RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 9, 2007
KINSEARCHING
by
Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
If you have an ANSLEY line, start making plans now to attend the thirty-first annual family reunion scheduled for May 2-4, 2008, in Thomson, GA. Persons who cannot attend may want to obtain membership in the Ansley Family Association (AFA). Twice a year, the organization publishes a newsletter which individuals can receive for a $10 annual subscription. Each issue carries data on recent Ansley births, marriages, anniversaries, and deaths throughout the country. The fall issue for 2007 also contains the minutes and photographs of the thirtieth annual reunion in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Other information concerns descendants of Rev. Samuel ANSLEY, who married Mary TILLMAN in Warren Co., GA, in 1809, and letters written in the early 1900s by Julia Ansley CLAYLAND of Whitsburg, GA. For more details about the reunion or the newsletter, write to AFA Membership, Attn: James (Jim) Ansley, Jr., RR 1, Box 229, Brevard, North Carolina 28712-9770.
With Christmas fast approaching, many genealogists may think more about the religious affiliations of their forebears. Family researchers whose early American ancestors were Anglicans in what is now the Tar Heel State will welcome another addition to the award-winning Colonial Records of North Carolina {Second Series}. The eleventh volume in the ongoing series and the second concerning the colony's established religion, THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN NORTH CAROLINA: DOCUMENTS, 1742-1763, is now available. Edited by Robert J. Cain and Jan-Michael Poff, the publication continues the high standards of previous volumes.
Like the earlier books in the series, VOLUME XI begins with a lengthy, authoritative introduction that sets the historical context for the eighteenth-century documents, which are transcribed verbatim. The introduction also explains the editorial method used and provides lists of abbreviations for source references, different types of documents, and citations to printed sources. A complete inventory of all materials examined precedes the reproductions of the papers.
Among the papers are correspondence and reports by Anglican clergymen and royal governors; instructions, letters, and journal excerpts from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG); acts of the General Assembly; and vestry minutes. Together, the data depict the condition of the Church of England in North Carolina, efforts to overcome obstacles to its growth, and relationships between church and state, clergy and vestry, and clergy and the SPG.
Scanning the papers, readers will realize how the documents humanize the institutional history of the established church. Often focusing on individual clergymen, the material provides insight into the clergy's personal lives and the circumstances under which they labored. Descendants of Anglican clergymen may learn something about their ancestors' character as some clerics earned praise for their diligence while others received discipline for questionable behavior. (One was even implicated in the murder of a servant.) Biographical sketches of seventeen known Church of England clergymen in North Carolina during the years 1742 - 1763 will also be helpful to family researchers.
Since the vestry minutes report on the civil duties (care of the poor, for example) undertaken by the church, genealogists may find information about their ancestors who were church members. For instance, in Carteret County in 1754, Major David SHEPARD rendered an account for his deceased son David SHEPARD. In the same county in 1755, Capt. Moses HOUSTON received money for "Keeping Ann GARREY and Child...." Vestry minutes may be the only source for specific details (names of relatives, former place of residence, or year of death, for example) about some of the colony's eighteenth-century inhabitants.
Containing much interesting and useful data, THE COLONIAL RECORDS OF NORTH CAROLINA {SECOND SERIES}, VOLUME XI, THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN NORTH CAROLINA: DOCUMENTS, 1742-1763 is another fine achievement in this outstanding series. Libraries will certainly want to include this publication in their collections of Tar Heel State references.
The 643-page hardback has illustrations, four appendixes, and a thorough index. Priced at $55.00 plus shipping charges of $13.50 (and 6.75% tax for North Carolina residents), the book may be purchased from Historical Publications Section (N), Office of Archives and History, 4622 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-4622. For credit card orders, call 919-733-7442, extension 0, or use the secure online shop at http://nc-historical-publications.stores.yahoo.net. The Historical Publications Section's catalog of more than 160 North Carolina publications, including other colonial titles, is also online.