For anyone who has done genealogical research, this is ...
358740
For anyone who has done genealogical research, this is an encouraging and readable journey.  Centered around Marilyn Mascaro's ancestor, B.Y. Harris, this is the story of a family struggling to find a new place for themselves.  Just when stability and prosperity seem certain, the divisive Civil War challenges everything. With this skillful writing, the reader is absorbed by the stories of these real men and women dealing with the horrors and destruction of war and finding the strength to bear and overcome the challenges. Along the way, Mascaro makes sense of the war's chronology in East Tennessee, as well as maintaining the intimacy of the war's impact on her family.  Well done!
498231
This is an invaluable resource for anyone doing genealogical research in North Central West Virginia. The court records include the names of thousands of individuals, often with spouses and children. It is also a truly interesting window into the lives of those who lived in the early 1800s in the Western parts of Virginia.
2137012
This is a great book to have handy. As a complement to this guide and a realistic approach to the genealogy issue I recommend the "Ancestry DNA Toolbox" available at .... Many studies with the human Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA have made it possible to trace back our ancestry. In many cases names and DNA markers can be coupled to study our genealogy. It is not an easy task but worth investigating.
1278963
This book is very helpful in my genealogical research. I have ancestors who settled that area. I really appreciate it.
4395180
This book is an amazing and clear compilation of research and documentation. The author brings the families alive by immersing them into history.  He takes the reader on his journey of discoveries with such ease that it's like reading a diary filled with mistakes, excitement and humanness.  I'm particularly enthusiastic since one of my family lines is featured and finding this book enhanced my research exponentially.  I would trust his sources absolutely. Makes any genealogist thrilled to see his organization and system.
1980339
I bought this as a gift.  I am working on my neighbor's family tree and someone pointed this book out to me. It has lots of great information on the families I am researching for her.
2078654
There were family references that filled in names we had been searching for in an attempt to put together our family history.  It offered an extensive record of names, occupations and locations from Richland County.  A real find for us in terms of bridging lost generations.
1921821
I am an ancestor of the Shipley's of Maryland and this helped me with my research.  I do have further info to provide to the Society for their book.  It goes past Moses Shipley and Cordelia Selby.
2515506
Dr. Hollis Thomas has provided a marvelous example to the family genealogist on how to organize facts, document sources, and provide an insightful history of the lives of one's ancestors in one amazing book.  He is to be applauded for all the work he has done to preserve his family's facinating story.  I'm sure future family historians will look to this book to guide them in how best to tell their own family's story.  My husband is one of the descendants of this family and my children and grandchildren will be forever grateful to Dr. Thomas for putting their family's story in print so that they might share it with the generations to follow them.  Thank you, Dr. Thomas, for a job very well done.
4962043
This is a practical guide that is more specific and goes beyond "How to Do Everything Genealogy."  The author lays out a variety of strategies that the researcher can systematically apply to attack a particularly tough genealogy research problem.  Rather than a shotgun approach, "Advanced Genealogy" describes how and why to use particular strategies for approaching tough problems.  The description of various DNA techniques is an outstanding overview that will help the reader determine if these relatively expensive tests will help them solve a particular problem.  This book does talk about use of specific online and off-line resources, but is really more about how to approach problems using available resources.  This is not for the casual genealogical researcher as much as the goal-directed researcher who has gone beyond, or wants to go beyond the beginner stage.  It is well worth having in anyone's personal genealogy library.  Even an experienced researcher will find plenty of flashes of insight in these pages.
996838
It's very educational, very modern, searched and researched. It will help me very much with my ongoing genealogical research. I'm glad I bought it.
913367
I have been waiting for this book for a LONG time! It's about time someone thought of it and actually did it and did it well. It has made my life much easier and I can enjoy genealogical research even more than before. Thank you for a wonderful, complete index that saves valuable time.
1006903
I am from Kentucky but now live in North Carolina. A relative traced my family tree back two generations, but no farther. Although I had no burning interest in genealogy per se, I wondered what eastern state my relatives came from. On 1 January 2008, an aunt sent me a package with lineage traced back to Adoniram Allen b. 1734. I traced Adoniram back to England 1636, so in one fell swoop I now have part of my traced lineage. I enjoyed the Kozee book, because I am also descended from two Baker lines. Robert Baker, in whose house the first Clay County court was held, is also my ancestor. I enjoyed reading about the early history of Kentucky. Another relative is Kenus Fara Daniel, but I have not traced his parents, grandparents. Perhaps the Thomas W Daniel noted in the Clay County section will help me make future connections.
2732791
The need for abstracted records when doing genealogy research is great.  Finding specific resource locations from an easy to read, indexed source is invaluable.
848453
I purchased this strictly for the discussion of the Bridgewater Leonard family of which I am a descendant.  Like many of the family genealogies of this era (1928), there are no sources quoted, as required by serious, modern genealogists.  It does, however, make for very interesting reading.  The author goes on to discuss her other family lines including the Taunton Leonard family, the Aldens, etc.  At the end she lists each family's genealogy as well as identifying royal lines that go way back into history.
4288497
Well, my mother was descended from the Sutton Dudleys (which she didn't know) and always bragged about her brother's genealogy research on the family when he was stationed in England during WW! (before he was killed in France) Now, she was so darn stuck on the idea he had shared with her that she was descended from Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, (who really was only a distant cousin) that I couldn't persuade her that the real excitement was her direct line from a bunch of KINGS! I am still doing research and LOVED this book for the rather obscure meanderings of which I had known naught! And I'm rather sorry Mom is gone, or I would have shared this book with her too....not that she would deign to read it. In my experience, family history research explains a lot. Plenty of oddballs in lots of families. Cant get enough of it! Enjoy.
292901
As someone who is increasingly intrigued by their own family ancestry, I have recently had the pleasure of discovering a book that takes a unique approach to genealogy and which I would recommend to anyone interested in the subject.

"Preserving Family Legends for Future Generations," by Oklahoma author M. Carolyn Steele, approaches the subject of personal genealogy from the perspective of preserving family history by writing semi-fictionalized stories based on the best information the family historian can obtain. Steele's personal preference is for short stories, but she also discusses novel-length stories and even provides an entire section on self-publishing, largely for the purpose of creating custom-made booklets suitable as gifts for interested relatives.

"My purpose is to encourage everyone, no matter their writing abilities, to preserve their family stories in an entertaining and readable format," Steele writes in her introduction to the book. "Relating a family legend brings the story to life for that instant, but writing it down preserves it forever."

While "Preserving Family Legends for Future Generations" is very encouraging and instructive, it is also frequently entertaining. Steele includes a number of samples of her own writing, for example, which relate stories about an ancestor who escaped an enemy firing squad during the Civil War and a somewhat risqu&eacute; grandmother who was murdered by her fifth husband at the age of just 29!

I was very pleased and flattered, by the way, to learn that Steele's source material included my own&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Everyday-Life-During-The-Civil-War/dp/1582973377/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Everyday Life During The Civil War</a>. Just as she strives in her work to produce something worthy of sharing with others, I am always happy when I am able to accomplish the same thing in my own.