Emigrants in Chains

Book Reviews Emfgmnhin Chains. By Peter Wilson Coldham. Genealogical Publish- ing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1999. 187 pp., appendices, bibliography, doth. 819.95. E Gm / Zs= g 74: :123 1j 5 t7itIty 197 g cec: clods. $18.50. When m.kind learned that nature could he controlledbyagriculMre, thus enabling some to produce goods in surplus of their needs, a division soon arose between those who were wealthy and those who were poor. And the poor we indeed have always had with us, from the Boman masses who were kept in line with bread and circuses, to medieval mas. to the slum-dwellers described by Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo, to those living in modern, big-city ghest.s. Only in this ce.y have nations paid .y attention to these person, other Man to control and fiercely chastise them. In Great Britain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the landless and unemployed congregated in fmnslums in the large cities. In theirhoFeless povertytheydidwhat they had to do to survivo—they resorted M beggary, prostitution, and thievery. Those activities pm them in violation of the draconian Wm then in effect for the protein stun of property. There were then over 100 capital offnnses—b.ging was the penalty for picking a pocket of more than twelve pence, as well as for the much-publicized crime of stealing a handkerchief When a need arose for the augmented. of labor in the American colonies in the cane field, as early as 1597, transport.. for forced labor of "petty thieves and sturdy beggars" commenced. Coldham describes these conditions in detail in his well-docri mewed brink. He devotes a large part of his work to a discussion of the business methods used in the trafficking in human beings and of the efforts to accomplish the purposes of transporiation at she least cost to the government and maximum profit to We con.ctors. The transported were literally in chains. For the length of their sentences (eight years or more) they were litetally slave They were shipped to the American mainland and to the Caribbean islands in the holds of slave ships, sold at auction when they arrived, and put to n 994 Bail Anne, 995 field work with the black slaw who had arrived on other ships. They were not merely carried across the sea and dumped ashore. Neither were those who voluntarily emigrated seindeniured servants." They received the same treatment except for thee/1.1.Tbm= lean could choose their destinations. Emigrants in Chains is a historical soady, not a genealogical aid. There are very few neina included, and those are mentioned only in passing, except for a chapter giving thumbnail sketches of two dozen of the convicts. Their stories are told to illus.te the variety of their backgrounds and experiences. However, appendices do give the numbers of convicts transported in the years 1665-1719i locations of principle Assize records: names, tailing dates, anddesdnadons of ships sailing fromLondonfrom1716 to 1775, and of ship leaving from other porn from 1671 to 1776. Coldhanis book should be read by everyone who had ancestors in America before the Revolution whose arrivalscarmotbe documented. They mayhem come on a .mictship. No oneahould be embarrassed by ...For 'Vagabond- read 'poor and homeless.; for "felon," read -petty thief.11f the convictimsl.h orScottish 511 orQuaker, read -rebel" on-conformist" Shame should not on these, but rather on those who callously exploited the helpless for profit. While the Coldham volume does not mention Ireland at all Frances McDonnell's Emigre 1796 Ireland to Amnia, 1735-1743is a verbadm transcripdon of the 1796 report of the Irish House °Mommons into enforced emigration to America. There is a brief introduction to set the scene, but no further origMal material. The report names some 2600 prisonerswho were it The county which the individual b. sentenced is given in each case, as well m the date of the Assizes. Many times the name of the ship is provided, and even the sailing date and destination. There is a great dthl of genealogical information in this bookeven though it does cover a period of only nine years. Anyone who does Irish research knows how sparse records are for the eighteen. century. This is one of anumber of volumes of source material which are being publishedeach giving a few more pieces of dam, a few more names and tiato. But be careful. You may find the name you want, but it may not be the man you want. Robert Emmet O'Connor 396 3.96339136nia Genealogical Magas. In Sean. of Your British fg.' Irish Roo. By Angus Baxter. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.. Baltimore, 1991. 304 pp., index, paper. $14.95. Veteran genmlogiffauthor Angus Baxter has done it again Mal another subMntive ancestor-tracing hook (which updates an earlier volume of the same title). Baxter urges readers to sense the "excitement .d romance.oflineage location as they experience the 'thrill of the chase.. The book offers a depto-step plan to construet a family tree beginning with yourself and working backward. Baxter provides a county-byvounty compendium of pedigree sources for the United Kingdom and throws in Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the 1s1e of Mn for good measure He lists expected sources such as bishops' transcripts and parish registers, but he also notes ship passenger lists and "Births and Deaths in Aircraft since 1949.. The author presides practical tips. He stresses the importance of arm.air genealogies enclosing selfoddressed return envelopes and (swage when communicating abroad. He warns of diffirelties caused by calendar changes and calculations based on unfamiliar .regnal. years. He even prepares the enthusiastic seeker of ancestral family fads for possible resistance from relatives who may fear discovery of less than exemplary behavior by those who lived in days of old. Angus Baxter flavors an essentially serious subject with humorous quotes such as this one Rom the ReadingRoomof the British Museum Library 'to .1 interest of the preservation of the collections, admission is not granted for the purpose of research into rm.all match results and horse and greyhound racing, or for competing for prises.. John A Baird, Jr. Th Envie' List of 1792-1795. Compiled by Murfie June Clark. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1991. 216 pp.. index. $21.50. Cendagiol Pub rtsPh711"' CoL' .,.11.1 , ratra'W toren,t1;311407)0'.nd". A Cmw of Penvionen for lievolestiores y or AIM, Services, 18.4a Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1991 (orig. publ. 1969). $27.50. Boat Reviews s97 Three pension books have recently been published by the Genealogical Publishing Co. Two arereprinhand the thirdisa new resource. In The ?erasion list of 1792-1795, Murtie June Clark has wane:eked the invalid pension claims submitted m Congress by the secretary of war for 1792-1795. As fir. in Wcehington in 1800 destroyed the earliest Revolutionary War pension records, application papers at the National Archives do not tsar[ hod! 1800. These claims are listed by saves and dis.ces, OA, amount oftrension, regiment, and place of residence ...remarks." There are also ether early revolutionary petitioners included. All names are indexed, which makes this a helpful research tool. The Pension List of 1820, a reprint but now with an index, reports the name, rank. and line of men serving nine months or more in the revolutionary army who had applied fora pension because they were in Indigent circumscences." This list of 16,000 solders has been indexed for the first time, making it much easier to use. A Census g/ Pensioners for Resteittlionery or Military Strokes. 1840was first published in 1969. These are the men listed in the 1840 federal census. 25,000 pensioners hill living at that time. The lists are arrceged by states, with a general index of names. It gives their ...and the name of the head of household with whom they resided. Migradon patterns may be learned if the soldier has been found in earlier evolutionary records. The index makes all the difference in using his for res.rch. Caroline M. Sparks t Mutes in a Now? By Leonard It. N. Ashley. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baldmore, 1989. 257 pp., cloth. $18.95. Here is a book which lives up to the publisher's blurb on the dust jacket: "Open it an.ffiere and you'll see something sound and captivating.. Leonard Ashley brings a multihidinous hisser to the tide question as he gives the reader a fresh appreciation of the onomastic world, and he does it with humor and aplomb. Ashley, twice president of the American Name Society, uprise-winning author, and a college professor, concen.tes upon persons and places, mentions names of things, and offers a section on names in language and literature. He concludes with advice to parents about naming their babies! The author explores the twentieth century proliferation of per- 998 77.6enniylvanic Genealoginil Magazine soul names in an era of searching for originality. He stresses the importance of surnames (which the .mans began, which rum became widely used during the Middle Ages. and which today are often ignored in contemporary speech). He notes that one-half of all Americans dislike their names and that some change them. Betty Poke becaine Lauren .call, and Nathan Binibaum became George Bums. Name sources receive deserved attention. Of the three million place names on U.S. maps, many come from the Bible (Providence), the rinssin (Troy), and the ..ris (Ghicopee)."Main" is the favorite American sweet name. This part of the book gains unexpected timely significance as the world watches "Soviet" give way to "Russian" and "Leningrad" reverts b "Si Petersburg." John A. Baird, Jr. The Sulona Tmgedy. Byjerry0.Potter. Pelican Publishing Co.,Cretna, La., 1992. 512 pp, index, illus., hard cover. $19.95. Thu is a book about a little-known and under-reported disaster which claimed more than 1800 lives in what the author calls "Anne, l.'s greatest maridme catastrophe." The sinking of the Mississippi riverboat Sultana occur. on 27 Apr8 1865 and made local news in nearby Memphis, Tennessee, but was largely obscured on the national scene by the tumultuous events °E.t.a E. Lee's surrender and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, both of which took place that month. Most of the p.engers on the grossly-overloa.dvesselwere Union soldiers going home after release from the infamous Andersomille and Cahaba Confederate prison camps. The author, a Louisiana lam yer who spent len years on the project, recounts Metro.. of these unfortunate man on a wooden boat designed to tarry but one-sixth of the actual human cargo crammed aboard for the fatal voyage. Mr. Potter vividly describes &manual boiler explosion, the ensuing fire, and the sinking of the craft in the cold, swift.nn of the muddy Mississippi. He personalizes .umntic even. with words from both surrivon and witnemes of the dreadful spectacle. More than a Mird of the book deals with the Washburn Commission investigation which followed. Local Union officers, higher command, and even the Secretary of War were involved in the lengthy probe, which produced evidence of "greed, indifference, gross stu- Pod Rata 309 pidiry and criminal misconduct" The culpable individuals, however, were eventually cleared of all wrongdoing. Genealogiaswill find the ships passengerlthapatticular interest. addition to some 100 civilians and a small crew, there wereapproximately 2300 Union soldiers on the ilbfated boat The text concludes with an alphaletithl fist from 'Christian W. Abbaduste to "George A Zoler," which includes each man's rank, company, regiment and state. The Sultana Tragedy impressively recalls this footnote of Arne.an history through a highly-readable, profuselytillus.ted account well worth the reader's attention. John A Baird, jr. Books in Brief Reviewed by Mary Fallon Richards (MIR), Antoineue J. &graves (AJS), John C. Richards ( JCR), Aubrey H. Baldwin, III (ABB), and John A. Baird, Jr. (JAB) IAA Pedigrees 5th ed. By John O'Hart. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1909 (orig. publ. 1892).2 vols., 928 and 971 pp., cloth, index. $125.00 per set, plus $3.50 shipping. Ah sure, it may seem to some a mere compendium of cold facts, but to the great-granddaughter of an immigrant of the famine years, it has the ring of poetry! To find a "country- named with my name, to read of . ancient ancestor (presumed) "driven across the Shannon from his kingdom—what matter that it was but a small bit of turf—tothel the thrill ofkinshipwith these,long-gone.Poetrythdeeth A marvelous, extensive compendium of information about the Irish family of all ages, somewhat marred by the Irish habit of listing long lines (as in the Bible) without a sign of a date, Haswork is invaluable to the rewarcher. As this edidon makes a grand Irish resource 800 DuffmuyMmnGwbgirwlMwgmine mailable to more people, in republication is a real service to the genealogical community. an eye out.s the poetry,mwell as the facts, for in the Irish they are inseparable. Mm Delaware Bible Recordn V.1 I. By Donald 0. Virdin. Heritage Rooks, Inc, Bowie, Md., 1991.1'771 pp.. index. 115.00. This is undoubtedly an extremely useful compilation of Delaware information, as have been the original 13 volumes of Bible records, prepared by devoted Delaware DAR members, housed at the Delaware State Archives, and mentkmed in the author's brief note and dedicadon. A puzzlement arises from the designation of this book m volume one, while calling it ',elections.from the original DAR compilation. This volume does not appear to correspond completely m volume one of the original set Atleast, many of the names from the index to the original volume are missing from the index m this one. What Mr. Virdin intends as the composition of future volumes is not at all clear. It seems to this reviewer that a more complete delineation of the source and of its rektionsbip to this work, with evidence of the courtear of a request to copy, would have been more helpful to the reader and more in keeping with the good-fellowship of die genealogical community. The Realretruded 1790 Cones of Genie: Dellefieuter for Cameo's Lase 1790 Crams Compiled by Marie De Lamar and Elisabeth Rothstein. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, 1989. 235 pp., index, cloth. $20.00. Georgia is one of several states for which a 1790 census was taken but is now missing. The compilers of this volume have used court records, voters' lists, wills, deeds, tax lists, newspapers, and similar records of roughly the 1790 period to reconstruct the missing 1790 arms.. Originally published in 1976 without an index, this new edition has a full name index. AJS Book Rem., s 401 Listi ffNmbifaMt ffdbnlaIN link Excerpted from the Donowniary History e llod Stale of New nut (184941). By Edmund Bailey O'CaL laghan, with an index by Rosanne Conway. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1979,1989. 351 pp, index, cloth. $20.00 plus 82.50 shipping. This book contains census records. by rate lists, liris of early settlers. rolls of nada. and so forth form the O'Callaglrin work cited above. published originally without an index. The index provided here is designed to overcome the confusion caused!, different spellings of the Dutch and German names. The area covered rang, from Albany to New York City and Long island. The Usual, that and ye, little more, but they do indicate the existence and location ofmany individuals during the colonial period. JCR AMonogmpk ofthe New Goseherthoppen aridGreatSwompRefonned Mugu 1731-1881. By C. Z. Weiser. D.P. Heritage Hooks.inc., Brnrie, Md., 1991 (orig. pub!. 1884). 173 pp., new index, pap,. 815.50 plus $3.00 shipping, Upon the 1500ranniversaryof the New Goschenhoppen and Great Swamp Reformed Church in 1881, Pastor C. Z. Weiser published his in-depth look at the history of the pastoral charge. Since 1731, Goachenhoppen, one of the oldestReformed Churches in the United States, served communicants in the northwestern end of present Montgomery County, including the borough of Got Greenville and the tillages of Green Lane, Sumnewown, Red Hill, and Permsburg. The church registers, baptismal records. tombstones, and obituary records were much used by genealo&o. This reprint of Weiser's work,itb memoir.n1 patirchal memories, holds much of historic interest. AH8 Owner Gam ow Your Guide to Real &Me Twasure Hording By J. D. Segel. Genealogical Publishing Co., Mc., Baltimore, 1991. 111 pp., index, doth. $17.95. Jay Segel, condse but comprehensive book tells the reader how to locate and acquire unclaimed real mate scattered around the United 402 The Nut** Onwalogied Max* States. Not, in the author's worth, a "georichquick manual,. Owner Unknown does explain a potentially remunerative aspect of ancestor tracing. Segel, who has been personally succesthti in this regard, presents a detailed, step-hy-s.p action plan replete with such minutia as suggested stationery supply specifics. He also mentions possible perils of the quoit and offers practical ideas for surmounting them. Twelve appendices augment the text with additional helps which ntribute to the book, esprit, which should appeal to both the actual aim-laying aspirant and the armchair aficionado as well. cl 77te Getman Regiment Of Maryland and Pennsylvania im the Continental Anny. By Henry J. Reeser. Family line Publications, Westminsur, Md., 1991. Ai plus 152 pp., index. $13.00. This book details the history of the litheamoten German Regiment of Maryland and Pennsylvania throughout the Revolutionary Wm The members of this regiment were recruited from those born in Germany and their children. Most of the members were recruited in theater Philadelphia and in Baltimore and Frederick counties, Mar, land. The hook gives a complete and absorbing history of the regiment through many battles of the RevolutionaryWar and .s h.of officers and men who served. This is a threfully prepared book, well referenced, and of interest to thou of German descent .d m Revolutionary W. huffs alike. jot Able of theInventorie t e PtsrogaimeCot 9 1 ofMatykenth 1766-1769 [152 pp.. $12.00]; 170-1766 [154 pp., $12.00]; 1760-1763 [150 pp., $12.00]; 1755-1760 [144 pp., $12.00]; 1751-1756 [155 pp., $12.00]; 1798-1751 [149 pp., 811.00]; 1744-1748 [136 pp., $12.00]; 1738-1744 [160 pp., $12.00]; 1733-1738 [155 pp., $12.00]; 1728-1734 [149 pp., 812.00]; 1726-1729 [144 pp., $12.00]. 1729-1727 [124 pp., $11.00]; 1720-1729 [127 pp., $11.00]; 1718-1720[123 pp., $11.00]. hbthacted byV. L. Skinner, Jr. Family Line Publications, Westminster, Md. 1989-1991. Book licznaus 495 Earlier volumes of this valuable series, which serves as a guide to the original records were reviewed in Wham XXXVI (1989), p. 66, of this journal. /MS fermi Skadia and Legend" pennon, to Books and Montgomery Comities, Pormsyl.ia. By William.). Buck_ Heritage Books, Inc., Bowie, Md. 1991 (orig. pub!. 1887). 340 pp., index, paper. $23.00, plus E1.00 shipping. Here is the ideal hook for bedtime reading or for Hut gift to a hospitalized friend. It 1as little of history and nem to nothing on genealogy, though its author, W uiam J. Buck, a member of the His Society of Pennsylvania, om known for his many historical writings. It is, however, a lively collection of articles begun in 1861 illustradve of olden-time customs" and 'designed to show ... the bright side of human life." Despite the limited locale, Buries deserim nom of old-dine weddings, corn-husking', butchering', woodland jaunts, dark hallo, ghost-haunted houses, Mile school houses, and exploring name's beauties and secrets can entertain any reader. AHB fn Surd oflhur Canadian Roan Trating fourFamily Devi, Canada By Angus Baxter. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, Baltimore, 1969. 550 pp, index, $14.95 U.S./$16.95 Can. If the fact that the reviewer is so caught up in using the book that it is hard to take time out for Me review is any indication, this is surely a good source of information about research in Canada. How we would have benefined from checking M it before our one effort to find information in person! But all is not los, we'll just get to work on the new things we can learn boon this challenging and informative book. Angus Baxter is not a newcomer to the field. His previous works include InSearch of Ye InEuropeanRooriand In Search "from /Minh and This la. offering see. .olid and useful work. From. early chapter of historical background on the many kinds of groups who have come (and some of whom have gone), it progresses through variousgeneral sources. It folios/3MM specificsfor each province and 404 TheffnusyInanie Consological Maar a final clarpter on writing a family history, offering much to anyone with Canadian ancestry. MFB Land Records of Storm County, Delaware, 1792-1789, Deed Book iv, Nn 13. By Elaine Hastings Mason and F. Edward Wright. Family Line Publications, Warminster, Md., 1990. 121 pp., index. 812.00 plus $1.50 shipping. lihislittlebookisintroducedararediscoureging word" aboutland records of Siaren County in its earliest days, as a result of the dispute between Lord Baltimore and WMiain Penn over the boundaries of MaryLand and Delay/are. It is a very interesting discussion, to which I would like to add the story of "Durham County, Maryland," under which name 19,000 acres of land were sold to 45 persons between 1669 and 1685. Although the record leas found in a Cecil County 'Debt Book," the Lands described went far south into present De, rrat,(See Maryland LLUMareff Addgnarar 25:157-167, and a condemotionn of the information on the deeds purchased, in the Delaware GenealogicalarciaLfouried Mno. 41:72-75). Mention is made only because the record is so obscure. Fager Delaware genealogists will alwayswelcome new compilations such as this, and will be grateful for the efforts of its compilers. MLR flevoluarnary /tarok of Ceal Courtly, Maryland By Henry C. Peden, Jr. Family Line Publications, WesMinster, Md., 1991. v plus 146 pp., index, $19.00. A email book, limited in scope, this volume is nonetheless a prize for the descendants of Cecil County's Revolutionary War soldiers. For each patriot, at least one source 00h:formation to service is given. For many, additional dams, spouse, and details of service also appear. For the most fortunate, such extras as occupation, children, and other useful tidbits are found. MFR