The Family Tree
By Terence L. Day
Terence L. Day, genealogist and journalist, is on the Washington State University faculty. He welcomes e-mail at genealogy@moscow.com, or regular mail in care of the Tri-City Herald City newsroom, P.O. Box 2608, Tri-Cities, WA 99302-2608.
Plenty of genealogy references to aid in ancestral searches
This story was published Jan. 3, 1998
With heightened interest in genealogy, there are more reference materials to aid genealogists than ever before.
This is true in printed form and on the Internet. But Everton Publishers' The Handy Book for Genealogists remains one of, well, the handiest.
If you can afford only one genealogy reference book in your personal library, I recommend the eighth edition of the Handy Book, published in Logan, Utah, in 1991.
The Handy Book is for genealogists researching ancestors in the United States. Its main strength lies in its brief state-by-state histories that are invaluable in telling genealogists when vital records became available and where to write for them.
This is brought down to the county level, with maps and dates counties were created and a listing of counties or territories from which they were organized.
For instance, the Handy Book tells me white exploration of Kentucky began in 1750. No need to look for my Day or McKenzie ancestors in Kentucky before that time. The first permanent white settlement was in Harrodsburg in 1774.
The Handy Book shows Kentucky began registering births and deaths Jan. 1, 1911. Some cities began recording these events much earlier. Louisville, for instance, began recording births in 1898 and deaths in 1866.
I am further informed Morgan County, Ky., was created in 1823, out of Floyd and Bath counties. My Day and McKenzie ancestors were among the earliest settlers of the West Liberty area of Morgan County. Since they arrived there before 1810, I know not to look for them in Morgan County records.
Instead, I need to go to Floyd County, which was created in 1800, out of Fleming, Mason and Montgomery counties, or in Bath County, which was created in 1811, from Montgomery County.
Well, it starts getting a bit complicated, because I have to figure out which of these older counties included West Liberty at the time my ancestors moved there from Virginia. But you can see how the Handy Book helps me figure these things out.
The state maps showing current county lines especially are helpful. There are other publications I can use to "walk" my way through all the county boundary changes to determine where to look from records.
If my Morgan County ancestors lived in a section of Morgan County that, at the time they lived there, belonged to - let's say, Bath County - I will need to look in Bath County for its records.
The Handy Book lists mailing addresses and phone numbers for state and county offices where you can obtain records. I suspect most addresses remain valid, and probably most telephone numbers, except for area codes. There has been such a proliferation of area codes, breaking down the original geographic areas to which they apply, that I suspect many county court houses now have new area codes.
This shouldn't be a difficult problem for genealogists to deal with. But as this trend continues, Everton will have to update its book more frequently.
If you're serious about this genealogy business and don't already have your own copy of the Handy Book, I'd recommend buying one. I don't know when you genealogize, but I often do it late at night, or even in the middle of the night, when I can't hop over to the library and look something up in the Handy Book.
You might want to stop by your local genealogy society research room, or public library, to inspect a copy before buying. Every Family History Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that I've visited has a copy. These centers are open to the general public, free of charge.
I presume you can order the Handy Book from any bookstore. If yours can't order it, drop a note to Everton, P.O. Box 368, Logan, Utah, 84321.