Review: Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills

Evidence Explained:  Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills, Genealogical Publishing Company,  2009, 855 p.

Even though my copy of Evidence Explained (2nd edition) was published in 2009, this guidebook is such an important and must-have resource for anyone seriously interested in genealogical research, I felt it warranted an entry here on the 929 Bookcase. The third edition was published in 2017 and has several updates, most significantly, in the citing of DAR databases, the Ellis Island website records, and how the National Archives (US) website documents are recorded.

There is an aphorism that circulates in the genealogy community that says, “genealogy without documentation is mythology.”  While there is some debate about the origin of the saying and its exact wording, the idea that genealogical information must be accompanied by sources is widely accepted by professional researchers and most hobbyists. Sometimes, though, information is shared among amateur researchers that has not been sourced. If the unsourced information is shared online, it can spread misinformation far and wide. It’s up to us, as good genealogists, to ensure the information we share is accurate, documented and sourced properly. Even if the intended recipients of this information are only close family members, it is still advised that all source information be diligently cited so that anyone who might want to retrace your research steps can find the same documents used in building your family tree.  Sourcing also benefits the researcher by making it easy to retrace their own steps when encountering conflicting information in their research. It is easier to double-check the details if you know where to look. The more detailed the citation, the easier the documentation is to locate again.

Mills’ 885-page reference book is the most comprehensive guide to citing historical sources out there. It contains virtually every type of source, whether it be online, in print, on microfilm or fiche, or in other less common formats, that a genealogist might encounter when engaged in genealogical research. The author first explains the fundamentals of evidence analysis and citation in order that the reader understands why researchers need to create proper citations, as well as the rationale behind the citation formats that Mills has created. Then she provides model templates, based on the type of record being sourced, that can be duplicated as the researcher puts these citation rules into practice. By using Mill’s templates and models, we can ensure some consistency with methods used for sourcing in the wider genealogical community.

Beginners may find Mills’ tome a bit overwhelming at first glance, but an easy-to-use comprehensive index will help them pinpoint the type of document they are trying to cite. Mills has included “quick-check models” which are examples of more commonly used document citations.

Personally, citing sources is my least favourite part of genealogy. I find it to be mind-numbingly dull work, but necessary, especially as I pass on my findings to others. Elizabeth Shown Mills’ book belongs on any genealogist’s bookcase to make the mundane work of citing sources a little bit easier.

 

 

Review: You Can Write Your Family History by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack

You Can Write Your Family History by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003, 245 p. Reprints: 2009, & 2013.

I recently rediscovered this gem of a book in my library and felt that it merited a review, even though it was originally published eighteen years ago. I was looking for a book that would provide guidance and, perhaps more importantly, the inspiration I needed to begin work on a long thought about family history book. This is one of the best books on genealogical authorship I have found.

Sharon DeBartolo Carmack is probably best known for writing the accessible and useful Carmack’s Guide to Copyright & Contracts: A Primer for Genealogists, Writers and Researchers. Here, she has produced another no-nonsense guide for genealogists, one that will enable readers to write that engrossing and well-documented family history book or journal article they’ve always dreamed about.

Carmack guides would-be authors through a writing project with a step-by-step approach, by devoting each chapter to an important point in the process. She begins by asking the reader, “What type of family history will you write?” and then discusses how to define the scope of that project. She addresses the questions that most researchers will have on their mind, including the inevitable, “Have I really found all I need to write a decent family history or do I need to research more?”

More than the usual how-to-write-family-histories guide, this book provides techniques and approaches to incorporate overarching themes into the story, and how to build suspense, humour and romance by using some of the same elements that might be found in fictional works. The author also discusses ways to use social histories to set your ancestors accurately in time and place, and how to settle on a particular narrative style to tell your unique story in the most appropriate manner possible.

She also explains how to use scenes and summaries in a work of creative non-fiction. “Scenes allow your readers to feel like eyewitnesses to the events you describe,” Carmack explains. “Summaries, on the other hand, simply tell the reader what happened in a way that moves the story along in time more quickly.” Helpful examples of various styles, narratives, and approaches can be found in the appendix.

While most of the book focuses on the gathering of information and the actual writing of a book, it also addresses post-writing concerns, such as marketing and promotion.

You Can Write Your Family History is a comprehensive, easy-to-follow guide to writing a family history. It might be just the book to inspire you to finally tell your ancestor’s story.

 

Review: Tracing Your Poor Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians by Stuart A. Raymond

Tracing Your Poor Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians by Stuart A. Raymond, Pen & Sword, 2020, 196 p.; indexes, notes, illustrations, photographs.

If you are a genealogist, you have probably identified several ancestors in your tree who were poor. In this guide, Stuart Raymond sets out to help genealogists and local historians locate information about their poorer ancestors who lived in England or Wales. He begins by providing a general history of the poor in that geographic area and introduces the reader to the institutions and systems created to address the issues of poverty, such as Poor Law, Prisons, Charities, and later, the formation of the Welfare State. 

The discussion around charities is extensive and comprehensive. The author looks at the many specific types of charity, including almshouses, apprenticeships, education, orphanages and children’s homes, hospitals, and other places of refuge. Wherever online databases exist for the records of these institutions, Raymond provides the URL along with pertinent details about the database. 

An entire chapter is devoted to the documentation of paupers during the time of Elizabethan Poor Laws, and another for the period after 1834 when the New Poor Law was adopted. The management of the poor during each of these eras left behind many records, including settlement certificates and examinations, removal orders, pauper apprenticeships indenture records, overseer accounts, vestry minutes, pauper lists, inventories and letters, workhouse documents, relief lists, bastardy records, vaccination records, school lists and more. 

Other chapters contain specifics about the lives of vagrants, criminals, and debtors and provide information about the types of records available for research. Each chapter includes a bibliography for further reading. 

This information-rich guidebook is just the thing to help genealogists understand the rules and societal expectations that the working poor, the unemployed and destitute were forced to live under in England. It also describes the many types of records that were created to keep track of the poor, and where these documents may be found today. Many are online, but the author makes a point of encouraging readers to do their in-person, on-site research, as well. This book will be extremely beneficial to the genealogist who wants to better understand their less-advantaged ancestors and the challenges faced in their day-to-day lives. Highly recommended.

Review: Out-of-Style: An Illustrated Guide to Vintage Fashions: 19th- 21st Centuries by Betty Kreisel Shubert

Out-of-Style: An Illustrated Guide to Vintage Fashions: 19^th -21^st Centuries by Betty Kreisel Shubert, 2^nd Edition, Dover Publications, 2018, 352 p.; index, illustrations, photographs.

Clothes and costume designer Betty Kreisel Shubert was inspired to write this comprehensive book after being asked to speak at a genealogy society meeting about changes in fashion. Shubert soon recognized the need for a guidebook that would assist genealogists with dating photographic images through fashion. Many such guides discuss the costume details to look for when dating images, but unfortunately, not many provide adequate photographs and illustrations of specific fashion features. Most books, sadly, do not provide enough details.

When I received Out-of-Style in the mail, without having been able to browse the contents beforehand, I was surprised to see that most of the illustrations were just that, hand-rendered illustrations, rather than photographic examples. I thought this might be a disadvantage, but as I used the book while writing my Family Photo Reunion blog posts, I came to appreciate Shubert’s illustrative methods. The drawings amplify the specific fashion differences the author wants to point out, often showing the progression of a silhouette or shift in costume design.

The narrative style is chatty and informal. Not only does the author present facts about changes in style, she also provides the “why” of some surprising fashion trends in an entertaining manner, such as in Chapter Two, “Why Hoop Skirts Were Born.” The book is divided into two main parts:  the 19^th century and the 20^th century. While much of the book pertains to women’s fashions, there are also helpful sections about men’s and children’s fashions. The first chapter provides an overview of the primary silhouettes in women’s fashion from 1830-1900 and an entire chapter is devoted to the nine sequential phases of the bustle --before I read this, I thought there were only two! Shubert also discusses the garments that are not visible in photographs but shape the sitter’s silhouette and give clues to the fashion period. Yes, I’m talking about the fascinating history of corsets, brassieres, and stockings. Special occasion clothing is also discussed in detail, including reform dress, wedding attire, maternity clothes, mourning dress, and bathing suit fashion.

I frequently use Shubert’s book alongside other reference books, such as Joan Severa's Dressed for the Photographer, to assist me with dating the fashions I find in photographs. The author has included a comprehensive index, as well as a lengthy bibliography, arranged by subject, which directs to further reading material should the reader like to delve deeper into any clothing-related topic. Highly recommended.

Review: The Family Tree Toolkit: A Comprehensive Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry and Researching Genealogy by Kenyatta D. Berry

The Family Tree Toolkit:  A Comprehensive Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry and Researching Genealogy. By Kenyatta D. Berry, Skyhorse Publishing, 2018, 267 p. 

Genealogy Roadshow host, Kenyatta D. Berry has written a new guidebook focussing primarily on American genealogy for the beginner. Berry has divided the guide into the following chapters:

1) Starting Your Family History

2) United States Records Research
3) Other Records
4) Immigration and Naturalization
5) US Military Research
6) Ethnic Ancestry
7) European Research
8) Adoption Research
9) DNA

Each American state is featured on its own page with a chart detailing state birth, marriage, and death registrations, their beginnings and availability, and which online databases currently have those documents in digitized form. The book does a good job describing the contents of state records and how these records might benefit the genealogist.

Some of the topics in this book are examined briefly. The eight-page chapter on European research skims the surface of this area of study, mentioning only select countries and would benefit the researcher who has just discovered they are of English, Irish, German, Italian or Jewish heritage. The chapter on DNA is also short, only six pages long, and presents a general overview of the benefits of DNA testing for genealogists.

The chapters on US military research and Ethnic Ancestry, which covers African American and Native American research, are more detailed and provide timelines of key events, as well as tips for researching in these specialized subject areas.

The text is simply written, and is presented in large font, which may be of benefit to individuals who have difficulty reading small print. The author focusses almost exclusively on online records such as those available through Familysearch.org, Ancestry.com, Fold3.com and on other online databases, with very little discussion about in-person research at archives and local history repositories. It is likely this guide will require regular updating to keep it current because of its focus on digital records.

The Family Tree Toolkit provides researchers with a quick tool to determine which U.S. records are available online and where. For the genealogist looking for a more comprehensive guide to US records, Alice Eicholz’s classic The Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, or The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking will provide greater detail about in-person research in archives and other repositories.

Review: Tracing Your Pre-Victorian Ancestors: A Guide to Research Methods for Family Historians by John Wintrip

Tracing Your Pre-Victorian Ancestors:  A Guide to Research Methods for Family Historians.

By John Wintrip, Pen & Sword, 2017, 214 p. 

For genealogists researching British ancestors, 1837 was a pivotal year. It was the year of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne, which coincided with the beginning of civil registration in England. Civil registration introduced a mandatory standard of reporting for births, marriages and deaths, making these records invaluable for post-1837 genealogical research. Censuses that recorded all members of the household did not come about until 1841. John Wintrip effectively argues that research in the Pre-Victorian era is far more complex and challenging than is required for post-Victorian British research, and that family historian needs to apply more skill and acquire more knowledge when researching in this period. It is important to note that the information in this book can also be applied to research in Wales.

The author divides his book, not by source materials as most guides tend to do, but by topics that best help the researcher decide which records might be available for their particular ancestor, as well as by topics related to research methodology. The guide begins with a discussion around the unique challenges of researching in the pre-Victorian period, and how it differs from the post period.  The author then sets out his view that there are four major competencies required of a genealogist:  1) knowledge of sources 2) searching skills 3) analytical and problem-solving skills and 4) external knowledge. Examples of external knowledge include generic knowledge such as types of land tenure and the manorial system, and specific external knowledge, such as the history of a specific geographical region.

Chapter Three, “Sources,” is an excellent primer centring on the definitions of original and derivative sources and the differences between primary and secondary information. These concepts allow genealogists to assess the usefulness of the records and information they find, enabling them to adhere to the Genealogical Proof Standard. The concepts surrounding evidence and proof are addressed in a later chapter.

Wintrip stresses the importance of historical context to determine the best research strategy. He clearly shows how an ancestor’s social standing, religion, occupation and their relocations can point to useful sources and be used to differentiate your ancestors from others with similar names. Detailed case studies regarding mistaken identities in research help show research pitfalls and how to avoid them in your own research. An entire chapter is devoted to the subject of names (both Christian and surnames) and the importance of naming patterns in genealogy. The discussion on naming practices and the evolution of surnames is fascinating and informative.

Intended for the advanced genealogist, this book focusses on the methodology required to conduct proper research in pre-Victorian England and will be of interest to anyone who has had difficulty taking their research back to pre-civil registration times. Even though the author clearly states that this book is intended for those with British ancestry, it has much to offer anyone with an interest in learning about sound genealogical research practices and methodology.

Review: The Family Tree German Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Germanic Ancestry in Europe by James M. Beidler

The Family Tree German Genealogy Guide:  How to Trace Your Germanic Ancestry in Europe by James M. Beidler, Family Tree Books, 2014, 239 p. 

            Tracing Germanic roots can be tricky. An abundance of surname variations, a foreign language, an unfamiliar cursive script, and frequently changing boundaries within Germany are just a few of the difficulties associated with researching in this area. For the non-German-speaking genealogist, gleaning information from German parish records and documents might seem like a daunting, if not impossible task. For anyone just beginning to research their German ancestors, a good reference book that addresses the unique challenges specific to Germanic research is essential.

            James Beidler has divided his book into three parts. The first part, “Linking Your Family Tree to German-Speaking Nations” looks at German immigrants to North America and how to determine their place of origin using records found in the new country.   Beidler’s focus is on German-American immigrants and, unfortunately, not much is said about those who came to Canada.  Part two, “Getting to Know the Old Country,” provides necessary information about Germany’s geography and the German language, including surnames and their variations, along with given-naming patterns. Part three, “Tracing Your Family in German-Speaking Nations” systematically details civil registration, parish records, census and court records, military documents and other printed records that are available to the researcher. The author also includes research information for Austria and Switzerland, as well as for the German-speaking micro-states of Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. The final section, “Advanced Sources and Strategies,” contains case studies for various types of research problems as well as methodologies for breaking through genealogical brick walls.

            Beidler has provided several useful appendices including a German alphabet chart covering modern script, fraktur, sütterlin, kurrent, and old handwriting styles. He also includes a list of commonly found genealogical terms, numbers, and months spelled out in each of these handwriting styles. Also included are sample letters in German to request civil and parish records, a comprehensive bibliography for further reading, and contact information for the various archives, libraries and societies relating to Germanic research.

            Researching ancestors in German-speaking countries does present unique challenges for the English-speaking genealogist.  The Family Tree German Genealogy Guide should enable those new to German research to overcome these challenges.