth, marriage, death, and to whom married		Children of ........ and ........ ( ..... ) .....
		This record was compiled by ..............
		of ............Date ...........
		Sources of data .............
		............
		Verified by .............

FAMILY	GENERATION	INDEX	NO.
			PAGE
REFERENCE AUTHORITY:		NAME       LINE OF DESCENT:       FATHER’S NAME       MOTHER’S NAME       BORN AT ON           DIED AT ON     MARRIED AT ON     TO       FATHER’S NAME       MOTHER’S NAME       BORN AT ON     DIED AT
NOTES:
RESIDENCES AND REMOVALS:
OCCUPATION OR PROFESSION:
MILITARY SERVICE: BIOGRAPHY:
DIRECTIONS:  Use one of these blanks for EVERY marriage. Use plain sheets bearing the same number as on this blank if necessary for additional biography. Give the reference authority for your information. Ask for more blanks if needed. FILL OUT AS COMPLETELY AS POSSIBLE, SIGN AND RETURN PROMPTLY.
YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS:

CHILDREN OF	AND	(                  )
«» Name		Family notes:
Born at	ON
Died at	ON
Married at	ON
To
<*> Name
Born at	ON
Died at	ON
Married at	ON
To
<•> Name
Born at	ON
Died at	ON
Married at	ON
To
<4> Name
Born at	ON
Died at	ON
Married at	ON
To
<«> Name
Born at	ON
Died at	ON
Married at	ON
To
<ft) Name
Born at	ON
Died at	ON
Married at	ON
To
<T) Name
Born at	ON
Died at	ON
Married at	ON
To
<•> Name
Born at	ON
Died at	ON
Married at	ON
To
<•> Name		Continue on another form necessary to list more children
Born at	ON
Died at	ON
Married at	ON
To

in such jumbled shape as to render it almost useless. To get definite answers, definite questions must be asked. But in asking the questions great care must be exercised not to make the questionnaire so formidable in appearance that it frightens or discourages the person receiving it. People are unduly shy of question blanks. Those persons who will write pages of letters will, when asked to write their name and the date of their birth in a particular place on a blank, hedge about doing it. Some bugbear seems to arise and persuade human beings that they should not answer definite ques­tions.

Let the genealogist be assured at the very beginning of his work that no living person can devise a question blank that every one will understand, and that the finest arrangement that a supermind could construct will be twisted about in all sorts of shape by some persons and finally answered in such a manner as to be entirely unintelligible.

The questionnaire should be as simple, as clear, and as short as it is possible to make it. It should cover all the points sought but not contain an unnecessary word. If there are explanations and directions for answering the questions they should be so worded as to leave no room for misinter­pretation of them, and the less wording on the blank the better.

Of the questionnaires on the preceding pages, the first has been devised by the New England Historic Genealogical So­ciety and used with success for many years. It does, how­ever, have the limitation of being usable only for the male lines as will be noted by the wording which only allows for "son of." It would serve a double purpose if it were so worded as to allow for sons and daughters, laid out in a form similar to the second questionnaire. When making up a questionnaire it is wise to allow plenty of room to answer all questions, and to provide clear instructions on the mar­gins where they do not complicate   the questions asked.

Most people have knowledge of at least two generations back of themselves and it would seem advisable to send the questionnaire in such form that information of three or pos­sibly four generations could be gathered from each person responding. This will bring in much duplicate information which is not to be shunned as it fortifies the genealogist against errors. With this in mind let there be sent to each person four sheets, three of which should be the form shown above and one plain sheet bearing only the heading

The following are the names and addresses of other members of the family:

Assuming that the genealogist is to write the history of the descendants of William Curtis who came to New England in the "Lion" in 1632, with the questionnaire should go a letter printed something after the following order:

OFFICE OF THE GENEALOGIST OF THE CURTIS FAMILY IN AMERICA .............................................................

Dear Cousin: It is purposed to gather and publish the genealogy of the descendants of William Curtis who came to New England in the ship "Lion" in 1632 and was in Boston that year and later in Roxbury. To assist in this work will you fill out the enclosed blanks and return them to this office as soon as possible. There are four sheets enclosed. The first sheet is for the use of yourself and your own family and should be headed by your own name. The second sheet is for the family of your parent in the Curtis line and should be headed with that parent's name and the family carried out. The third sheet is for the family of your grandparent on the Curtis side and should be headed with that grandparent's name and the family carried out. Full names should be given in every case. Any informa­tion about which there is question should be indicated under "Notes" as marked on the blank that further investigation may be undertaken in connection with it, thus insuring cor­rectness. The fourth sheet is for sending in name and addresses of other persons known to be descendants of William Curtis. Please give all the assistance you can. Sincerely, Address all communications to Charles G. Curtis 10 Main St., Jamesville, Mass.

The form pages should be identical and that they may be kept in proper order it is suggested that they be fastened at the top with a wire stitcher.

There will be better response if the papers bear a number. People are more careful about returning numbered papers than those unnumbered. The psychological effect is good. They should be numbered in sets, however, and not as indi­vidual pages, the space marked "page" serving that purpose. The fourth sheet, being no part of the record, should be re­moved from the set after its return and after the information contained on it has been checked and properly entered on the mailing list. It may then be discarded.

It will also be found helpful if the family has title to a coat of arms, to make use of it on correspondence paper and questionnaires. While heraldry is not recognized in America with its principles of democracy, still there are many people who have respect for such things, and there is no doubt that the judicious use of the old family coat of arms will awaken the interest of many people as nothing else would. It is a fair means of securing cooperation and assistance.

It will be found helpful if a register is kept of the numbers sent out. It may be made in a blank book ruled for the pur­pose, keeping the numbers in progressive order on the left hand margin of the page. This will help to check up on those who are dilatory in replying. Names should be crossed off as replies are received.

Information Sought from Public Officials

The genealogist must not expect postmasters to furnish addresses. It is not allowable under the ruling of the Post Office Department. It is permissible to address a letter to the person sought, directing it to the post office where there is reason to believe he may receive his mail. The receiving post office will make delivery or complete the address and forward the letter if they have any information making such action possible. If the sender displays his return address on the envelope he will soon know if his letter reached the per­son for whom it was intended, as if it did not it will be re­turned to the sender.

Letters may also be sent to the postmaster with a note stating that the genealogist wishes to get in touch with a cer­tain family whose name he mentions; that it is believed that some member of the family is served by that post office and asking that the letter be handed to any one known to be of the family sought. The postmaster will gladly render this service. It should be remembered to affix a stamp in this case even though it is to a blank envelope as otherwise it would be an attempt to use the mails without paying the proper postage for the privilege.

Public officials are, as a rule, very willing to do what they can to help in genealogical work, but it is not fair to them to ask for extended examinations without asking that a proper charge be made for the service. Clerks of towns and munici­palities, registrars and court officials are busy people. If they were to spend the time to do all that seekers for infor­mation ask of them they would often have little time left for their regular work. A thoughtless genealogist will sometimes ask for an examination of records that would take days of a clerk's time with no suggestion of compensation, and then be surprised when his request is ignored or refused.

It is fair to ask if the name sought appears in the birth, marriage or death records or in the indexes of the land or probate records. In asking for this information every as­sistance should be given as to probable dates and any item that may help the clerk to answer the query with as little expenditure of time as possible. Nearly every official will gladly render this service without charge, but it is safe and courteous to include a dollar bill with the inquiry.

If the clerk finds the name sought, the genealogist should go to the record office and make his own examination, or send some one living in the vicinity to do the work for him. In his inability to do either of these, he should write to the clerk and ask the probable cost of having some one in his office make the examination and having secured that information, if he concluded to have some one in the clerk's office do the work, he should forward his check with the request for the examination. This will avoid the question of financial respon­sibility and the clerk can readily make the proper refund if too much has been sent or render his bill for the additional work above the estimate given.

Information Sought from Librarians and Curators of Historical and Genealogical Societies

Many people assume that one of the duties of a Curator or Librarian of a Historical or Genealogical Society is to fur­nish genealogical information to all those seeking it and to give instruction to those who wish to enter upon the project of building up a Family History or a Genealogy.

Such work is no part of the curator's or librarian's duties. Hit business is to guard carefully the books and manuscripts entrusted to his care and to rent or lend them to such per­sons who, by membership or otherwise, are entitled to their use; to see that they arc given good care and properly re­turned to their place in the library after having been used, and generally to have the oversight and care of the library. From the knowledge derived from his position he may be able to make valuable suggestions to patrons of the library, and a good librarian is always willing to accommodate by suggestions and advise in every possible way any one who appeals to him for assistance in finding material contained in his particular library providing it does not interfere with his regular duties. Such assistance, however, must not take him from his appointed tasks. He is in no sense a teacher at the disposal of the patrons of the library, and if he enters into the occupation of an examiner he does so on his own time and at his own initiative, and any one seeking his services in this manner must expect to compensate him at whatever rate of wages he may choose to place upon his work.

A quotation on this point from a little handbook put out by the genealogical department of the Public Library of the City of Los Angeles, Calif, will express the position of every librarian, not all of whom can afford to print a handbook.

The library does not compile genealogies. Every effort is made to assist patrons making use of the books and material in the Library, or to direct inquirers to outside sources of information. But the actual examination of records and taking of notes must be done by the compiler of the genealogy.

Information Sought from Query Departments of Various Publications

Several of the leading newspapers and nearly all of the genealogical societies which issue publications, maintain a department of questions and answers for the convenience of their readers. Thus a genealogical exchange is maintained to perform proper genealogy search. To ask questions through this department is somewhat of a shot in the dark and while many times it will fail of results, it does not infrequently bring the desired information.

The Boston Evening Transcript has maintained a genealog­ical section for many years which has been helpful to a large number of its readers who were interested in genealogy search. There is no charge for inserting ques­tions or answers, the increase in the circulation of the paper being the only compensation. There are, however, certain definite rules which must be followed and any one wishing to avail himself of the service of that paper or any other having a like department should inform himself of the re­quirements that he may secure the best results with the least trouble to an agency which is rendering free service.

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