Ancestry Magazine

Caring for Your Family Treasures
By Richard W. Long, et al. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 2000. 164 pages. $24.95 plus s/h. To order, use any online provider.

Who doesn’t have family treasures–if not from the distant past, perhaps from the recent past? We all have artifacts that, if properly preserved, will bring as much pleasure to future generations as they do to the present. Caring for Your Family Treasures deals with objects from the present and the past. Tips for caring for your pres ent treasures include making scrapbooks and photo albums, and caring for photographic prints, home movies (film and videotape), and other digital information. For tips on caring for your heirlooms, you’ll find sections about paintings, fabrics, furniture, clocks and watches, ceramics and glass, silver, and other decorative metals and jewelry.

Several pages address special collections such as musical instruments and military mementos. A personal favorite from the contents list is: “Little friends: dolls, teddy bears, toy soldiers, and games.” Just about everything necessary to help you retain a valuable possession can be found in these pages, and for each category, you’ll find a checklist that summarizes important concepts.

Tracing Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes: Southeastern Indians Prior to Removal
By Rachal Mills Lennon. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002. 156 pages. $24.95 plus s/h. To order, call (800) 296—6687.

This practical guide, Tracing Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes, addresses the two roadblocks of Native American research: 1) the premise that the Indian connection was relatively recent, and 2) the assumption that ancestral answers lie in that vast body of federally created “Indian records.” These two roadblocks can be circumvented by applying the same sound research methods required of genealogical research, in any area of specialty.

It is the general research sources that will identify Native American ancestry and empower the undertaking of Indian research. Once a link is established, consider the social and political realities–that are carefully explained in this book–of the Southeastern Indian. Then, move to the records and research strategies, divided here into the Colonial and the federal periods. Read the nearly one hundred reference notes for additional tips, then carefully study the selective bibliography that rounds out the text in this work . If you seek a pre-removal Southeastern Indian ancestor, this is your best research road map.

Ships from Scotland to America 1628—1828, Volume II
By David Dobson. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002. 173 pages. Hardcover, 6 x 8. $22.50 plus s/h. To order, call (800) 296—6687.

The Exchequer records in the National Archives of Scotland identify vessels, skippers, and cargoes on which duties or bounties were charged or given. These ships carried a variety of manufactured goods, such as woollens, clothing, tools, and food and drink. When space permitted, the vessels also transported passengers, including groups of emigrants from islands off the Scottish coast or Ireland.

The names of the ships listed in Exchequer records and/or newspapers appear in Dobson’s latest title, Ships from Scotland to America 1628—1828, along with the master’s name and the dates and ports of departure and arrival. When evidence suggests that a particular ship held passengers, a statement is added such as, “with passengers,” or “with women servants.” While it is not possible to identify individual passengers, the detail given for the ship could help lead to additional research. At the least, it helps to round out the family history with details like: “General Wolfe, J. MacLean… with 60 Highlanders from Jura, Argyll” (page 63).

Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina From the Colonial Period to About 1820; Two volumes, 4th edition
By Paul Heinegg. Clearfield Press, 2001. 504 pages and 538 pages. $75 plus $4.75 s/h. To order, call (800) 296—6687.

The 350 families whose detailed genealogies appear in Free African Americans originated in Virginia and migrated to North Carolina and/or South Carolina prior to 1820. While some of these families were traced in previous editions, Mr. Heinegg’s research in this text sends their lines even farth er back.

Much more than names and dates can be drawn from Heinegg’s work. For one example, his findings show that most of the families descended not from slave owners but from white servant women who had children by slaves or free African Americans. The book discusses the Lumbees, Melungeons, and other “mysterious” groups, and presents evidence to show that many free African American families in colonial North Carolina and Virginia were landowners. The author provides a wealth of documentation, and readers will benefit from his extensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources. More than 10,000 African Americans are identified in the full-name index in Volume II.

Military Pension Laws 1776-1858 from the Journals of the Continental Congress and the United States Statutes-at-Large
Compiled by Christine Rose. Rose Family Association, 2001. 32 pages. $9.75 plus s/h. Order from publisher, 1474 Montelegre Drive, San Jose, California 95120-4831.

The laws that govern the granting of pensions underwent much revision before 1858. The National Pension Act of 1776 covered those who were wounded or disabled during the Revolutionary War. The series of Acts that followed extended benefits to men who served in the regular army, navy, militia, later wars, and eventually grew to encompass non-military personnel. Questions that can be answered by knowledge of the wording and intent of these Acts include: When did orphans and widows become eligible for pension? What were the criteria for being awarded land for military service? What were the Bounty Land Acts and how many were created?

The eighty-six years of pension-affecting laws, brought together in this slim booklet will help tie up many of the loose ends in your colonial and post-colonial research. Subtitles in the margin help make finding the Acts easy.

Sandra H. Luebking, FUGA, a genealogical and historical lecturer and researcher, is the editor of the FORUM Magazin e and co-editor of The Archives and the revised edition of the The Source.