I love local histories!

Have you ever read a local history? Local histories put a community and its people in their place and time, and are a valuable source of information for family historians. They often list families by name, and say where people lived and what they did. They bring a community alive, and I highly recommend them.

Try this: Choose a place your family lived long ago (I mean like centuries....), or where you now live,  and then go to https://Archive.org. Type the name of that place in the search engine, and see what you find. Here's a sample of search results for history of Milwaukee County. What a cool bunch of ancient books to read, and they can for the most part be read online.

 

Want a step by step guide to reading local histories online? Follow this link.
 

Local histories used by family historians often date to the late 19^th century, during a period when our nation was celebrating its first hundred years. Like everything else, these books are a product of their time and place, and can be quite flowery, discussing the noble or treacherous (or both) native peoples and the brave pioneers and the sweeping lakes and rivers, until one almost expects Natty Bumppo to leap from the pages.

Many are, however, well researched, purposeful, and beautifully written. I encourage anyone to look for a local history. Before the search, though, read what the Rev. Joseph Tuttle said to the New Jersey Historical Society in 1869, when he presented his Early History of Morris County. He captures the very essence of local histories, and his words make him one of my genealogical heroes (he is also a “cousin”):

“In its beginnings and progress [Morris County] may have borne a very humble part in the grand drama which the world is acting, and yet humble as that part may be, it was grand to those who acted it. … Here the fathers of such a community fought the battle of life, wrestled with the problems of moral responsibility, loved the loving, pitied the sorrowful, helped the weak, wept over the dying; here they laid the foundations of the social fabric as best they could, often in a very blind yet honest method, lived life as we now live it, and they died leaving their graves to us as silent monitors not to permit them to sink into forgetfulness. Although not as great as many who have lived, they are our forefathers, and the work they did for us merits a grateful record at our hands.”

How can one not love that? Get thee to a local history, and enjoy.

 

Cousin Joe, this one's for you..... You are bringing Morris County New Jersey in the 18th century alive for me and for that I am truly grateful.