RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 6, 2005

KINSEARCHING

by

Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
 

    Have you been looking for a marriage record for your early Maryland ancestors but were unable to find one? You probably checked the "traditional" sources--marriage licenses and church records. But did you try to find the information in "non-traditional" resources? If not, you will welcome the new publication MARYLAND MARRIAGE EVIDENCES, 1634 - 1718 by Robert W. Barnes.

    In the introduction Barnes furnishes interesting material on the laws pertaining to marriage in early Maryland. He then provides a seven page bibliography of the primary and secondary sources he used.

     His new work pertains to data on approximately 6,500 marriages during the colonial period in Maryland. Barnes based his material on both direct and indirect evidence. He located indications of some marriages in private records such as family Bibles, letters, diaries, and in newspapers. The compiler also discovered indirect references to marriages in wills and probate records, court proceedings, marriage contracts, land records, and Maryland state papers. A few recurring surnames are BOWLES, CHENEY, COLLIER, DENT, DIXON, EDMONDSON, HANSON, HAWKINS, INGRAM, KING, LOWE, POWELL, RINGGOLD, SULLIVAN, and WARD(E).

    Records are arranged alphabetically by the groom's surname. Names of all the females are listed in the full name index. Source citations appear at the end of each entry.

     In several ways MARRIAGE EVIDENCES serves as a companion piece to Barnes's 1975 work MARYLAND MARRIAGES, 1634 - 1777. For example, many early marriages were not recorded in traditional sources. In addition, many marriage records have been lost through the years for various reasons. Since its information is gleaned from alternative resources, MARYLAND MARRIAGE EVIDENCES, 1634 - 1718 helps to fill in the gap. Also, genealogists who obtained data about their ancestors from Barnes's previous work should be aware that he includes a ten page section of additions and corrections to that book in this new volume. Anyone researching colonial Maryland forebears will want to see what valuable data MARYLAND MARRIAGE EVIDENCES, 1634 - 1718 has to offer.

     The 466-page paperback costs $35.00. To the book's price, buyers should add the cost for postage and handling charges. For U. S. postal mail, the cost is $4 for one book and $1.50 for each additional copy; for UPS, the cost is $6 for one copy and $2.50 for each additional book. The volume (item order #358) may be purchased by check, MasterCard, or Visa from Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 3600 Clipper Mill Rd., Suite 260, Baltimore, Maryland 21211 (toll free phone 1-800-296-6687; fax 1-410-752-8492; website www.genealogical.com).

     Darrell Doggett, 114 Sherwood Trail, Silsbee, TX 77656 (e-mail [email protected]) would appreciate any information on Peggy Jean LOWERY, daughter of G. W. Eugean LOWERY and Ruth DOGGETT. Both of her parents are buried in Shelby County, Texas.

     Although most of us would like to believe that, generation after generation, all our ancestors were "saints," common sense tells us that simply cannot be true. Many genealogists may want to dismiss unsavory items about their forebears when they find them. Such information, however, can be useful in pinpointing individuals in a certain place at a definite time. The data may also give insight into daily life and attitudes of bygone days which family researchers can compare with current lifestyles and perspectives.

     Thanks to Ray Parker Fouts of Cocoa, FL, for this interesting tidbit that she found on page 4 of the 6 Jan 1822 edition of the North Carolina newspaper Edenton Gazette (source: North Carolina State Archive Microfilm Reel EdEGw-2, Edenton Gazette, Jan. 12, 1819 - Dec. 21, 1831):

     "Miscellaneous. ... From the Lake George, (N. Y.) Guardian. DRUNKARDS.--By a law of the late session of the legislature, it is made the duty of the overseers of the poor, in the several towns of this state to forbid all dealers in spirituous liquors from giving or selling such liquors to a drunkard...under the penalty of ten dollars for each and every offence. We have received the following notice, with a request from some of our most respectable citizens, that it might be published. ... To all and every merchant, distiller, store-keeper, grocer, tavernkeeper, or other dealer in spirituous liquors in the town of Caldwell. Please to take notice, that you are not to [next line obscured] liquors to Samuel CRANE, jr. blacksmith, a drunkard. Nathan CRANDAL. Overseer of the Poor. Aug. 31, 1821."