Here we are at the long Independence Day weekend and it’s about 110 degrees outside here in Tucson, so it’s great to see a fun INDOOR (I got really hot just walking out to the mailbox!) Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver on Genea-Musings.
1) What are the Top 10 genealogy related books that helped you the most?
This challenge is very straight forward and, since my reference library is right behind my desk, it’s fairly easy.
I’m listing my books sort of in order of the year I might have first used each.
1. Passamaquoddy, Martha Ford Barto, Lingley Printing Company Ltd., Saint John, Canada, 1975 [Family histories of early settlers in the West Isles, which included my mom’s Adams kin on Deer Island and the Parker family on Campobello Island.]
2. The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, Val D. Greenwood [This book is now in its 4th edition, but I first read it as the first edition back in the late 1970s.]
3. Over the Portage: Early History of the Upper Miramichi, William R. MacKinnson, Jr. , 1984.
4. Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses 1790-1920, Thorndale & Dollarhide, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, Maryland, 1987.
5. Vital Records from the Eastport Sentinel of Eastport, Maine 1818-1900, Kenneth L. Willey, Picton Press, Camden, Maine, 1996.
6. The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, Loretto Dennis Szucs, Ancestry, 1997.
7. Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case, Christine Rose [Now in the 4th edition, I first read it perhaps with the 2005 edition.]
8. More Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929, Edward Zapletal, Moorshead Magazines, Ltd, Toronto, Canada, 2011.
9. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, Elizabeth Shown Mills, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, Maryland [Now in the 3rd Edition Revised, I think I first read the 2nd Edition, Revised 2012.]
10. Tie for #10 – Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist’s Guide, Diana Elder & Nicole Dyer and Research Like a Pro with DNA, Diana Elder, Nicole Dyer & Robin Worthlin, Family Locket Genealogists, 2018 and 2021.
That’s my list. Thank you, Randy, for a fun, interesting challenge this week.
Sorry it’s so hot in Arizona. It’s warm here in California, too, but much cooler. Your list includes some good locality books. I could have included the book about doing Texas research. I didn’t like Greenwood’s book as well as The Source, so didn’t include it. Research Like a Pro is a great choice and likely would have been in my next 5 list.