Back in July, Leland wrote A Review of “History For Genealogists – Using Chronological Time Lines to Find and Understand Your Ancestors.” This book is one of Leland’s favorites, and Judy Jacobson has proven to be one of his favorite authors on Genealogy. After going through A Field Guide for Genealogists, also by Judy Jacobson, I can see why Leland is such a fan.
Imagine a book part encyclopedia, part dictionary, part facts and figures, and part pocket reference guide and you have A Field Guide for Genealogists. This book is as fun as it is valuable to any family historian. The knowledge areas covered are extensive and rarely found with such detail in other research guides. Take for example the chapter on photographs. Yes, Jacobson covers the different types of photographs made over the years. And, yes, she provides practical ways to identify and roughly date a photograph. But, she goes much further. For example, pages 96–101 provide ways to identify time periods and individuals by hairstyle. Year ranges and style details are given for both men and women. There is even a practical guide to gender identification for children, especially prior to 1900. Prior to 1900 many young children would be dressed similarly. Skirts and short hair were the norm for both boys and girls. However, did your know that girls often parted their hair in the middle and boys did not? Jacobson did, and she explains this and many other interesting facts in the book.
Reading through the pages of the Field Guide, the reader will find lists for major U.S. epidemics by year; sources of surnames and their meanings; less common occupations; French, Spanish, and Russian measurement conversions; resources to look for in museums; and much more. If you are a facts and figures person, or you love top 10 lists, or if you have ever Googled a topic just to see what everyone is talking about, then you will have a tough time putting this book down. This book fills in the gaps left behind by other resource guides and research how-to books.
For those who want to learn even more about a topic, each chapter of the book ends with a sources and additional reading list. However, I doubt most researchers will need to look further than the details provided within. Take a look at the following table of contents and see just how extensive this book is:
Table of Contents
The Laws of Genealogy
Preface
Genealogy in General
- Practical uses of genealogy
- What you need to know about an ancestor
- What to ask relative about ancestors
- Home sweet home
- When you think you have hit a dead end
- Where to find the information in records
- Avoiding genealogical headaches
- Genealogical terms
- Familial terms
- Household goods
- Abbreviations
- Organizations which might have genealogical information
- Acceptable proofs of relationship
- Unacceptable proofs of relationship
- Topic sources and additional reading
Names
- Given names
- Six most common males given names — Boston, 1630–1634
- Three most common female given names — Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1630–1670
- Translated male given names
- Abbreviations for male given names
- Unusual nicknames
- Female nicknames
- Male nicknames
- Two kids, on name
- Sources of early American given names
- Surnames
- Sources for surnames
- Surname Prefixes, suffixes and conjunctions
- Reasons surnames have changed
- Where to find a maiden name
- Titles
- Place names
- Place name prefixes and suffixes (European origins)
- Sources for place names
- Topic sources and additional reading
Libraries
- Cataloging systems
- Types of libraries
- Public libraries
- Genealogical libraries
- University libraries
- Specialty libraries
- Types of Genealogy Books
- Places other than usual genealogy books to find information in university or public libraries
- Newspapers
- Places in the library having genealogical information taken from newspapers
- Genealogical information found in the newspaper
- Periodicals
- Published and unpublished histories
- Obituary collections and cemetery records
- Church histories
- Indexes
- Biographies/Diaries
- Vertical (V) files
- City and county directories
- Local county censuses
- Mortality schedules
- Directories
- Governmental records
- Encyclopedia/Dictionaries
- Maps and gazetteers
- Non-paper sources
- Getting a book your library does not own
- Topic sources and additional reading
Photographs
- Identifying people in photographs
- The basics of dating a picture by the photographic process
- Types of photographs
- Hair styles
- Differentiating between boys and girls
- Hair styles among the poor
- Men’s hair styles
- Women’s hair styles and head dressing
- Clothing
- Children’s clothing styles
- Men’s clothing styles
- Women’s clothing styles
- Topic sources and additional reading
Diseases and Calamities
- Those old time diseases
- Epidemics in America
- Important international medical events and medical curses having an influence on populations and migrations
- Disasters in the United States
- World’s worst disasters
- American military actions
- Major Revolutionary War events and battles
- Foreign military and armed engagements
- Topic sources and additional reading
Courthouses
- Problems to expect working in a courthouse
- Remember
- Types of county courthouse records which could be useful to genealogists
- Two most under-used county records and why they are important
- Information which might be found in records
- Probate records
- Birth records
- Marriage records
- Tax records
- Land records
- Topic sources and additional reading
Land Records
- Information available in land records
- Land surveying
- Rectangular survey system
- Land and survey teams
- Homestead and bounty lands
- Revolutionary War bounty lands
- States which gave additional land to war veterans
- Homestead-type acts
- Topic sources and additional reading
Law
- Two sides of the law
- Legal terms
- Topic sources and additional reading
Deciphering Documents
- How to decipher handwriting in old documents
- Hints for deciphering records
- Topic sources and additional reading
Graveyards
- Finding the cemetery
- Interpreting the cemetery
- Pinpointing grave sites
- Grave markers
- Ways to find unmarked graves
- Epitaphs
- Terms of death
- Topic sources and additional reading
Measurements
- A quick history of measurement
- Measurement prefixes
- Measurement terms found in old records
- Foreign measurements found in America land records
- Spanish measurements used in North America
- French measurements used in North America
- Russian measurements used in North America
- Metric
- U.S. system of measurements
- Conversion
- To meters
- From meters
- Topic sources and additional reading
Time
- Christian time
- Calendars
- Types of calendars
- When was he born?
- A couple of things to remember when reading dates
- Approximating a date
- Topic sources and additional reading
Money
- Time line for money as it relates to the United States
- Consumer price index conversion factors
- Value of the British Pound Sterling
- In years prior to settlement in the New World
- Number of dollars equaling one pound 1800–1996
- Value of a British Pound Sterling c. 1775
- Value of one Spanish Dollar
- Value of Halifax Currency in 1780
- Money glossary
- Topic sources and additional reading
Museums
- Where to look in the museum
- What to look for in a museum
- Topic sources and additional reading
Occupations
- America’s earliest professionals
- Less obvious occupations of old
- Topic sources and additional reading
Groups
- Early immigration groups
- Native Americans
- American Indians
- Seven most populous Indian tribes in the United States
- Alaskan natives
- Of unknown or mixed ethnicity
- Signals that a family has hidden their racial or ethnic origin
- Groups of mixed race
- Topic sources and additional reading
Time After Time
- Transportation time lines
- Air
- Sea
- Rail
- Road
- Order in which states were admitted to the Union
- United States history time line
- Topic sources and additional reading
Archives
- Definition
- State archives
- National archives and records administration
- Black studies
- Census
- Information given in census years
- Using the census to get the most out of it
- Problems with using the census
- Soundex
- Civilians in war
- Diplomatic records
- District of Columbia
- Federal court records
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Federal land records
- Immigrant Affairs
- Military records
- A listing of categories
- Civil War
- World War I draft cards
- Military burials
- Military pension applications
- Native American Affairs
- Pardon applications
- Passenger lists
- Passport applications
- Territorial records
- Topic sources and additional reading
Research in Washington, D.C.
- The basics of getting around
- Before going to Washington, D.C.
- Once you get there
- Genealogical sources in Washington, D.C.
- Genealogical sources near Washington, D.C. and their locations
- Topic sources and additional reading
Researching Genealogy on the Internet
- Internet address ingredients
- Internet sources
- Types of sites
- Search engines
- gateways to genealogy
- Genealogical publications on the Internet
- Genealogical societies
- Genealogical supplies
- Miscellaneous genealogical sites
- Collections or encyclopedic-type sources
- Translations sites
- Dictionaries
- General information sites
- All about the Internet
- Topic sources and additional reading
Miscellaneous Sources and Additional Reading
Index
Make this book a part of your active genealogy library, order a copy from Family Roots Publishing; Item #: CF9411.
Do you really mean that it compliments other handbooks, or does it complement them?
Good catch, George. I read right over it… I’ve got to tell Andy that he need not be so chummy with the books. 🙂