Unpuzzling Your Past, 4th Edition
by Emily Anne Croom
Paperback
288 pages
How many of your great-grandparents can you name? What were their lives like? Are you curious to learn more?
Start getting answers today with the best-selling Unpuzzling Your Past! With wit and enthusiasm, Emily Croom provides the tools and information you need to begin your family history adventure, with step-by-step guidance, forms to copy, places to look, and interesting examples each step along the way.
Throughout the book, you will find
- Strategies for success
- Tips for getting the most from names, dates, and handwriting of the past
- Suggestions of "Things To Do Now" to apply what you have learned
- Illustrations, charts, sidebars and bibliographies for further reference
Besides gathering names and dates, genealogists want to learn how their ancestors lived and how they fit into the history happening around them. Focusing first on the family as a source of this kind of information, the book provides interview formats and ideas for tapping family papers and keepsakes, oral tradition and memories. It also introduces you to research and the multitude of public records helful in identifying and learning about ancestors--from newspapers and cemeteries to censuses and land records.
Unpuzzling Your Past is great for both individual and classroom use. For this updated and revised fourth edition, Croom has expanded information on public records, added useful Internet addresses, and included a chapter-length case study of a search to identify female ancestors.
From the Introduction
Genealogy is akin to assembling a jigsaw puzzle about ancestors, one generation at a time. This fascinating hobby quite naturally begins at home and expands to research in public records of many kinds.
Genealogy and family history go hand in hand. The goal is not to accumulate more ancestral names than anyone else in town but to learn and preserve whatever you can about the ancestors you identify--their lives and cultures, their places in the history happening around them. Benefits include new friendships made among other researchers, boundless personal growth and education, and something worthwhile to keep you enthusiastic and busy for a lifetime.
The purpose of Unpuzzling Your Past is to give readers the information and tools necessary to learn to research wisely and achieve the best possible results. Thus, the book focuses on (1) answering basic how-to questions, (2) encouraging the use of family and public records, (3) promoting sound research methods and (4) illustrating the process with pertinent research examples. Whether you use Unpuzzling Your Past as a researcher, student or teacher, enjoy yourself and have fun working on your own special puzzle.
Table of Contents
Foreward
Chapter 1: In the Beginning
Chapter 2: Charting Your Course
Chapter 3: Strategies for Winning in Genealogy
Chapter 4: What's in a Name?
Chapter 5: Begin Solving the Puzzle with Interviews
Chapter 6: Hand-Me-Downs: Family Traditions
Chapter 7: Life History: Beginning to End
Chapter 8: History as the Family Lived It
Chapter 9: Family Sources and Beyond
Chapter 10: Beyond the Family: Federal Census Records
Chapter 11: Beyond the Family: Country and State Sources
Chapter 12: Beyond the Family: Local Sources
Chapter 13: Beyond the Family: Additional Federal Sources
Chapter 14: Where Do I Look for That?
Chapter 15: What's in a Date?
Chapter 16: Read it Right: Handwriting of the Past
Chapter 17: Fitting the Pieces Together: A Case Study
Chapter 18: Sharing You Family History
Appendix A Glossary and Relationship Chart
Appendix B National Archives and Regional Branches
Appendix C Federal Census
Appendix D Blank Forms
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Emily Anne Croom is an active researcher, teacher and lecturer in genealogy. She holds a master's degree in history and contributes articles to several genealogy periodicals, including Family Tree Magazine. Croom is a member of several genealogical societies and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Clayton Library Friends in Houston. In addition to several privately printed family histories, her other works include this book's companion volume, The Unpuzzling Your Past Workbook; the widely acclaimed Genealogist's Companion & Sourcebook; and the popular Sleuth Book for Genealogists.
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