Ohio in The American Genealogist

For my money, the most important census not yet digitized is the 1855 New York state census, which contains a wealth of information not matched in federal censuses until at least 1880. The January 2011 issue of The American Genealogist (published November 2011) bolsters that opinion. Todd Farmerie uses that census and some careful elimination to identify the parentage and immigrant ancestor of William A. Haswell, who died in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, in 1836, leaving a widow and two sons.

Methodology Monday with Nancy (Donnally) Bane

On her web site, Sharon DeBartolo Carmack posts some past articles, including an interesting and easy-to-follow account of her research into a mentally ill woman in the 1880 census: "Mania -- and Nancy Bane: Identifying the Family of Nancy (Donnally) Bane, Inmate at the Central Ohio Lunatic Asylum and the Athens Insane Asylum," The American Genealogist 79 (Jan.-April 2004):121-34.

There's no particularly intricate logic or much indirect evidence here, just persistent and knowledgeable digging, and careful elimination of near-matches. It's a good research model and a good read (be prepared to learn a few unpalatable things about late-19th-century "treatments" for mental illness), and a reminder that TAG, one of the top-notch magazines in the field, is open to more than just articles about the English origins of New England colonists!