'Our Brown Roots' on the Shelves!

My book, 'Our Brown Roots,' is now on the shelves in the 

Virginia Room of the Fairfax Regional Library, Virginia.  

Virginia Room 

City of Fairfax Regional Library

10360 North Street

Fairfax Virginia 22030

Shelley Cox, Administrative Assistant at the library kindly sent me photos of my book, after it was processed, in place at the library. 

I am excited to know my book can reach out to others who may be members of our family's branches or to others who may be researching their families.

I hope to visit the library during my next visit to Virginia, where our daughter's family lives. I hope to take my grandsons with me to see my book on the shelf!

You may purchase a copy through Troy Book Makers.

Related Posts:

• Never Underestimate a Library
• A Time to Write: Charts 
• A Time to Write: Edit, Edit, Edit
• A Time to Write: The Most Elusive People 
  
  

Alford American Family Association

Do you have the Alford family in your family tree?

If you do, visit the AAFA website and look through the databases.

I am a member of AAFA & have been for many years. Join us.

Read the AAFA newsletters, edited by Gail Alford.

In January's newsletter my book, 'Our Brown Roots,' is mentioned.

ALFORD AMERICAN FAMILY ASSOCIATION

This show my connection to the Alford family, through my paternal grandfather.

Contact me to purchase a copy of my book. Our Brown Roots.' 

What family genealogy groups to you belong to? 

To learn more about my family's branches

order & read the Books I have Written.

Our Browns Roots

&

Remembrances

New Year Resolution: Done!

 For many years my New Year's Resolution remained unchanged:

-- Finish writing my Book about my paternal grandfather's family. --

I kept thinking that this would be the year to finish. I would set aside research and focus on writing what I have learned. Finally I made it happen.

Stop Researching & Write!

I had written my book in sections, each a surname was a branch of my paternal grandfather's ancestors. I had researched each branch for many years. If I was to ever share that information with my family I had to put the brakes on research and focus on writing.

Pull it all Together!

For each section I:

• polished off the writing 
• added photos, charts & maps
• added documents, newspaper articles, wills & estate papers
• added timelines 
• edited, edited & edited

Format!

Then, I set up a format for the book and brought all the sections together.

To the main body of the book I added:

• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• How to Navigate This Book
• List of Photographs
• A brief History of each State where my ancestors lived
• Epilogue
• About the Author
• Endnotes [Without references it is only a story!]
• Index [I feel this is critical for readers!]

Seek Help!

When I came up to a brick wall of writing I sought help. I found it difficult to see my errors. I had read it all many times and that made it difficult to see it objectively. I double checked some stories with my aunts. I reached out to my cousin, Nancy, to find my typos, check my formats and generally give me advice. 

Then I contacted the Troy Book Makers, my publishers. They helped me with troublesome page numbers, mysterious random blank pages, and other formatting issues. There were fees for that help but without it the book would not look professional.

Printing & Waiting!

Once I turned in the final digital copy of the book I had to learn patience. I felt a bit lost without the project at my fingertips. I could focus on other things but mainly, I waited.

DONE!

My book arrived in several heavy boxes. I cut through the tape, pulled out and held my book in my hands. Amazing!

Now I am sharing with my brothers, my aunts, my cousins, ...

You can do it too. No more dreaming. You can make it happen.

Make your resolution come true this year!

Do you want to learn more about the Browns?

Buy my book.

Contact Troy Book Makers.

'Our Brown Roots' in Print! Get Your Copy!

My book  has been printed!

'Our Brown Roots'

Information on these families:

Alford

Ashley

Brown

Brumfield

Dillon

Fortenberry

Hollis

Kelly

Kennington

Lawrence

Ott

Smith

Spurlock

Contact me for a copy.

cgbp@nycap.rr.com

Price: $95.00

Contact Troy Book Makers to purchase a copy.

Includes these states:

New York

Ohio

Virginia

North Carolina

South Carolina

Mississippi

Louisiana

 

Our Brown Roots

My book is almost ready to be put into your hands.

After many years of research, writing and editing the story of my father's family is close to printing. Tomorrow I will visit Troy Book Makers for a final editing session. There are a few little items to fix and then the printing will begin.

Watch my blog. I will let you know when it will be ready for sale.

Our Brown Roots began as a quest to learn more about my father’s paternal roots but quickly expanded to include many related families. The Brown family had married Alford, Brumfield and Smith and those families married Ashley, Dillon, Fortenberry, Hollis, Kelly, Kennington, Lawrence, Ott and Spurlock. The deeper our roots stretch, the wider they spread. My research, begun in New York and Ohio, quickly moved to Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and beyond. Information from Bibles, letters, interviews, documents, maps and photographs blended into family trees, timelines, outlines and family stories. 

 

Our families were in the Colonies before the United States came to be. In this book you will learn the history of those families, how their lives intertwined and the worlds in which they lived. To understand the people who populate our family tree, we must understand their worlds. What was happening in the places they lived, at the time they lived there? Learn about how our families grew as our country grew; how our ancestors used their strengths and talents to defend and build their lives, their families and our country. It is my sincere hope that this book will keep those ancestors alive into future generations. 

Questions?

This is the place to ask.

 

A Time to Write: 4. Charts

I am working on writing, Our Brown Roots, the history of my paternal grandfather’s family & its many leaves & branches. The book includes maps, charts and photographs. 

I try to use charts to illustrate relationships with in our family. Because I have studied these families for such a long time I understand how they are connected. However, my readers will not be familiar with all these people.  

In the book I am writing, I have included a chart at the beginning of each Surname Section. Each chart shows the connection from my paternal grandfather to the branch of the family in the section.

These Pedigree Charts are made with my Family Tree Maker program. They are the same but I am able to highlight the branch being studied.

This chart shows how my grandfather connects to the Smith family.             

This chart shows how my grandfather connects to the Alford family.     

It is my hope that these charts will make our relationships clear to the reader.

Note: In the book, I use no colors in my charts, maps or photos because color printing will be too expensive for the length of the book and number of copies I would like. 

Related Posts:

• A Time to Write 1
• A Time to Write: 2, The Most Elusive People
• A Time to Write: 2B the MOST Elusive People
• A Time to Write: 3 Edit, Edit, Edit!

Genealogy Charts

I get many comments on my blog posts that ask me about the charts I add to many of my posts. I have Family Tree Maker to record and organize my genealogy data. Therefore, that is the program I use to generate charts. This post is not meant to be an advertisement for that program. I am sure there are many options to use that would do the same things. However, this is what I use and it can give you an idea of what is available. 

When I write a blog post I try to add a chart that can easily show information & family relationships of the person or people who are the focus of the post. 

Family Tree Maker has many options that will generate charts or reports with the data I have already to saved to the program. At the top of my computer screen I click on "People" and find the individual I want and then Click on "Publish" and have the choices seen in this screen shot.

Publication. From these options I usually use "Charts." Then I have many options and I have used most of these charts over the years, depending upon what information I want to display and how much space I have for the chart to fit. The fan chart, for example, is large and if I add it to a blog post then details will be small. If I print it I will need large paper. 

Charts. Each chart can be adapted to your needs. You can decide how many generations of information you want to display. You can decide wha information you want to display for each person. Do you want to display the full birth and death details, day, month, year & location OR do you want to display just the range such as 1900 - 1990? Do you want to add marriage or burial details? You can adjust the chart to your needs.

Vertical Pedigree Chart. For blog posts I use this chart the most often. I go to the "People View" and select the person who I am researching or blogging about. Then I go to the "Publish" tab, select the 'Vertical Pedigree Chart" and click on "Generate Report." A chart will appear and to the right of the chart with many chart options.

Options:

• Items to include
• Fonts (fonts, colors, sizes, alignments)
• Box, Border & Line Styles (many options)
• Inclusion of Images
• Page Set up (for printing)
• Margins (for printing)

These options are for any of the charts you chose. I suggest you play with these to find what you like. I have tried many of the options to find what I think will print or display clearly, with the information I want to share, in a manner that is easy for people who are not genealogists to understand. 

In the above chart I have changed colors in the boxes for males & females. I also have "Generation Boxes" on the left which are optional. The font can also be different for males, females, labels. In the chart below I omitted colors, Generation Boxes & the spouse of the primary individual. 

I could add the siblings of the primary individual & change each generation to a different color. I can change the shape & color of the primary individual's box. 

Do you want to add your sources for each fact in the chart? You can do that. Footnote numbers will show in each box and the list of source details will follow the chart. Do you want to add your name & address or blog name to the chart? You can do that. Do you want to add embellishments? You can do that too.

Keep your purpose in mind. Do you want to print the chart? Do you want to add it to a blog post? Is the result for a genealogist or someone who knows little about genealogy? Design the chart for your need. Play with the options. You can always delete the things that do not work for you. When you find a format that works you can save it in the program. You can go to your saved charts & formats to use again.

I hope this inspires you to use charts to share your research with others. 

Do you have a different program or app that you use?  

How do you use your charts? Please comment and share with us.

A Time to Write: 3. Edit, Edit, Edit!

 

OUR BROWN ROOTS

I am working on writing, Our Brown Roots, the history of my paternal grandfather’s family & its many leaves & branches. I am trying to focus my time & efforts on finishing up that huge project but will give some time to posting about the procedure here.

Here is an update on my progress with my book. I am very happy to have my first cousin, Nancy Jo (Brown) Dilley, helping me by editing this massive project. We have poured over every word, name, comma and quotation mark in the pages of this book. One chapter at a time, Nancy has read, edited and commented on our family's story. Then we met so we could look closely at each page.  We'd focus on every place her bright orange marker left a smiley face, a question mark, or note for me to address. My well read librarian cousin has given me very useful insights and comments. 

After years of researching and writing about the 13 family branches in this book, I needed a second pair of eyes. I need someone who is not a genealogist. Most of my eventual readers will not be genealogists so I need that point of view. Have I explained land grants, relationships and historical settings so they are understandable? Are my charts and maps confusing or clear?

Nancy would had me one chapter at a time to edit and then we would move on to the next. We worked our way through the over 800 pages!

I saved my Word document on a thumb drive and drove over to my local Staples. They printed 2 copies and returned them to me in two heavy boxes. We emptied our 2 inch binders and refilled them with this draft. What will we do now?

EDIT,  EDIT, EDIT!

Related Posts:

• A Time to Write 1
• A Time to Write: 2, The Most Elusive People
• A Time to Write: 2B the MOST Elusive People

Book Report: Everyday Life During the Civil War

When I write about the lives of the family who came before us, I do my best to dug up the hidden facts of their lives. But, to make them come alive again, I try to paint those dry facts with the colors of the world as it was when and where they lived. Therefore, I am often looking for books to teach me more about the past. Most every family was changed, in some way by the Civil War. This book teaches us about that time.

Everyday Life During the Civil War:

A Guide for Writers, Students and Historians

 Written by Michael J. Varhola

Published: Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1999

Table of Contents:

1 North and South: One Nation, Two Peoples

2 Wages, Currency, Clothing and Dry Goods

3 Life in City, Town and Country

4 Food and Diet

5 Fun and Games: How People Entertained Themselves

6 The Civil War Viewed from the Home Front

7 Brothers at War: Billy Yank, Johnny Reb

8 Slang and Idiom

9 Technology

10 Arms, Equipment and Uniforms

The chapters in the book are divided into North and South. For example, what food was available during the war in each part of our country; what clothing was worn or what uniforms did the soldiers wear. 

I like to read about the everyday things that would have been a big part of the lives of the people in our families. For example, the families in the south were all affected by the food shortages and the increasing prices for the food they could purchase. Here are some examples from this book:

Food prices in 1861:

Bacon              12.5 cents per pound

Butter              20 cents per pound

Coffee              35 cents per pound

Flour:              $6 per barrel

Potatoes          75 cents per bushel

Food prices in 1865:

Bacon              $11 to $13 per pound

Beef                 $8 per pound

Butter              $15 to $20 per pound

Cornmeal         $400 per bushel

Flour                $325 to $1,000 per barrel

The book also includes a Civil War Timeline, Recommended Books, Bibliography, Resources for further research and Songs & Poetry.

If you want a clear picture of how life was lived at the time of the Civil War pick up this book and read.

MY LIBRARY

At the top of this blog, click on My Library for many more books that I have found useful for genealogical & historical research.

Book Report: Everyday Life in Colonial America From 1607 to 1783

  

Many branches of my father’s family lived in Colonial America. We may have visions of large families in rustic log cabins living off the land but were the actual details of life before we became the country we are now? How was life different from Maine to Virginia? What did the people eat & wear? This book fills in details that are useful when writing about our Colonial Families.

Everyday Life in Colonial America 

From 1607 to 1783

Written by Dale Taylor

Published: Cincinnati, OH: Writer’s Digest Books, 1997

Table of Contents:

1. Almanac

Chesapeake Regional Overview

New England Regional Overview

Middle Colonies Regional Overview

Deep South Regional Overview

2. Everyday Life

Food & Drink

Architecture

Clothing & Accessories

Marriage & Family

3. Government & War

Government, Law & Politics

Warfare & the Military

Money, Economy, Trade, Travel & Navigation

4. Colonial Society

Arts & Sciences

Farming, Fishing, Trapping & Laborers

Trades

Professions

Religion

This book is filled with details of Colonial life. I find much of it very interesting. For example, the section on Language and Literature said literacy rates “…seem to have been high.” Writing was an essential skill. Letter writing was important to communicate over distances. I had understood the importance of literacy before reading this book but I thought reading and writing skills were not common among early settlers. Mr. Taylor wrote that spelling “was not yet standardized, but phonetic.” That is easy to believe based on the early records I have read. The book includes details on early writing tools. Pens were made from the primary flight feathers of a goose or turkey. Inkwells were made of pottery, glass, brass, pewter or silver. Pencils made of lead and wood were “less common than pens.” 

My criticism of this book is this. It does not always differentiate between life in the various colonies but writes as if life in all areas was the same.  For example Mr. Taylor writes about alcoholic beverages in Massachusetts and Connecticut but what about Virginia and the Carolinas? Were their habits the same?

If your family lived in the colonies there is most likely something in this book of interest to you.

MY LIBRARY

At the top of this blog, click on My Library for many more books that I have found useful for genealogical & historical research.

10th Blog Anniversary!

Ten years ago I did not know where my blog posts would lead or how long I would keep posting. Today I take a moment in my research to acknowledge 10 years of posts. Thanks to everyone who has taken time to read & comment. Why do I continue? The following quote answers that question.

Family is not an important thing. It’s everything. 

–Michael J. Fox

Related Posts:

• 5th Blog Anniversary
• 2nd Blog Anniversary
• 1st Blog Anniversary

The Past had Once Been the Present

I was recently reading a novel and came to this paragraph. I stopped and read it a couple more times. Then I stuck a bookmark in the page.  William Martin's books are packed with history, overlaid with the present. As genealogists I think we also have one foot in the past and one in the present.

He didn’t expect that too many people thought about the world the way he did. To him, the past had once been the present…and the future. And if you looked at it like that, not only did it keep the past alive, it made the present more comprehensible and gave contour to the future’s flat horizon.

The view of life of the character, Peter Fallon as written by William Martin in Harvard Yard (Boston: Grand Central Publishing, 2003) 228.