Building Your Genealogy Library

In order to be a successful researcher of your family tree, you need several basic books. Since most genealogical-related books are either in the reference or genealogy sections of public libraries and are not available for checking out, the only way to effectively coordinate your research trips to various repositories is by having certain books at your fingertips.

Before attempting to compile your genealogy, you should read one of the excellent guidebooks to genealogical research. In this category are: “The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy,” by Val Greenwood. This book also includes a chapter on Canadian research. It is available for $17.50 from Genealogical Publishing Co., 1001 N. Calvert, Baltimore, Md. 21202.

Another excellent basic guide is “Shaking Your Family Tree,” by Dr. Ralph Crandall, available from Yankee Books, Depot Square, Peterborough, N.H. 03458 for $16.95.

Every genealogist should have a copy of “The Handy Book for Genealogists,” published by Everton Publishers, P.O. Box 368, Logan, Utah 84321 for $19.95 hard-bound. The Handy Book provides you with information on records available in each state and many foreign countries. Each state is then broken down by county with accompanying maps showing county boundaries.

“The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy,” by Arlene Eakle and Johni Cerny, is called the “best reference book” by the American Library Assn.--and rightfully so. Its 786 pages are filled with references pertaining to all types of research problems and it tells you how to find sources. It is published by Ancestry Inc., Box 476, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110 ($43.95).

Two other excellent books have been published by Ancestry Inc. recently. One is “The Library: A Guide to the LDS Family History Library,” edited by Johni Cerny and Wendy Elliott. If you use the LDS (Mormon Church) Family History Libraries (and if you don’t, you are doing your genealogy the hard way), you will want a copy of this outstanding reference. It is available for $43.95. The other Ancestry book is “The Archives: A Guide to the National Archives Field Branches,” by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking ($39.95). There are more records available at the National Archives branches than census records, and this reference will tell you about them and which branch has what records.

Once you have determined the localities where your ancestors lived, you will want to purchase some county histories or compiled records pertaining to a particular area. By requesting catalogues from publishers, you will discover the multitude of books available. Southern Historical Press, Box 738, Easley, S.C. 29641-0738 publishes books pertaining to Southern states, while Goodspeed’s Book Shop, 7 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. 02108, and Higginson Genealogical Books, 14 Derby Square, Salem, Mass. 01970, specialize in New England genealogy and local histories. Heritage Books, 1540E Pointer Ridge Place Bowie, Md. 20716-1859 carries many books pertaining to Mid-Atlantic states and other areas.

Summit Publishers, Box 222, Munroe Falls, Ohio 44262 publishes small, inexpensive beginner guidebooks aimed at specific ethnic research. Other publishers of Southern-related genealogical books are: Banner Press, Box 20180, Birmingham, Ala. 35216 and Reprint Co. Publishers, Box 5401, Spartanburg, S.C. 29304. Genealogy Unlimited, 789 S. Buffalo Grove Road, Buffalo Grove, Ill. 60089 offers many U.S. and Canadian books, plus carries outstanding references for foreign research and maps. Picton Press, Box 1111, Camden, Maine 04843 offers a variety of genealogical and historical books, primarily New England ones.

Some publishers charge a nominal fee for their catalogues, but they are worth obtaining for they will reveal the wealth of material available. However, before you wreck the family budget, go to your local library and see what it has in its genealogy collection. Then compile your “wish list” and gradually build your personal reference library.

Question: My great-grandmother supposedly was a full-blooded Choctaw who grew up on a reservation. I have written to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and they claim that there are no Choctaws living in Louisiana and there are no reservations there. Her maiden name was Clara Touroad. How can I find out if she is of Indian heritage and if so, what kind?

Answer: Before the enactment by Congress in 1830 of the measure known as the Indian Removal Bill, there were about 2,000 Choctaws scattered through Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas Territory. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek in 1830 provided the means for effecting the removal of the tribe from the East, and by 1833 the majority of the tribe had reached their new home in the West (what is now southeastern Oklahoma). However, some Choctaws refused to leave and escaped into the backwoods of Mississippi and Louisiana.

If your ancestor ever lived on a reservation, then she probably will be found in the federal records dealing with the Choctaw Tribe. From your letter I am assuming your great-grandmother was born about 1900. You should locate her and her parents in the 1900 census to determine if they were enumerated as Indian and the state in which they resided at that time.

Before undertaking Native American genealogical research, familiarize yourself with the type of records available pertaining to the Choctaw tribe by consulting the two-volume “Our Native Americans and Their Records of Genealogical Value” by E. Kay Kirkham (published by Everton Publishers, P.O. Box 368, Logan, Utah 84321).

There also are multitudinous records pertaining to Native Americans available at the National Archives in Ft. Worth, Tex., and at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Q: Has anything been published listing British soldiers who deserted or changed sides in the American Revolution?

A: There was an article in the November, 1975, issue of the Genealogical Helper magazine entitled “British Regiments in the American Revolution,” and in National Genealogical Society quarterly, v. 69:2 (June 1981) there was a list of deserters, dischargees and prisoners of war from the British Fifth Regiment of Foot (Northumberland Fusiliers) during the American Revolution, by Clifford N. Smith.

Check also all the Genealogical Periodical Annual Index volumes under “Revolutionary War” for articles published in genealogical periodicals on this subject.