Review

REVIEW GUIDES Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, Third Edition. By John Grenham. Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, Maryland, 2006. xxiv plus 526 pages, paper. $24.95. This is a major revision of the premier guide to Iri h re earch. The baic plan of the previous editions has been followed with its excellent instruction in how to proceed with research on your Irish families. New to this edition is the chapter on Internet resources. The chapter dealing with the Irish diaspora has been greatly enlarged. The section on Pennsylvania resources is especially rich. New resources have been added for census substitutes, and the county lists of resources has been expanded. Of special interest is the addition of Internet resources for the individual counties. The chapter on the Roman Catholic parish records is the best available resource for these records. Locations for the microfilms are given, and index resources are identified. New maps have been designed for the Catholic parishes. Throughout the book, microfilm numbers for items at the Family History Library, Salt Lake City, have been provided, which makes this a quick guide to resources available in the U.S. Detailed locations for other church records, such as Church of Ireland or Presbyterian are not provided, but he does give guidance on where to find them. All researchers working on Irish families need this book. Reviewed by Kathryn M. Donovan ABSTRACTS Abstracts of Wills of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1824-1850. By Mary Mar hall Brewer. Colonial Roots, Lewes, Delaware, 2005. v plus 247 page , index, paper. $24.00. Many of the publications for Pennsylvania have focused on the eighteenth century, so it is nice to see publication of abstracts that can help researchers in the difficult time period before the every-name 1850 census. These abstracts are from the copies of abstracts done by Ellwood Roberts at the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. Those through 1823, which end with pag 184 of Book 6, have already been published. Thi complet Book 6 and adds books 7 and 9. 280 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol 44 (2006) 2006 Reviews 281 Abstracts of Administrations of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, 1822-1850. By Mary Marshall Brewer. Colonial Roots, Lewe , Delaware, 2005. v plus 150 pages, index, paper. $18.00. This book is part of the above project. The information includes name of the deceased, township, date, and name of the administrator. 18th Century Records of the German Lutheran Church at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (St. Michael's and Zion) Volume 4: Marriages & Confirmations. Translated by Robert L. Hess; edited by F. Edward Wright Colonial Roots, Lewes, Delaware, 2006. xxii plus 284 pages plus index, paper. $35.00. St. Michael's and Zion served as a "gateway" church for many of the Lutheran immigrants arriving in Philadelphia. Many immigrants resided for a time in the city before moving on, some serving out their indentures. While in Philadelphia, they married, had one or two children baptized, or sponsored the baptism of the children of friends at St. Michael's and Zion. It also served as the church for families residing in nearby areas without an established Lutheran congregation. So, even if an ancestor is known to have settled outside of Philadelphia, his or her earliest records may be here. This volume includes confirmation lists from 1745 to 1767. In a few cases, there is information in addition to the names of the confirmands, who ranged in age from 13½ to 27. Marriages cover from 1745 to 1799. 18th Century Records of the German Lutheran Church at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (St. Michael's and Zion) Volume 5: Burials. Translated by Robert L. Hess; edited by F. Edward Wright Colonial Roots, Lewes, Dela- ware, 2006. xxii plus 285 pages plus index, paper. $35.00. This volume completes the planned publication of this series, a total of 1,364 pages of records, plus unpaginated indexes. The congregation was large, having been served by nine pastors who recorded events in seven volumes. Researchers are advised to read the introduction to understand the history of the church, what is included or omitted in the translations and abstracts, and the arrangement of the records and abstracts. The burials cover the period from 1745 to 1800. Typical of German church records, most entries contain the age of the deceased. For children, they do not always give the child's name or even their gender. Depending on the time period and minister, entries may have additional information, such as the country, region, or village of origin; length of time since arrival; occupation; names of parents or spouse; and number of children. The records usually included a cause of death, but the abtractors have chosen to include only unusual causes of death in this publication. Re earchers finding an ancestor in this volume are advised to consult the original records, which are in German, (available on Family History Library microfilm) for additional information. 282 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 44 Newspaper Abstracts from the Philadelphia Repository, 1803. By Elaine Morri on Fitch. Heritage Book, We tmin ter, Maryland, 2005. 120 pages, index, paper. $21.50. This unique little book begins with an account of a Ru ian Royal Court deception of Empres Cath rine the Great as she toured her domain . It end with the obituary of an old man who died leaving ten children, fifty~ eight grandchildren~ and thirty-three great-grandchildren for a progeny total of 101 per ons. He died without a struggle or a groan. Like a diary, ewspaper Abstracts from the Philadelphia Repository combines anecdote, current events, general information, marriage and death notices, and even verse of those days long ago between 15 January and 3 December 1803. Author Elaine Fitch, who bas resuscitated other nineteen-century newspaper in her previous book , entertainingly blends these reportorial ingredients by presenting her elected new item in varied equence to hold reader interest with both patho and humor. Persons and places abound. Take persons, for example, whose many names range alphabetically from Abercrombie through Zimmerman. They span the emotional gamut from woe to wealth, as the sad tale of Thomas Bellamy, an impecuniou debtor who was executed for forg ry at age twenty-seven, find balance in the in pirational account of John Bukely, who began life as a poor, sick boy and died worth more than $1.5 million Places mentioned are both distant and nearby. Far-away Algiers uffer an earthquake, while the navy launch s a warship in the Quaker city. A Delaware River drowning is matched by a ca e in Ireland where a barber sue a man for educing hi fifty-yeaN>ldwife, the moth r of twelve children. Miscellaneou subjects are wide and ranging. There are puns and poems, including on about a young woman writlng verse with a hole in her tocking. There are whim ical items such as a story about mu ical pig and another featuring a singing parrot as well as longer, informational reports on such subjects as the history of tobacco and the origin of playing card . They prove that variety is indeed the spice of journalistic life. Weather is another frequent feature in these ab tract . Readers 1t r of a heavy torm off the outh Carolina coast, a forty-day drought in ickton, Maryland, and an increase in malignant fever in w York Death, however, is the prime topic of this early nineteenth n w compendium, reflecting high infant mortality and primitiv cine, which, added to the eemingly perennial stati tics of ocial v . r. , make almost ubiquitou repons of the end of human life. The notes a number of fatal accidents. A youth succumbs co a mad dog a man drown in a squall. A fall from a hor e kills another man, French actre dies when he fall out of bed! Terminal illne s e nipresent. There are apoplectic fits, sunstroke, consumption, and -· 2006 Revtews 283 fever. One reported death come from an unsolved "sudden indisposition." Reported murder began with the Biblical Cain and Abel, but i everpres nt in the early 1800s. An insane man kills his daughter. A New Hamp hire woman dashes her child against a rock. A Kentucky man is killed by bandits, and the chief justice of Ireland and his nephew are stabbed to death with spikes. Last but not least, self-destruction appears with tales of a New Englander cutting his throat with a razor, leaving a wife and eight children, and a young woman hanging herself over religious perplexity. This book is useful because it gives the reader a better understanding of nineteenth-century Philadelphia-area life through a newspaper brought back to life in an effective way. Reviewed by John A. Baird, Jr. East New Jersey Land Records, 1757-1763 (Books 1-2 and K-2). By Richard S. Hutchinson. Colonial Roots, Lewes, Delaware, 2005. vii plus 203 pages, index, paper. $22.00. This second volume continues the publication of abstracts of the deeds of the East Jersey proprietary (Bergen, Essex, Somerset, Middlesex, and Monmouth counties). The first volume was reviewed in PGM 44 #2, which should be consulted for details. Many early New Jersey deeds were never recorded by the parties involved, so the detailed chains of title in later deeds may be the only firm evidence of land ownership, transfers, and familial relationships. COMPILATIONS,FAMILYHISTORIES,AND HISTORIES Lawmaking and Legislators in Pennsylvania: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 3, 1757-1775. Edited by Craig W. Horle, Joseph S. Foster, and Laurie M. Wolfe. Philadelphia, House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 2005; order from Penn State University Press. xii plus 1,635 pages, bound as two volumes, appendices, index, maps, tables, hardbound. $60.00. The editors of this biographical dictionary believe that the bicentennial of the . . Constitution highlighted a need for new research into the development of American democratic institutions. Early Pennsylvania history emphasizes such elements as election of and political activity by a society of ethnic and religious diversity that foreshadowed the American melting pot. These Pennsylvania characteristics proved to be an ideal way to study the sociopolitical development of the United States. Thi impressive biographical dictionary reveal the importance of a collective biography of the participantS in defining the mechanism of political behavior. Craig W. Horle and his associated editors thus provide 284 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 44 a guide to Quaker records and other sources as they stress the value of preserving our nation's early documentary heritage. Lawmaking and Legislators in Pennsylvania, Volume 3, spans two separately bound books. The first tome features varied related topics including "Themes and Issues" of Pennsylvania lawmaking 1757-1775; lists of the General Assembly legislative officers and committees; as well as the first 160 biographical essays, beginning alphabetically with "Andrew Allen, Phila.," through "Robert Kirkbride, Bucks County." The second book presents the continuing biographical essays from "Giles Knight, Bucks County" through "Thomas Yardley, Bucks County" to conclude with a comprehensive historical potpourri of eight appendices, two indices, two maps, nine figures, and three tables that offer both the general reader and serious student detailed, statistical summaries of the participating legislators. Of the 160 Assemblymen who served from the term of Pennsylvania Governor William Denny in 1757 through 1775 when King George III declared the American colonies to be in rebellion, Lawmaking and Legislators, Volume 3, presents the full biographies of 129. It lists an additional seventeen to be given complete entries in a supplement publication and notes that the other fourteen appeared in Volume 2. Overall, the group continued the trend established early in the century of easy reelection. Approximately seventy percent were in their thirties or early forties when first elected. Although some described themselves as "gentlemen" or even "Esquire," most were farmers, merchants, or millers, with real estate their most-noted capital asset. Many had servants and some owned slaves. However, one became known as an "insolent debtor." The individual biographies range from long to short. William Allen, for example, occupies forty-nine pages with an additional nineteen and thirteen for his two sons for a total of eighty-one two-column pages. In contrast, the reader finds Hugh Trimble's life on two pages and John Stanwix's on only one. Variety is said to be the spice of life; this is most evident when the editors consider the relative fame or the lack thereof of these colonial legislators. Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Galloway (considered one of the Assembly's most significant members) represent the prominent. The obscure include Joshua Fish, who served two terms but never played an important role, and John Heany, who received only one assignment during his service. Some accounts are humorous, including one legislator who brought twenty lawsuits and was sued seven times in the last five years of his life. Others are sad, such as George Ely who suffered mental illness and was disowned by the Quakers for disrespectful manner. Taken together, these biographies reveal the resiliency and vitality of early American culture as reflected in this Colonial legislature. Volume three is in every way a worthy sequel to the previous volumes, which 2006 Reviews 285 covered the period of 1682-1709 and 1710-1756. All in all they represent a truly significant achievement. Reviewed by John A Baird, Jr. The Blue Mountain Legion: A History of the Hamburg Untt of the Pennsylvania Anny National Guard. By Craig A Kleinsmith. We tminster, Maryland. Heritage Books, 2005. 303 pages, appendices, bibllography, index, pap r. $32.00. ,.Astoni bing,. is the publisher's word for this comprehensive history of a volunteer American soldiering activity from 1755 to 1989 in the ervice of its community, tatc, and nation. Ten chapters, in a 234-year account, span the unit' activities from guarding the eighteenth.century frontier to protecting the peace in our time. Craig A. Kleinsmith spent ten years researching and writing this impr ssive record to achieve his two stated objectives: reminding his readers that we all live in a dangerous world and telling the unit's present oldier about the men who went before them on battlefields all over the world. The book contains significant detail. In the first chapter, for example, the author, a retired master sergeant of the unit, provides the reader with an officer's daily journal entries for the month of July 1757 as the soldiers guarded farmers and sent scouting parties against marauding Delaware and hawnee tribes. Operating as Provincial troops from Fort Lebanon to protect the Hamburg, Pennsylvania, area (and also from a line of other forts some ten miles apart), the men played a continuous game of deadly hide and seek with the elusive savages who killed or carried off inhabitants, to say nothing of houses burned, livestock destroyed, and many other depredations only partly or never reported. ubsequent chapters extend this legacy of bravery and fortitude of the troop . The Hamburg unit made con istent contributions to the ucce of the ational Guard, although they were often poorly trained and inadequately equipped. In the Civil War they first drilled with broomsticks because there were no rifles. In World War II they trained with wooden guns, had one bayonet for every three men, and one gas mask for every six. There were also times when local civilians provided fresh clothes for the tired, worn-out men. The Blue Mountain Legion experienced frequent reorganization and redesignation. Over the years not only did they operate with different numerical identity but they also functioned in separate capacities ranging from Quartermaster transportation duty to antiaircraft artillery service. The re iliency of the troops found expression in many way , uch a their pontaneous singing of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" a they marched toward Getty burg. 286 Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine Vol. 4 This re nt book provide vivid verbal illu tration of patriotic military crvic to the nati n in h r time of ne d by a group of oldjers who posed a sen e of purpose, the desire to serve, and an exceptional esprit de corps, which enabled them to perform any and all assigned duti and mi sions in a professional manner. In the author's words: "inspiring.,. Reviewed by John A. Baird, Jr. Colonial Families of New Jersey, Volume 2. By Pamela S. Pearson. C l<r nial Root , Lewes, Delaware, 2006. xvi plus 269 pages, index, pap r. $28.00. This volume includes families from Hunterdon, Middlesex, and Somerset Counties. The surnames are: Aleger (Algert, Alleger, Alliger), Alger (Auger, Augur, Awger, Aleger, Allgor), Alford, Alward (Aileward, Allward, Allwood, Allword), Aten (Auten, Aeten), Samuel Blackford, Nehemiah Blackford, Bloomfield (Blomfied, Blumfield), James Clarkson, Levinus Clarkson, Aaron/ Adrian Hegeman, Anderes Hegeman, Denys Hegeman, Joseph Hageman, Adrian Hageman, Coernelis Diercksen Hoochlandt, Christoffel Hooglandt, Dirck Jansen Hoogland, Middagh (Middah, Middaugh, Meddagh), Nevius (Nevious Nevis, Nephis), Rapalyea (Rapalie, Rapallie, Rapelje, Rappelyea), Sebring (Seabring, Sebron), Stoothoof (Stothoff, Stotehoft), Wessel Ten Broeck (Tenbrook, Tinbrock), John Ten Brook, Cornelius Ten Broeck (Ten Brook), Van Court (Van Coert 1 Van Koort, Van Koert). The series compiles families primarily from publi h d abstracts, but includes some from published compilations. A Monograph of the New Goshenhoppen and Great Swamp Reform~d Charge, 1731-1881. By C. Z. Weiser. Reading, Pennsylvania, Daniel Miller, Printer, 1882; reprinted Westminster, Maryland, Heritage Books, 2005. 173 pages. $22.00. The fir t r cord of the congregation at ew Go henhoppen, pper Han ver Town hip, Montgomery ounty were made in 1731. The land for the church buildlng at Great wamp was acquired in 1738. This book as prepared as a history of the congregation and ministers ( or lack thereof) for the first one hundred and fifty years of its existence. It in• clud roll of members, but not christening , marriag , or buria . It augments uch r cord , found el ewh re, y pre enting a b tter und rtanding of th church to which an ance t r belonged. 2006 Reviews ORDERING INFORMATION COLONIAL ROOTS 17296 Coastal Highway, Lewes, DE 19958 Phone: 800-576-8608 Internet: www.colonialroots.com Shipping: $5.50 for first volume;$ 1.00 for each additional item. All shipping UPS; no PO boxes. GENEALOGICALPUBLISHINGCOMPANY 3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 260, Baltimore, MD 21211 Phone: 800-296-6687 Fax: 410-752-8492 Internet: www.genealogical.com Shipping: $4.00 for first book; $2.00 for each additional book Tax: 5% for Maryland residents; 6% for Michigan residents HERITAGEBOOKS 65 E. Main St., Westminster, MD 21157-5036 Phone: 800-876-6103 or 410-876-6101 Fax: 410-871-267 4 Internet: www.HeritageBooks.com $4.00 for first volume; $ 1.00 for each additional item Shipping: 5% for Maryland residents Tax: PENN STATE UNNERSITY PRESS 820 N. University, USBl, University Park, PA 16802-1003 Phone: 800-326-9180 Fax: 877-778-2665 www.psupress.org Internet: $6.00 for first book; $1.00 for each additional book Shipping: 6% for Pennsylvania residents Tax: 287