Book Reviews

Book Reviews In Search of Your British & Irish Roots: A Complete Guide to Tracing Your English, Hreish, Scottish, & /Fish Ancestors by Angus Baxter. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202, 1985, 304 pp., paperback, $12.95, + $1.23 postage. When this book was published in hardcover in 1982, this reviewer found it the best, and most readable, of its genre. Mr. Baxter takes the reader by the hand, leading the way through the preparations for "the search". Following his good advice the searcher may avoid some of the pitfalls awaiting the ancestor-hunter in the British Isles. In his coverage of England and Wales, he reviews all the sources available, either by mail or by personal search. The county-by-county listings are of particular value since they include the boundary changes made in 1974. For each county he lists the Family History Society; County Record Office; Parish Registers; Nonconformist Registers; Bishop's Transcripts; Census Returns; Wills; Marriage Licences; Newspapers and Other Records. Again, with Scotland, he outlines the boundary changes of 1974. There is a general review of the available Scottish records. Ireland (Eire and Northern Ireland); The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, are treated in similar fashion. In addition to regional sources, he discusses the availability of adoption records; Army and Navy records; Jewish records and Mormon records. The book provides complete instructions and addresses for locating records in a most efficient manner. Helen Hutchison Woodroofe The Baldwins From l'irginia Westward, by Frank C. Baldwin. 848 Lake St., Oak Park, IL 60301. 1985, 141 pp. maps, index. The author, while researching his own Baldwin line for a period of over twenty years, accumulated a great deal of material on other Baldwin families in the northern Virginia area. Although these families were not related to his own, he decided to publish his findings. Most of the families researched arrived in the Philadelphia area in the late 17th or early 18th century, and then moved to the "northern neck" area or Virginia. From there they travelled north and west into western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri. One family moved to North Carolina before heading west. Each chapter, and there are seven, records the descendants of an early Baldwin settler of northern Virginia, 269 270 The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine When possible, the descendants are traced to the fifth generation, in male and female lines. Charts precede each chapter. Mr. Baldwin commenced his study with the work of Judge Charles Candee Baldwin, published in 1881. He studied all the correspondence of Judge Baldwin on this subject. Research done by other Baldwins: church records; census records; land records; tombstone inscriptions and some probate records are included. The book is indexed and gives a list of sources. Jane Adams Clark Genealogical Notebook of Flora Davis Maull, 1985. East Tennessee Historical Society, 500 W. Church Ave., Knoxville, TN 37902. 310 pp., with family name index, 53 pp. $25.00. This work traces the ancestry of the author back along approximately 40 lines to the first known American progenitor. More than 3500 persons are presented in a lively and intimate manner through personal recollections and descriptions of the more immediate members of the family. The book includes records based on letters, deeds, legal papers, account books, diaries, genealogies, military records and Bible records. While the family tree begins in East Tennessee and nearby states, the branches extend from Maine to Georgia. Those seeking missing relatives may find them here among the family lines of Bishop, Blackwell, Bouton, Buster, Butt, Chilton, Davis, Fain, Fay, Fletcher, Glenn, Goodyear, Green, Gregory, Hubbell, Johnston, Ledyard, Marks, Marvin, Massey, Meigs, Mitchell, Nichols, Pierson, Sandland, Sanford, Stemens, Thomas, Wakely, Wall, Ward, Whelpley, Wood and Woods. Each entry is thoroughly researched and documented, with an excellent index, as well as special lists showing Military Service, Public Offices, Ministers of the Gospel and English Places of Origin. Aubrey H. Baldwin Colonial Soldiers of the South, 1732-1774, by Murtie June Clark. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202, 1983. 1246 pp., index. $51.25. In colonial America, there was no centrally organized standing army. Each colony had its own militia system for defense, and each enacted its own laws regulating the militia. These laws usually required all free males who were physically fit and between the ages of 16 and 60, to serve in the militia. Those who did not wish to serve could hire a substitute, and there were exemptions for conscientious objectors and members of the government. The militia was used primarily for local defense, but could be sent outside the colony's boundaries should the need arise. Colonial militias were organized into districts under the authority of a goyernor-appointed military officer who had a staff to assist him in administration. Periodically, training or "muster days" were held on local grounds where the men were trained in military discipline and the use of weapons. Records Book Reviews 271 created included training reports, muster lists and pay rolls. It is these, and similar records, which form the "meat" of the book. 55,000 soldiers are identified by name, rank, date, militia company and district; as well as information as to age, height, country of birth, occupation, and place and date of enlistment. The colonies covered are Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The data is from records on file • in the archives of those states, as well as, The William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan; The Georgia Historical Society; University of Georgia Library; The Huntington Library of San Marino, California; The Library of Congress; The Maryland Historical Society and the Public Record Office, London, England. This book continues Ms. Clark's fine tradition of transcribing and compiling widely scattered military source material for the early South. Her previous publications include a three-volume series, Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War. Antoinette J. Segraves New England Marriages Prior to 1700, by Clarence A. Terry. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202, 1985. 1009 pp. index. $51.25. This book will be the starting point for New England genealogical researchers for generations to come. It is a comprehensive list of some 37,000 couples who resided in New England between 1620 and 1700, a list that does not include the sources of the material. However, the sources are indicated in a microfilm publication and in the original manuscripts available at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The volume includes the wife's maiden name, marriage date or the birth year of the first child, the birth and death years of the bride and groom wherever known, and the residences of each couple. Mr. Torrey compiled his list of marriages primarily from printed records and genealogies, which are not always the most reliable of sources. Limited efforts were made at the time to resolve discrepancies and correct errors. A series of articles supplementing and correcting these problems have appeared in The American Genealogist. In spite of the problems, this is a major reference for New England researchers. Antoinette J. Segraves Passenger Arrivals at the Pori of Philadelphia, 18004819: The Philadelphia "Baggage Lists", edited by Michael H. Tepper and transcribed by Elizabeth P. Bentley. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202. 1986, clothbound, 913 pp. $45.00 + $1.25. These are the oldest federal passenger lists in existence. They provide proof of immigration during this period. The listings are alphabetical, giving the name of the passenger, followed by the ship, and the date of arrival. It is an awkward format, since family groups need to be carefully scanned. Fur- 272 The Pennsylvania Geruatogical Magazine then, the listing of ships does not give a country of origin, however, at the end of the book there is a List of Ships, which does give this information. A total of 40,000 passengers are identified—most of them from Great Britain (Northern Ireland, in particular) and Germany. Samuel Garton of Rhode Island And His Descendants, by Thomas Gorton. Vols. 1. & II. Gateway Press, Inc. copies available from the author: 831 Illinois St., Lawrence, KS 66044. 1985. 1041 pp. index. $37.50. Volume I, Samuel Gorton: An Historical Biography, is a reprint of an 1982 book, tracing Samuel Gorton and his family in England, and thence to Boston and Plymouth, Massachusetts; Aquidneck, Providence, Pawtucket and Shawomet, Rhode Island. The descendants of Samuel Gorton are followed for 13 generations. Volume II, Samuel Gorton of Rhode Island and His Descendants, was written primarily to cover the female descendants of Samuel Gorton which were not followed in the first book. This is a most unusual procedure. For instance, we follow the descendants of Mary2 Gorton, the daughter of Samuels Gorton, down through the lines of Sanfords; Durfees; Martins; Aliens and Biossats, for 12 generations. Perhaps, to show the extent of the family coverage, the reviewer estimates that there are approximately 34,650 names in the combined index! Helen Hutchison Woodroofe The People And Times of Western Pennsyivania Special Publication No. 5 of the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society, 4338 Bigelow Blvd., Pittsburgh, PA 15213. comp. Clara E. Duer. 1985 paperbound. indexes. 204 pp. appendixes. $12.00 + 1.00. PA residents 6% tax. Abstracts from the Pittsburgh Gazette, July 1786 to February 1797. Included are marriages, deaths, run-sways, court cases, land sales, military deserters, indentured servants, advertisements for merchants, blacksmiths, gunsmiths, strayed and lost animals, tax lists of delinquents, ferryboat schedules, letters held at local post offices and divorces. Pioneers of' Crawford County, Pennsylvania, 1788-1800. ed. by Robert D. Ilisevich. 1985. Heritage Books, Inc., Suite 300, 3602 Maureen, Bowie, MD 20715. $10.00 The first part is a compendium of genealogical sketches of 46 early settlers. The second part is a directory of persons named in 15 unpublished local sources, i.e. census records, tax lists, court dockets, land sales, account books and various papers. Rainey Times, Vol. 5, July 1985. Rt. 4, Box 62, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482. paperbound. 188 pp. index. $16.00. This is a Surname publication. It is a miscellaneous collection of material relating to various Rainey families, much of it contributed by these families. Information is included on the following spellings of the name: Rainey, Raney, Rains, Ranney, Rennie, Rheney and Ramey.