Grand slam genealogy blogging

James Tanner hits the ball out of the park with his blog post on how commercial enterprises sanitize genealogy for mass consumption. ("In a society that values wealth and beauty above any other values, genealogists are definitely counter-cultural.") In fairness I would have to add that large noncommercial genealogy enterprises have been known to do the same thing.

Diane Boumenot does the same thing in a different way. She took her home-state genealogy quarterly on the airplane, read it more thoroughly than ever, and found plenty of reasons to keep doing so.We can all do this even though few of us have a state publication the equal of Rhode Island Roots.

Apropos of nothing, this 1936 model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex -- courtesy of the American Historical Association -- strikes me as scarier than more detailed reproductions. [22 August: This link should now work properly.]



Harold Henderson, "Grand slam genealogy blogging," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 21 August 2014 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : viewed [date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

The Kind of Blog Every County Needs

Sonja Hunter at Bushwhacking Genealogy digs into the details of researching in Kalamazoo County, Michigan.




Harold Henderson, "The Kind of Blog Every County Needs," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 30 October 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

Are We Reading Too Fast? And a Chicago Antidote

University of Wisconsin historian William Cronon worries about some aspects of today:

I embrace and celebrate the digital age. I believe historians should use blogs and tweets, Wikipedia entries and YouTube videos, web pages and Facebook postings, and any number of other new media tools to share our knowledge with the wider world. But I also celebrate complicated arguments that need space to develop and patience to understand. And I love long stories that can only unfold across hundreds of pages or screens. What I most fear about this new age is its impatience and its distractedness. If history as we know it is to survive, it is these we most need to resist as we practice and defend long, slow, thoughtful reading.

Perhaps there will be room to maneuver a bit even within those confines. Cronon asserts that "the most effective blogs are typically one to three paragraphs in length," but the most popular post by far in the last month on this blog was a full six paragraphs long.

Meanwhile, anyone with the slightest interest in Chicago or Midwestern history can dig into Cronon's masterpiece, Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. In another life, I had the privilege of reviewing it: "Cronon's research is so thorough, his explanations so deep, his sprinkling of evocative details so apt that the reader sees the 'obvious' with new eyes." Cronon's colleague Kenneth Jackson put it more straightforwardly: "No one has ever written a better book about a city."



William Cronon, "How Long Will People Read History Books?," Perspectives on History, vol. 50, no. 7 (October 2012), http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2012/1210/index.cfm : accessed 5 October 2012.

William Cronon, Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West (New York: W. W. Norton, 1991).


Harold Henderson, "Past Prophecies," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 6 October 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

Words from Ohio -- Fall OGN

I learned several things from the Fall 2012 Ohio Genealogy News:

* The Ohio Genealogical Society writing contest will be open during January and February 2013, up to four entries per person. Winners will be published in either OGN or the flagship Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly, so pay attention to the rules, which reflect their length and formatting requirements. Writers whose  potential subjects evaded Ohio (not an easy thing to do!) should consult Kimberly Powell's listing of writing contests at About.com.

* Aubrey Brown chased a series of scattered records to learn more about the forgotten residents of the Knox County Infirmary, AKA Knox County Poorhouse, AKA Mount Vernon Bible College: two ledgers of monthly expenditures preserved in the county archives; microfilmed newspapers with occasional notes mentioning the place; County Commissioners' Journals; and the US Census. The changeability of the name, the scarcity and dispersion of records, and the value of county commissioners' records are all themes that extend beyond Ohio.

* Shelley Bishop's article on finding, reading, and researching with blogs includes a list of "20 Great Ohio Genealogy Blogs." Chances are you'll find some you didn't know about -- I did.

* Like laws, library acquisition notes are a nifty "secret entrance" to genealogy. Thomas Stephen Neel, who directs the OGS Library, reports that the library has acquired Kenneth Weant's ten volumes of newspaper abstracts covering '49ers who passed through Missouri during the Gold Rush (1849-1853), including of course many Ohioans and other Midwesterners. Researching these folks has much in common with researching infirmary residents, so all help is welcome. The library is also aware that the 20th century is now history, having purchase digitized records of Warren County, Ohio, marriages 1963-1979. As Neel writes, "The time period is after LDS stopped filming and these folks already have grandchildren."

Don't confuse me with the facts!

Writing over at the American Historical Association's blog AHA Today, Allen Mikaelian considers the implications of Jonathan Gottschall's book The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human for historians (including, IMO, genealogists):

Facts have little to do with being human, when compared to all that story has accomplished. The public’s inclination toward an engaging story over and above things that historians value, like contingency and complexity [not to mention evidence -- HH], isn’t just a matter of personal choice or intellectual laziness—it’s a successful, hard-wired evolutionary adaptation that allowed societies to be built and genes to be passed on.

That gulf separating the careful historian from a general reading public has deep and functional roots. Historical thinking, if Gottschall is right, is not just an “unnatural act,” it’s the kind of thinking that would have, in the wilds from which we emerged, gotten us killed (or at least kicked out of the gene pool).

By all means read the whole thing. Mikaelian goes on to discuss some new attempts in history teaching to get students acclimated to other important aspects of historical thinking in addition to good storytelling.

I'm perfectly happy to commit the unnatural act of trying to think about evidence as well as story. But as genealogists -- who in this context are also public-oriented historians -- we need to be sure we don't lose sight of the stories, and our audience.



Allen Mikaelian, "Historians vs. Evolution: New Book Explains Why Historians Might Have a Hard Time Reaching Wide Audiences, Getting a Date," AHA Today, posted 9 May 2012 (http://blog.historians.org/articles/1650/historians-vs-evolution-new-book-explains-why-historians-might-have-a-hard-time-reaching-wide-audiences-getting-a-date : accessed 16 May 2012).

Jonathan Gotschall, The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012).

Harold Henderson, "Don't confuse me with the facts!" Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 18 May 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

Moderately Recent Blog Posts That I Have Enjoyed

I don't pretend to cover the profusion of genealogy blogs, nor to produce a legitimate "best of" list, hence the title. But I did enjoy these in their different ways.

Debbie Parker Wayne ("Deb's Delvings in Genealogy") did something I almost never do -- commented on a newsworthy development in genealogy -- and in her soft-spoken way cut right to the bone.

Joy Neighbors ("A Grave Interest") gave a nicely illustrated appreciation of Oak Hill Cemetery in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana.

Chris Staats ("Staats Place") inquired about the various pronunciations of his surname. I'm thinking there may be ways to research this if you can find the right records. (If only some of his male-line forebears had written rhyming doggerel about themselves!)

Judy G. Russell ("The Legal Genealogist") offered a touching remembrance of the least-known member of her family who shared a May 5th birthday. This post is also a model for those bloggers who want to combine personal reminiscences with good source-citation practices. May their tribe increase!


Harold Henderson, "Moderately Recent Blog Posts That I Have Enjoyed," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 8 May 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

Connecting Print and Virtual Worlds

Blogs, as the original name ("weblog") suggests, primarily discuss other blogs, web sites, and social media. Few genealogy blogs focus on the many ongoing print publications relevant to our field.

Since I spent most of my life in the 20th century, I am either confused or ambidextrous, as I partake of both. So does this blog. One of my goals here is to mention the best of print and hopefully get it into on-line circulation.

Your suggestions or pointers as to juicy tidbits I may have missed are welcome. This includes mentions of your own local, regional, or state publications (most of which I do not see regularly), as well as blog or Facebook or forum posts that I overlook; I will happily give credit if I mention them. Thanks!


Harold Henderson, “Connecting Print and Virtual Worlds,” Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 26 April 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

More CG blogging

Cathi Desmarais, CG (SM) of northern Vermont, principal at Stone House Research, has picked an apt name for her new blog: No Stone Unturned, Adventures of a Board-Certified Genealogist in Vermont. As the descendant of at least two early Vermont families, I look forward to learning more about a place that I've only researched, um, amateurishly.

And speaking of up-north genealogy, blogger Paula Stuart Warren, CG (SM) will be doing a "crash course" for newcomers to Minnesota genealogy on Family Tree University Wednesday.

Good news for Indiana genealogists

If you've hung around Indiana genealogy much at all, you've probably seen, met, and heard Ron Darrah. Now you can keep up even from a distance, with his new blog IndyGenealogy.

In my experience the genealogy world is somewhat short of folks like Ron who will speak their minds and let the chips fall where they may. In one recent post he notes that the Indiana State Library appears to be suffering from underfunding as to printers and microfilm readers, and doesn't seem to have a plan for digitizing its marvelous but obsolescent newspaper microfilm collection. In another he introduces us to a lesser-known Indianapolis facility, the American Legion library. And more recently, check out his restrained but devastating analysis of the much-hyped Indiana Digital Archives.

Read "The Legal Genealogist" -- It's The Law

You may well have met newly minted blogger J. G. Russell already, whether in a class or on a genealogy discussion list. She's the one who doesn't have to say, "I'm not a lawyer, but . . ." when answering a question about dower or copyright.

An astute attorney and genealogist, now she's blogging at The Legal Genealogist, and it's the place to be for those of us who have recognized (with varying degrees of reluctance) that you cannot do top-notch genealogy without knowing (1) what the law was at a given place and time, (2) what people thought the law was at a given place and time, and (3) how often they obeyed either one.

Recent posts include a reminder of IGHR registration at Samford, Martin Luther King Jr.'s family tree, and a series of posts on how old you had to be to do various things in various times and places. Wow -- that alone is worth the price of admission.

Two of the Best Genealogy Blogs Going

The Demanding Genealogist by Barbara J. Mathews of Connecticut (methodology) -- for instance, "Playing Dominos: The Illumination of the Non-Authoritative."

Deb's Delvings by Debbie Parker Wayne of Texas (specializing in law and genetics) -- for instance, "Research, Proof Standards, and DNA Testing" -- also her posts on these topics on the Transitional Genealogists Forum.

Both blogs are by Certified Genealogists, but the reason they're both high up on my home page is that I never read them without learning something.

If you've been on the fence . . .

This might be a good time to jump-start your genealogy education in Salt Lake City and start blogging as well! The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy is having a blogging contest -- say why you want to attend in January of 2012 and get a chance to win tuition!

Noir in Lawrence County Pennsylvania

Thanks to Kerry Scott for mentioning Diarmid Mogg's Small Town Noir blog on Facebook for us slowpokes to notice. It focuses on small-time criminals, complete with mug shots, from the small Rust Belt city of New Castle, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania -- northwest of Pittsburgh and right next to Ohio, so I hereby nominate it as an honorary portion of the Midwest. But it goes beyond the rap sheet to chronicle what he finds about "the rest of the story."

Needless to say, this is not your grandmother's genealogy (unless she was picked up for forging checks). But it's a real and little-noticed part of history. I'm not aware of comparable blogs from other places, although the Chicago Homicide database (blogged here in 2009) has some similar qualities.

Michael Hait's new blog

Michael Hait's home base is Delaware and Maryland, so our actual research paths don't cross too often. His new blog, "Planting the Seeds," focuses on professional genealogy -- meaning that it has solid information for anyone who takes their genealogy seriously, even if they never do it for money and never attend an institute or a state or national conference. His posts are longer and more substantive than most genealogy blogs, including this one. My recent favorites include a careful dissection of FamilySearch's inadequate citation practices for their many new on-line offerings, and "Do You Have a Genealogical Project?":

By fully exploring the family and other relationships within a single community, we are able to gain insight into that community, and our ancestor’s relative place within it. But more importantly, it is through broad community projects of this nature that we are able to break down even the toughest brick walls.

Check it out.

Yeah, the marriage license is on line. What about the other stuff?

Kim's post on courthouse research at her blog "Ancestors of mine from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Beyond" has many useful tips. This one struck me because it's an interesting kind of error we're all prone to:

Despite the growing amount of materials appearing on the internet, some records (or at least the complete file of those records) can only be accessed at the courthouse of origination. I have learned over time that I may find a copy of the "original record" online only to learn later that there are 4 or 5 other papers that go with that marriage record that had I not spent some time digging in the county I would never had known and would have missed some very important clues.

Read the whole thing.

Clue Wagon!

I don't think I've said enough about Milwaukee-based blogger Kerry Scott's "Clue Wagon." If I may paraphrase my mom on a different subject, Scott is old enough to know what needs to be said, and young enough to go ahead and say it. Unlike me, she doesn't cheap out with a quick reference to some other good site. You get a good read, good advice, an occasional ancestor profile, and a full dose of attitude. If you haven't read this recent selection of my favorites, you should:

"Why It Doesn't Matter Which Genealogy Software You Use" (7 February)

"Why The Facebook Cartoon Pictures Make Me Want To Poke My Eye Out with a Fork" (10 December)

"In Which I Pretty Much Piss Off the Entire Genealogy Establishment" (20 October)

"5 Reasons I Wish I Could Travel Back in Time and Smack My 1995-Self" (28 September)

I don't read anybody's blog faithfully any more, so I've probably missed some good ones. I will betray my age if I say that Scott has a bright future in print venues as well, but I certainly hope she does. If she doesn't, the days of print are numbered.

"Primary Sources"

If you haven't already, check out Dan Alosso's "Reading Primary Sources" posts at The Historical Society -- one on estate inventories, the other on bank notes. If you can get beyond the historian's entrenched and hopelessly imprecise terminology of "primary source," they're quite interesting, especially the one on bank notes. Inventories have tended to fall between the chairs of history and genealogy (some published will compilations purposely omitted them).

More great history books

Heather Cox Richardson has a wonderful post on The Historical Society's blog, in which she imagines an American history course built around four old classics and four new ones. Of course it warms my heart to hear more about fine books like Edmund Morgan's American Slavery, American Freedom; Robert White's The Middle Ground; Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's A Midwife's Tale; and Robert Mazrim's The Sangamo Frontier: History and Archaeology in the Shadow of Lincoln.

What could be better than seeing old friends appreciated? Learning four more titles that I haven't yet read. I can hardly wait. Now I know where to spend my Christmas loot!

If I seem a little absent or distracted this week . . .

. . . it's because I accepted Christy Fillerup's invitation to guest-blog over at the Utah Genealogical Association site during the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy.

Twas the night before Christmas, and a potential hiatus was looming

Due to a variety of conflicting commitments (doesn't that sound like those old obituaries that say so-and-so died of "complications"?), posting here will be more intermittent than usual for the next month. Don't neglect to visit my blogging buddies! (See the names in the subject line for hints.) If you weren't counting, this is post #720.