Compiled Records for Mid-South Research: Difference between revisions

The purpose of the rest of this paper will be to take a look at some of those compiled records. Under each state are examples of historical, military, ethnic, and religious publications which contain compiled records, as well as, a few examples of periodicals. This is by far, not complete. It was intended to give the reader a glimpse into the many publications available to them which contain compiled records.

It is always exciting to find a biography on an individual that is being researched. Although, the mid-south does not have as wonderful collection as the mid-west, there are still good publications available. A good place to start might be Michael Cook’s ''Kentucky''''Index of Biographical Sketches in State, Regional and County Histories'''''''', (Evansville, Indiana: Cook Publications, 1986). This compiled record indexes 65 various state, regional and county histories and there are notes on how to use the volume and where to obtain the histories. A list of the codes and their meanings is at the front of the book. There is an alphabetical index, which is easy to use, but it is important to note that for the biographies, the index only lists the names of those who are the subject of the biographical sketches.''''''

For a county specific publication there is ''Echos of the Past, In the Western part of Scott County, Kentucky'' (Stamping Ground, Kentucky: Stamping Ground Womans Club, 1975-). Volume one includes a few biographies and Volume 2 contains family lineages.

''A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri, with Numerous Sketches, Anecdotes, Adventures, Etc. Relating the Early Days in Missouri. Also the Lives of Daniel Boone and the Celebrated Indian Chief Black Hawk'', by William S. Bryan and Robert Rose. (Baltimore: Clearfield Co., 1996) is interesting reading. Most of the sketches are brief, but do contain a lot of genealogical information. Most of the sketches contain wealth of information on their migration pattern.

An example of a publication specific to an ethnic group is ''The Italians in Missouri'', by G., Schiavo (New York: Arno Press, Inc., 1975, c 1929). It is a “scrapbook” biographical publication. The biographies are small and all come with a picture of the individual. Most of the biographies appear to be of professionals and businessmen. However,

If it is the early years of North Carolina that the researcher is concerned with, then one publication to look at is one that was compiled by Marilu Burch Smallwood; ''Some Colonial and Revolutionary Families of North Carolina,'' 3 vols.''''(Washington, North Carolina: M.B. Smallwood, 1964-). These volumes provide the names of the husband, wife, date of marriage and county.'''

For a specific area of research such publications as ''The Heritage of the Toe River Valley, Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey Counties,'' 5 vols. (Marceline, Missouri: Walsworth Publishing Co., Inc. 1994) may be helpful. Each of these volumes contains lengthy family biographical sketches. Many of these biographical sketches include a very comprehensive genealogy of the family. There is also an index and the family sketches are done in alphabetical order.

''History of South Carolina'' (Chicago [Illinois]: Lewis Pub. Co., 1920) edited by Yates Snowden, comprises five volumes. Like most of history books, the biographies of individuals who paid to be included in the publications are given a page or two to give a brief history of themselves and sometimes their families. Fortunately, there is an index, because the biographies have no certain order to them.

''The Carolina Herald and Newsletter'', which is an official publication of the South Carolina Genealogical Society and published quarterly, is another periodical worth searching through. Some of the editions do contain individual biographies and family histories, although there appears to be more abstracted and copied records. There is no indexing.

''Leaves From the Family Tree'' (Easley, South Carolina, 1982) compiled by Penelope Johnson Allen for the “Chattanooga Times Sunday Magazine”, is a collection of family histories, primarily from East Tennessee. Although, it is more area specific, it does include about 100 family histories that are full of wonderful information and many of these histories include photographs. It does include an index and if one is fortunate enough to be researching someone in the east Tennessee area, this would be worth reading.

A researcher can, also, get very specific. Take for instance''Tennessee Convicts: Early Records of the State Penitentiary'' by Charles A. and Tomye M. Sherrill. This book includes an index of places (vol. 1) and full-name indexes (vols. 1 & 2). Volume 1 covers the years 1831-1850 and volume 2 the years 1850-1870. Volume 1 might be of particular interest since it was transcribed from Volume 45 of the Tennessee State Penitentiary and in this particular volume are detailed descriptions and biographies of 600 inmates from 1831-1842.

Lyon Gardiner Tyler, ''[http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/RG/catalog/specific.asp?Locality=undefined&Id=&Event=undefined&Date=undefined&DateId=&ActiveTab=&FirstEntry=&StrategyId=&GuidedPathId=&ArchiveId=&CombinedSubject=undefined&WorkingId=&FocusId=&FocusLocality=undefined&WorkingTab=&FocusTab=&SubjectBar=&MaxTabs=&AlphaCode=&Subject=undefined&BlueBar=&Guide=undefined&GuideTab=&GuideId=&Section=&TitleSql=+WHERE+(((t.titleno+=+68071)) Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography]''. 5 vols. (New York: Lewis Historical Pub., 1915). Includes multi-generation family histories. The first three volumes contain a small paragraph of some of the founders, colonial presidents and governors, colonial councilors of state, and burgesses, those elected to political positions and other prominent persons and their involvement in the political climate of Virginia. There is contained in some these short bios more personal information about the individuals, so they are worth a search. The last two volumes of this series are biographies of prominent people who lived in Virginia at one time or another. An index is included in the volume five, but it is not an every name index.

R. A. Brock Alonzo and Virgil A. Lewis, ''Virginia and Virginians'', Salt Lake City Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah 1972 [Microfilm of original published: Richmond and Toledo: H. H. Hardesty, 1888] Lists five to ten prominent citizens from each county with early governors and generals. It includes genealogical data abstracted from the 6 volume set, History of Virginia. It is an index to the biographical volumes of that history.

A researcher will find that often when researching in West Virginia they will be consulting Virginia sources; however, there are still some very good publications that deal primarily with those individuals living in West Virginia. A couple of these publications are: Thomas Condit Miller and Hu Maxwell, ''West Virginia''''and its People,''''''''3 vols. (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1913). The first volume is devoted to the history of West Virginia and the remaining two volumes are family and personal histories. These histories are usually about one to two pages in length, but the information contained within these personal histories is invaluable. There is an index, but it only names the person for which the personal history was written. Another is James Morton Callahan’s ''History of West Virginia Old and New and West Virginia Biography'', 3 vols. (Chicago and New York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1923). Again the two last volumes are dedicated to a compilation of biographies. This publication was written latter than the previous mention book, so it gives you a few more years of information and does contain biographies on quite a few more people.''''''

Although the sources cited in this bibliographic essay do not come close to informing the reader of just how many compiled records are available, it has shown that there are many different avenues to take when deciding which records to utilize. It is also important to note that with the use of the Internet, the amount of compiled records will continue to grow. The use of published sources, however, is a necessary tool in genealogical research. As indexing of these records continues, so will the efficiency of using these sources grow. The use of compiled records in genealogical research is now and always will be a must for any conscientious researcher.

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[http://www.familysearchwiki.org/#_ftnref1 [1]] Genealogy.com, Learning Center, ''International Genealogical Index'', Online <http://www.genealogy.com/00000790.html> Accessed 10 February 2006.

[http://www.familysearchwiki.org/#_ftnref2 [2]] Ancestry.com, Ancestry World Tree, Online <http://www.ancestry.com/trees/awt/main.aspx> Accessed 10 February 2006.

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