"Tracing Our Roots" Newsletter Archive (A monthly genealogy newsletter written by the late Brenda Kellow, dec'd, for the Plano Star Courier newspaper. We've included all the ones we could recover.)
No one knows better than I the difficulty and frustration of hunting an obscure ancestor. Tracing some ancestors is easier than others. Consulting with others on where and what to do next is usually easier than using the same methodology to search my own. That is why I suggest that all of us network with others. Don t beat yourself up over being unable to find an elusive person. A fresh approach to your problem may identify a clue you have missed or a resource with which you are unfamiliar. If you are searching for someone who came through Barbados, or remained there, or Scots in Poland, Russia and the Baltic states, three new reprints may be of help.
James C. Brandow compiled a series titled Genealogies of Barbados Families, from Caribbeana and the Journal of the Barbados Museum of Historical Society. Brandow says the Barbados Museum has continuously published the society journal since 1933.
There have been many publications taken from the extant records that go back to 1640, but these are usually just abstracts. Brandow has taken this further. Familiar with the close ties between the island and North America s Atlantic seaboard, he combined his personal research and the prior summaries with the documents and histories published in the Barbados Journal and the articles in the Caribbeana.
The 753-page reprint is available from Genealogical Publishing Company (GPC) for $55, number CF658. Order online at www.genealogical.com or call 1-800-296-6687. Shipping and handling is $4 for the first book and $1.50 for each additional book.
SCOTTS IN EUROPE
The Scottish expert, author of over 30 books published by GPC, and frequent lecturer in the United States, David Dobson, wrote the other two books previously mentioned. Dobson, who lives in Scotland, specializes in emigration and movement of Scottish people s origin and settlement in Europe and America during the period between 1600-1800. His expertise includes the factors that influence the movement during this time period including maritime history; parish, court; family, and estate papers; and government records and their location of information.
Who better to author Scots in Poland, Russia, and the Baltic States than David Dobson? The end result of his experience and in depth research of manuscript collections and publications resulted in a list of over 2,500 Scots who settled in the Baltic. It spans a period of 300 years. The listing is alphabetical and gives the various spellings of the surname, places of residents in Europe, origin, occupations, relatives, descendants and offspring. The cost from GPC is $22.50 and the number is CF9365.
His second book, a deal at $20 also from GPC, is an alphabetical listing of Scottish surnames. The title is The Scottish Surnames of Colonial America, number CF9790. I found in it the family name Wallace. Dobson says it is probably based on the Old English word welisc meaning foreigner, a term used to describe the native Celtic people of Britain, including the Britons of Stratchclyde. The surname is first found in Ayrshire and Renfrewshire during the twelfth century. David Wallace, from Stonehaven, settled in Virginia in 1723, and Margaret Wallace, from Edinburgh, was transported to Maryland in 1704. Margaret is another ancestor who came first into Maryland rather than New England or Virginia.
To accommodate those hot on the trail of their ancestors, Ancestry.com announced the completion of the first every name index of the 1870 U. S. census. Many of us should now be able to find the ancestors who have eluded us by forever being on the move. This is good news to genealogists ears.
With these publications in hand, plus the every name index for the 1870 U.S. census, finding our ancestors should be easier. We must keep abreast of new publications and technical advances, genealogical news, and network with our peers to make genealogical research complete.
Brenda Kellow, dec'd, Certified Genealogist and Certified Genealogical Instructor, had a Bachelor s Degree in history and taught genealogy courses at the local Community College and computer genealogy at the University.
