Sharon DeBartolo Carmack has a wonderful article titled “The Tree Doctor” in the November issue of Family Tree Magazine, which you can find in bookstores now.
She covers such ailments as Genealogist’s Chorea, where a researcher – or an ancestor – fudges the facts; Lineagaires’ Disease, the connecting of parents and children who just don’t fit together; Acute Faulty Logic Syndrome; and Inflammatory Biography Disease, where the ancestor turns out to be not wholly the guy we thought he was.
My favorite ailment tackled by Carmack, however, is Dateitis, which I’m sure most of us have found in our charts – the mom who got married at 3, or who supposedly gave birth two weeks after she died!
Carmack’s article includes questions to ask to help you know whether to dig deeper, as well as a “sidebar” test that will help you see whether your diagnostic skills are up to snuff.
Another nice feature about Family Tree Magazine are the two State Research Guides it runs in each issue – November’s are New York and Wyoming.
The New York pages list a couple of very popular Web sites:
. ellisisland.org, which covers 20 million immigrants who came here through Ellis Island 1892-1924.
. castlegarden.org, for 10 million immigrants who came through Castle Garden 1830-1892.
The August issue of The Maine Genealogist, the quarterly journal of the Maine Genealogical Society, has several interesting articles:
. “Gershom Rogers of Falmouth and Windham, Maine,” by Muriel K. Jackson.
. “A Capital Education for the Deaf: Mainers in the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, 1868-1928,” by Kenneth W. Heger. The organization went on to become the well-known Gallaudet College.
. “Genealogical Information from Earmarks: The Abbott-Pool Family of Woolwich, Maine, and Gloucester, Massachusetts,” by Janice D. Gower.
. “The Family of Joseph Hobbs of Berwick and Wells, Maine,” by Priscilla Eaton.
. “Marriage Records of Sumner, Maine, 1799-1853,” continued.
Keep in mind that the surname articles frequently include names of children and whom they married.
A review by editor Joseph C. Anderson III gives us the good news that the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists has come out with “New Hampshire Families in 1790, Volume I.”
Yes, NHSOG got the idea from the Maine Genealogical Society, which has published nine volumes so far of its “Maine Families in 1790” series.
Anderson encourages those with New Hampshire ancestry to submit families for inclusion in future volumes of the New Hampshire series.
For information, visit nhsog.org. Membership in NHSOG is $20 a year ($5 extra outside the United States), $30 household, $400 lifetime membership. Send checks to NHSOG, c/o Peter F. Wells, P.O. Box 152, Rindge, N.H. 03461-0152.
Membership in the Maine Genealogical Society is $20 a year, $29 Canadian residents, $34 outside the U.S. and Canada, sent to MGS, P.O. 221, Farmington, ME 04938. Life membership is $400 U.S. residents, $450 for all others.
The Maine Historical Society has some free events coming up this fall at 489 Congress St., Portland.
. “When Rock ‘n’ Roll Rocked Maine,” with Will Anderson, noon-1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13.
. “Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America,” with Eric Jay Dolin, 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29.
. “The Naked Quaker: True Crimes and Controversies from the Courts of Colonial New England,” with Diane Rapaport, noon-1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4. Rapaport writes the popular “Tales from the Courthouse” column for New England Ancestors magazine. Her theory is that human nature hasn’t changed much in 350 years, something that is easily proved by most genealogical research.
The Maine Historical Society preserves the heritage and history of Maine: the stories of Maine people, the traditions of Maine communities and the record of Maine’s place in a changing world.
For more information, contact Jane Foden at the Maine Historical Society, 774-1822, or visit www.mainehistory.org.
Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or familyti@bangordailynews.net.
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