Recent Books

RECENT BOOKS.* THE BURKHOLDER FAMILY. Harrisburg, 1932. Small octavo, pp. 105. The Seventh Annual Report of the Reunions of the Burkholder Family contains, in the male lines, a fairly complete history of this early Penn¬ sylvania family. The first gathering of the clan was on September first, 1926, at Rhoads Park, Franklin County; the last at Hershey, Pennsyl¬ vania, ten miles east of Harrisburg, April first, 1932. In the interim the Association, keeping the proper objective well in mind, has issued an ANNUAL REPORT, with the final result above indicated. The officers, J. C. Burkholder, Harrisburg, President and Historian; Miss Lila H. Burkholder, Lancaster, Secretary and Treasurer; with the Executive Committee, are to be congratulated upon a most creditable achievement. The voyage to Pennsylvania which Christian Burkholder, a Swiss Mennonite, intended to make, was undertaken by his intrepid widow, who arrived at Philadelphia in July, 1755, with her six children, three boys, three girls. She located in Earl township, Lancaster County, and there lived until 1789, long enough to see her family accomplishing its part in the warp and woof of community life and strengthening the religious faith of its fathers. Her eldest son, Christian Burkholder, was consecrated bishop of the Moravian Church id 1780; her youngest son, Ulrich Burkholder, was a minister of that Church, while the third, Peter Burkholder, became a pioneer in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. The descendants of these brothers furnished many bishops to the Mennonite Church and many pioneers to Canada, Virginia, the Middle and Western States. GENEALOGY OF THE DECKABD FAMILY, showing also those descendants from Decker, Deckert, Decber, Dechert, Decherd, etc. Compiled by Percy Edwaxd Deckard, M.D. of Richfield, Pennsylvania. Printed at Pitts¬ burgh, 1932. Large octavo cloth, pp. 893. The first 222 pages give an account of the Deckard Family of Perry County, Pennsylvania, descendants of David Deckard, a Huguenot of Alsace-Lorraine, who emigrated to Pennsylvania, in the ship Friendship, in 1741, dying in what is now Perry County in 1807. Part II, pages 223 to 414, relate to the Deckert Family of Berks County, the descend¬ ants of John George Decher, who died at Reading, in that County, in 1762. Part III, to the Deckard Family of West Virginia and Ohio, de¬ scendants of Richard and Henry Deckard. Part IV, to the Deckard Family of Virginia and Indiana, descendants of three brothers who emigrated from Metz, Germany to New York City in 1775. Part V, to miscellaneous records and uncollated items under the various forms of the surname. * By members of, or contributors to, the Society, or relating to Penn¬ sylvania. (301) 302 Recent Books. HISTORY or THE LONG FAMILY OF PENNSYLVANIA. Published by the Long Family Association of Pennsylvania, William Gabriel Long, His¬ torian. Huntington, West Virginia, 1930. Quarto, cloth, pp. 365; pox., charts. The history and descendants of Christian Lang, the emigrant ancestor of the Hickorytown [Lancaster], Pennsylvania family of Long; well embellished by charts and documents. He settled first at Germantown, but was at Lancaster in 1719. The male lines are well carried out through the families of his five sons. JACOB OBERHOLTZER GENEALOGY. SOME ACOOUNT OF JACOB OBERITOLTZER, who settled about 1719 in Franconia Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. AND OF SOME OF HIS DESCENDANTS IN AMERICA. By Elisha S. Loomis, Ph.D., author of The Loomis Family. Cleveland, Ohio, 1931. Octavo; pp. 414; por. 7; ills. In Part One, over and above those of the Oberholtzer name treated of, pages 133-172 are set apart to ten cognate families— Bauer, De Witt, Gilbert, Krey, Landis, Pawling, Renninger, Roosa, Schumacher and Ziegler. Part Two, pages 173-335, contain records of Female Branches and their offshoots to the number of one hundred and four families. Such a work is another welcome addition to the history and genealogy of the German pioneer families of eastern Pennsylvania; another em¬ phasis on the historical significance of each migration and of each par¬ ticular family-gift to the budding Commonwealth, which was so soon to become a great distributing center to Virginia and the Southwest, and to the great unknown wastes beyond the Ohio. SELDEN ANCESTRY. A FAMILY HISTORY, GIVING THE ANCESTORS AND DESCENDANTS OF GEORGE SHATTUCK SELDEN AND HIS WIFE, ELIZABETH WRIGHT CLARK. By Sophie (Selden) Rogers, Elizabeth (Selden) Lane and Edwin von Deusen Selden, members of the Historical and Genea¬ logical Societies of Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Published by Edwin Van Deusen Selden, Syracuse, New York, 1931. Large octavo, cloth, pp. 523; por., charts, armorial bearings, ills. Without question one of the most outstanding genealogies of the year; clearly presented, well printed, carefully documented and illustrated— a pleasure to eye and touch. The American propositus, Thomas Selden, baptized at Wadhurst, county Sussex, England, March 7, 1616/7, was at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1639 and died there, in 1655. His descendants are traced through all male lines to the present time. His English antecedents are a fixiGd quantity for four generations to William Selkenden of Horton in Upper Beeding, Sussex, circa 1485-1549. The probable ancestry of the latter extends back nine more generations to John de Selkeden, born circa 1210. All which is well attested by documents given at length in the Appendix. Three chapters on Western Pennsylvania families: CLARK, BROOKS and WRIGHT, enrich the work, as does the diary of Aaron Wright, Revo¬ lutionary soldier from Northumberland County. The most unique fea¬ ture is, however, the brief sketches of the French and Spanish families from whom George Shattuck Selden was descended. These include the Recent Books. 303 families of Hubert, or Hubbard, of the Island of Jersey; the de Vincens de Mazade of France and Santo Domingo; the D’Urre, de Geys de Montgaillard, the Gervier du Bidon of France; the de Chappoten family of France and Santo Domingo; the de Santo Domingo De Ungo of Spain and the de la Presse, also of Spain. The sketches are meticu¬ lously prepared and form a fascinating section of the volume— a door¬ way to the far-away past, embellished with charts, documents and coat- armor. THE SMITH FAMILY OP PENNSYLVANIA. REV. JOHANN FREDERICK: SCHMIDT, 1746-1812. By J. Bennett Nolan, Esq. of the Sixth Generation. Published by the Family, 1932, Octavo, cloth, pp. 203; por. 4, ills. The admirably written, well printed and well illustrated volume gives a pen-sketch of the Revolutionary pastor of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, Germantown, co-ad jutor of St. Michael’s and Zion’s Congrega¬ tions of Philadelphia, and officiating minister of the latter from 1782 until his death in 1812. The lines are laid on as biography should be, with an historical background well accentuated. The impulse which car¬ ried the author to its fulfilment was born in a package of more than two hundred yellowed letters addressed by the clergyman to his eldest son Frederick Schmidt, Attorney-General of Pennsylvania, resident at Read¬ ing between 1795 and 1812. Like lace in old lavender, the fragrance, the charm, still lingers. An unusual book. THE SUSQUEHANNAH COMPANY PAPERS. Edited by Julian P. Boyd. Seldon Reynolds Memorial Publications, Wyoming Historical and Geo¬ logical Society, Wilkes-Barre. Three volumes, 1930, 1931. Large octavo, cloth, pp. 367, 354, 354; ills., por., maps. Editorial Committee: Charles M. Andrews, Famam Professor of American History, Yale; N. S. B. Gras, Professor of Business History, Harvard; St. George L. Sioussat, Professor of American History, University of Pennsylvania. To each of the volumes there is an invaluable Introduction, or Intro¬ ductions, the very titles of which are illuminating. Volume I, 1750-1755. i. Connecticut and Pennsylvania in the Middle of the Eighteenth Cen¬ tury. A Contrast, ii. The Economic and Social Background of a Folk Movement, iii. The Genesis of Connecticut's Western Claim, iv. The Susguehanndh Company, 1753-1755. Volume II, 1756-1767. i. Indian A fairs in Pennsylvania and the Susquehannah Company, 1755-1762. ii. Opposition of the Indians to the Susquehannah Company, 1760. iii. Opposition of the Home Government, 1760. Volume III, 1768-1769. The Susquehannah Company and the Indian Boundary Line, 1763. After these forewords in each volume, follows The List of Documents fitted to the period, and each ends with an unusually comprehensive Index. This is a rich inter-colonial drama, which has waited until now for the scholarly thoroughness of presentation here available. FOLLOWING THE CONNECTICUT TRAIL FROM THE DELAWARE RIVER TO Compiled and Edited by S. Fletcher Weyburn, secretary of the Lackawanna Historical Society. Scranton, Penn¬ sylvania, 1932. Octavo, cloth, pp. 200, ills., por. THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY. 304 Recent Books. The twelve chapter-headings afford a cine to the rich content of the publication, which concludes with an excellent Appendix: i. Connecticut and Pennsylvania Grants, ii. Roads and Turnpikes, iii. Early Surveys. iv. Along the Delaware, v. Echoes from the Susquehanna Country, vi. Susquehanna "Valley, vii. Wyoming Settlement and Massacre, viii. The Vale of the Lackawanna, ix. An Iron and Coal City. x. Prom Trails to Rails, xi. Anthracite Coal— Transportation, xii. An Industrial Center. In following this history-making Trail the author shows the influence of the frontier as an important factor in the moulding of American life and the value of the contribution made to the growth and development of the Lackawanna Valley by the Connecticut pioneers. THE CHARTER or CONNECTICUT. A STUDY. By Albert Carloe Bates, M.A., Librarian of the Connecticut Historical Society. Printed by the Society, Hartford, 1932. Octavo, paper, pp. 72. Thirty years of research and critical analysis have gone into the mak¬ ing of this scholarly work, which is presented, with the courage of conviction, in the author’s quiet manner without bias or controversial intent, yet affords “opportunity to correct certain current, manifest errors of both the printed page and spoken word.” Regarding the preservation of the Charter in The Charter Oak, Mr. Bates says : *‘There is absolutely no evidence or proof of such an occurrence. There is no mention of sueh hiding that is contemporary OT near contemporary. The story is entirely traditional.” Alas l It was such a thrilling one. FIRST SETTLERS or YE PLANTATIONS OF PISCATAWAY AND WOODBRIDGE, OLDE EAST NEW JERSEY, 1664-1714. By Orra Eugene Monnette, LL.D., Los Angeles, California, 1931. Part Three. Octavo, heavy suede paper, pp. 294-449, ills. 5, por. 3, maps 4, coats-of-arms 2. Part Three # following Dr. Monnette ’s original outline, contains many reprints of early New Jersey source material concerning Pisca¬ taway, Woodbridge and East New Jersey. As for example: The Clinker Lot Eight Men of Elizabethtown among whom were Luke Watson, later Provincial Councillor of Pennsylvania, and other settlers of Sussex County on Delaware; First Settlers of Perth Amboy, with land Patents there, etc., etc. Primarily the volume is “dedicated” to the Drake, FitzBandolph and Bonham families, prominent in both Piscataway and Woodbridge, to which is added that of Hawkins. Of particular value are the Gravestone Inscriptions of Piscataway and Woodbridge. Too much cannot be said in thanksgiving for the preser¬ vation, in this fashion, of that which soon would have been but vanish¬ ing evidence. Special attention should be drawn to two of the mape: that of Perth Amboy, where William Penn is shown to have had a tract of twenty-five acres in 1093, and that of Ancient France of 1570. Also to the re-print of an article by O. B. Leonard of Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1904, on New Jersey’s Indebtedness to New Hampshire; and to the Index of Names in Learning and Spicer’s Grants and Concessions, edi¬ tion of 1758, collated for the use of The Genealogical Society of Penn- , * The first two parts have already been reviewed. Recent Books. 305 sylvania, in 1894, by its esteemed member, the late Francis Bazley Lee, Esq., of Trenton. Dr. Monnette ’s foundation-stones are of an enduring quality. May he long continue to build high the breastworks. Part Fourth is about issu¬ ing from the press. ENCYCLOPEDIA OP PHILADELPHIA. By Joseph Jackson, Author of Market Street, American Colonial Architecture, Etc. Volume One, Abbatoir: Boivnafon. Volume Two, Boker: Evangeline. The National His¬ torical Association, Harrisburg, 1931. Large octavo, illustrated. In his quest for knowledge the modern American student falls below the ideal of his ancient Greek prototype, but the encyclopedists, with the gift of words and sense of balance, as in this case, do much to ease and shorten the climb. ENCYCLOPEDIA OP PENNSYLVANIA. Editor, Hiram H. Shenk, LL.D. ; Assistant Editor, Esther Shenk. Published by the National Historical Association, Inc. Harrisburg, 1932. Large octavo, pp. 593; ills., por. It is the purpose of Dr. Shenk to bring within the scope of this volume Pennsylvania historical and biographical material hitherto more or less inaccessible, save to those having leisure for extended research as well as adequate library facilities. The publication fills a need long obvious to research librarians throughout the country and to teachers of history in the Commonwealth. PUBLICATIONS OP THE LANCASTER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. INDEX or PERSONAL NAMES APPEARING IN VOLUMES I TO X, INCLUSIVE, OP THE PROCEEDINGS OP THE LANCASTER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Prepared by Gertrude Hensel Haldy and William Frederic Worner. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1932. Octavo, pp. 72. An invaluable aid to the student of Lancaster County history. BUCKS COUNTY. A Collection of Papers read before THE BUCKS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Published for the Society by the Fackenthal Publication Fund. Editorial Committee: Warren S. Ely, Horace M. Mann, Dr. B. F. Fackenthal, Jr. Volume VI. Doylestown, 1932. Octavo; cloth; pp. 54ff -j- x -f- 2; por. 19, maps 9, ills. 99. An excellent number rich in county lore and present-day information. INDEX TO THE RECORDS OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Volumes I-XXXI. 1886-1920. Philadelphia, 1931. Octavo, pp. 515. This has been a labor of love to one of the few surviving Charter members of the Society. It is a digest, a readable document, rather than a mere succession of names, and an indispensable guide to a valu¬ able publication. INDEX TO GENEALOGICAL PERIODICALS. By Donald Lines Jacobus, New Haven, Connecticut, 1932. Large octavo; alphabetically arranged. A greatly-needed work in two sections, the first of Surnames, the second, Places and Subjects, following a list of the General Reference Sources, and Key to Periodicals. A boon to genealogists and those seek¬ ing to weld together long-forgotten, lost, or unknown family links. 306 Recent Books. HENRY CHARLES LEA. A BIOGRAPHY. By Edward Sculley Bradley. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1931. Small octavo, pp. 391, ills. 7 ; armorial bearings from the gateway of Corsley Manor house, Wiltshire; frontispiece portrait of the subject; also portraits of Isaac Lea, Mathew Carey and Henry Charles Carey. The work itself is a skilful word-portrait of one singularly sympa¬ thetic to his surroundings. “Mr. Lea’s was a life,” says a recent reviewer, ‘* which signally honored the city, the state and the nation, and the biography is worthy of the man whose deeds it commemorates.’’ * Biography such as this becomes a fine art. WASHINGTON VISITS GERMANTOWN. By Charles F. Jenkins, Honorary President of the Germantown Historical Society. Philadelphia, 1932. Small octavo, pp. 91, ills. From cover to cover the booklet is redolent of the old Germantown atmosphere and affords a charming setting for the illustrious visitor who spent many of his country’s troublous days within its borders. In the main, it is condensed from the author’s important work of 1905, Washington in Germantown, and is an opportune contribution to the two hundredth anniversary of Washington’s birth. Included in the book’s ten illustrations are views of the two residences Washington occupied, and one of the house in which Gilbert Stuart lived while he painted the Washington portraits. THE PENNS OP PENNSYLVANIA AND ENGLAND. By Arthur Pound. Author of “Johnson of the Mowhawks, 1 1 Native Stock/7 etc. Mac- millan, 1932. Large octavo, pp. 349, por. 9, ills. 5, maps 3. A strong portrayal of a strong family which left its indelible mark on the map of Pennsylvania and America. With the deft touch of the journalist and the historian’s regard for accuracy, the author has pre¬ sented a most readable and timely book, nnmarred by a single dull page. His documentation is excellent, his bibliography sufficient, the genea¬ logical tables useful, and the whole, rich in material for student and layman alike. * Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, Ph.D., in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, July, 1932.