In taking records from parish registers one should keep in mind that it was common in the age of Elizabeth to give the same Christian name to two children successively; and that every unmarried lady was called Mistress till the time of George I. From these standard books the student will turn to family histories, magazines, departments in papers, in short, to every available source of information open to his search. American Books. Let us turn now to the Standard American books. In beginning a search for an American family, one should first consult "Munsell's Index," also "Munsell's American Families." The list of books referred to in “Munsell's Index" includes such standard books as "Savage's New England Dictionary;" "American Ancestry;" publications of the various genealogical societies; state, county and town histories; and family genealogies. The surnames are arranged alphabetically, and the references are to books having pedigrees or connected information and not to scattered names, (published 1900.) "Munsell's American Genealogist" is a catalog of all American family histories published between 1771-1900, and gives the title page, number of pages, and other valuable information concerning these genealogies. It is also arranged alphabetically, and where more than one book on a family is published, they are arranged chronologically. Savage's "New England Dictionary," published in the year 1860, consisting of four volumes, gives the genealogy and valuable clues of the emigrants who came to New England prior to 1692. The surnames and Christian names are alphabetically arranged, but families are not compiled in generations. The leading genealogical societies that publish books and periodicals on genealogical subjects are: The New England Historic, Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass.; New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, New York City; the New Hampshire Genealogical Society, Dover, N. H.; the "Old Northwest" Genealogical Society, Columbus, O.; Massachusetts Society of Mayflower Descendants, Boston, Mass.; the Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va.; the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa. The New England Historic, Genealogical Register is now in its seventy-eighth volume and year. Each volume has a complete name index, and in Vol. 50 there is an index of the family histories given in volumes 1 to 50. The New York Genealogical and Biological Record is in its fifty-fifth year. Both of these magazines are mines of valuable information concerning American family history and genealogy. Among the books not referred to in "Munsell's Guide" are the "Vital Records”—consisting of births, marriages and deaths of New England towns, many of which are already published, the states in some instances having appropriated the money for this purpose. These books are of great value to those whose ancestors may be traced to that part of our country. The student who will carefully follow the instructions given in these lessons pertaining to the recording of genealogy from the English and American records, will find very little trouble in using the American books. The same is true of Scandinavian, German and Swiss research in published books, both as regards name books, indexes and gentry pedigreed books. Old and New Time A few words in regard to the old and new time is important here. The quotation given is from Sir Harris Nicolas' Chronology: "In England, in the seventh, and so late as the thirteenth century, the year was reckoned from Christmas Day; but in the twelfth century, the Anglican Church began the year on the 25th of March; which practice was also adopted by civilians in the fourteenth century. This style continued until the reformation of the Calendar by stat. 24 George II, c. 23, by which the legal year was ordered to commence on the 1st of January, in 1753. It appears, therefore, that two calculations have generally existed in England for the commencement of the year, viz.: "1. The Historical year, which has for a very long period, begun on the 1st of January. "2. The Civil, Ecclesiastical, and Legal year, which was used by the church and in all public instruments, until the end of the thirteenth century, began at Christmas. In and after the fourteenth century, it commenced on the 25th of March, and so continued until the first of January, 1753. "The confusion which arose from there being two modes of computing dates in one kingdom must be sufficiently apparent; for the legislature, the church, the civilians referred every event which happened between the 1st of January and the 25th of March to a different year from historians. "To avoid as far as possible the mistakes which this custom produced, it was usual to add the date of the Historical to that of the Legal year, when speaking of any day between the 1st of January and the 25th of March, thus8 i. e. the Civil and Legal year 19 i. e. the Historical year January 30, 164 or thus January 30, 1648-9 "This practice, common as it has long been, is nevertheless, frequently misunderstood; and even learned and intelligent persons are sometimes perplexed by dates being so written. The explanation is, however, perfectly simple for the lower or last figure always indicates the year according to our present computation. "In Scotland the year was ordered to commence on January 1st instead of March 25, 1600, by a proclamation dated the •17th of December, 1599; but the old style continued to be used until altered in 1752; pursuant to the Stat. 24 George II." CHAPTER 7 DIAGRAMED PEDIGREES REDUCED TO To the person who is acquainted with modern methods of tabulating and diagraming subjects and various forms of information and study, the diagraming of pedigrees is a very easy matter. Indeed, the trained mind quickly assimilates any form of tabulated information, the trifling differences of method in arranging being seen at a glance; but those who are not acquainted with this kind of work need a careful unfolding of the subject. The purpose of this chapter is to aid even the least trained to understand diagrams used by others and to prepare them for their own use when necessary and desirable. The Diagram. To diagram a subject or a pedigree is to separate it into sections, subdividing its parts in such a way as will clarify all essential information, names, relationships, or other facts. If it is a subject which you wish to diagram, you make an outline of its various parts. In genealogy, you divide and subdivide the family, putting your first forefather at the top of the diagram. His children are then arranged under the line drawn under his name, and their children in turn are placed under lines in a similar manner. There are two forms of making this genealogical diagram. One is made with perpendicular lines, and the other with horizontal lines. There is no essential dfference between these methods, so we shall use for illustration the form used in English books. The American form is similar, used in perpendicular instead of horizontal lines. Let us begin at the very beginning of this diagraming of pedigrees by using a simple illustration. We will suppose that the first ancestor we know of (the first generation) was named Stephen, and his wife was Judith. We shall use the English sign for married, and arrange them thus: Stephen Judith We will suppose they had two children, Richard and Joseph. We would draw a short vertical line leading from the married sign down to a horizontal line under which the names of the children with their wives would be placed, and another short vertical line leading down to the name of each child, thus: Stephen Judith Richard Frances Joseph Helen Here we have the first and second generations represented. The third generation would consist of the children of Richard and Joseph. We will suppose that each of these had two children. The diagram would then stand as follows: Stephen Judith Richard Frances Joseph Helen Henry Mercy Alfred Mary Sarah James Robert Lucy If we wish to continue this on to the fourth generation, supposing that Henry had three children, Alfred two, Sarah one, and Robert none, the diagram would look like this: Stephen Judith |