Leaf Through These Historical Books

Here are some recently published genealogical books you may want for your personal library:

--”Pioneer Ohio Newspapers, 1793-1810 (Volume 1); 1802-1818 (Volume 2),” compiled by Karen Mauer Green. (Frontier Press, 15 Quintana Drive, Galveston, Tex. 77554; $48.50 ppd. or by separate volumes, each $27.75 ppd.)

These volumes are abstracts of some of the earliest newspapers in Ohio, with 85,000 references to early settlers.

The compiler has done an outstanding job of abstracting bits and pieces of genealogical data to enhance your family history. You may learn, as I did, that an ancestor in 1813 “just commenced the baking business, next door to Elmore Williams’ tavern in Cincinnati.”

--”Boston Taxpayers in 1821,” edited by Lewis Bunker Rohrback, C.G. (Picton Press, Box 1111, Camden, Me. 04843; $37 ppd.)

This is the official 1821 tax list for Boston and South Boston with an every-name index. It has a wealth of details on every family in town as well as partnerships, corporations, heirs and estates. Even if your family owned no property, you may find them as several thousand tenants’ names are given.

--”Cherokee by Blood: Records of Eastern Cherokee Ancestry in the U.S. Court of Claims, 1906-1910. Volume 1 (Applications 1 to 1550); Volume 2 (Applications 1551 to 4200),” compiled by Jerry Wright Jordan. (Heritage Books, 1540E Pointer Ridge Place, Suite 300, Bowie, Md. 20716; $27.50 ppd. per volume.)

In 1904 the Eastern Cherokees won cash settlements from the United States because of violations of the treaties of 1835-36 and 1845. More than $1 million was involved, and payments went to all living persons who were members of the Eastern Cherokee tribe at the time of the treaties or to their descendants. More than 46,000 people filed claims, with nine-tenths of them living west of the Mississippi River in the 1900s.

--”Virginia’s Colonial Soldiers,” by Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck. (Genealogical Publishing Co., 1001 N. Calvert, Baltimore, Md. 21202; $30.50 ppd.)

This notable book is an authoritative register, but also includes engaging tidbits recorded about the soldiers by the enlisting officer, such as “John Atwood being thin-nosed, pock-pitted, and in-toed.” If you have Colonial Virginia ancestry, you will want to check this impressive new source.

--”The People of Wilson County, Tennessee, 1800-1899,” by Thomas E. Partlow. (Southern Historical Press, Box 738, Easley, S.C. 29641-0738; $23.75 ppd.)

Wilson County was one of the first 18 counties of Tennessee, and this book provides a glimpse into the lives of its people residing there in the 1800s. Information was gleaned from court minutes, wills and inventories, church records, obituaries and newspaper articles. Especially valuable are the Quarterly Court Minutes wherein you might find black-sheep ancestors who were hauled into court for support of bastards, assault or tippling.