Genealogy Books

Considering the publisher of this work, it must be regarded as the "official" complete list (up to 1906). Volume 1 contains the preeminent orders -- Garter, Bath, Victorian Order, etc. -- each list being chronological and providing full names and dates of all persons invested, so far as information was available. (It seems astonishing that the registers of the Order of the Thistle, which began in 1687, were lost c1830 and not rediscovered until the turn of this century!)

Volume 2 is a chronological list of knights bachelors -- "ordinary" knights -- from the introduction of the Angevin dubbing ceremony c1250. Shaw's articulate essays on each order, and on the system of knights bachelors (and why most fief-holders didn't want to join), provide an antidote to American confusion on this subject.

Mr. Koffroth does an excellent job of keeping his heritage alive in a wonderfully written chronicle. The tales of his ancestors past entice the reader while maintaining a painstakingly accurate genealogic account of his family. The dedication of the author is clearly shown in the quality of his writing.

My Family is part of the Kapel, Kosnick Family, so I would call it "My Family" as my Aunt Betty Burgess and my Grandma Anne Olave used to be Kapel's.

Ever since I traveled extensively around the US a few years back and heard the term "Michigander," I can't help but wonder what locals are called in every place I travel. Some labels are easy to figure out (New Yorker), some I just know because I've lived there all my life (Seattleite), but when I come across a place like Massachusetts, where adding an "er" or an "an" just makes it a mouthful, what am I supposed to do? Now I know: read this book! Dickson has gathered "labels for locals" from places all around the world, and every since I ordered the book I've been searching through the pages eager to see if the next city or country I come up with is there and what the locals are called. It's not always necessary to visit a country and immediately know what the locals are called, but it's certainly interesting to know. Dickson also gives the history of many of the labels, interesting tidbits as well.

The book is easy to peruse and find what you're looking for, and there's an informative introduction by Dickson about some of the obstacles in history of finding names of locals.

I definitely recommend this book!

As Continental forces and Virginia militia units were engaged in winning independence, American quartermasters and provisioners struggled to provide these units with all the necessities of life, from meals and guns to meat, fodder for horses, the horses themselves, firewood, and every other type of material. Much of this was requisitioned from the civilian population and certificates were issued payable in either continental or state funds, depending on the units supplied, upon presentation to court authorities. Thousands of these certificates issued to Virginians were duly entered by the courts, and they provide a fascinating insight into the period of the Revolution. These "Publick" Claims booklets contain interesting and useful information about the contributions of ordinary people to the Revolutionary War. They provide some details of people's service in the militia or as guards for prisoners of war; they indicate where some bodies of troops were at particular times; and they identify providers of horses, wagons, cattle, grain, or other supplies. Much of the information in these booklets cannot be found anywhere else, which makes the surviving records particularly valuable. Also remarkable is the fact that records survived from virtually every county in the state at that time with the exception of the newly formed Kentucky counties. This makes the collection even more valuable in covering areas which heretofore in this time period have suffered from a lack of personal data. The "Virginia Publick Claims" are published by counties. In addition to a faithful transcription by Janice Luck Abercrombie and the late Richard Slatten, a complete index is provided for each county booklet. This series is an extremely important genealogical tool for searchers in Revolutionary-era materials.

This is the best information available in one source on the Lanphere and related families I have read. It is as complete as perhaps one person can make it. It starts with a short history of the Lanphere family in France and then describes the Lanphere Line beginging with the "first George", George Lanphere. He was the first Lanphere to arrive in the new world (Rhode Island), according to this book. The book follows the descendents of George Lanphere down to modern times with the latest "Lanphere" born in 1969. It tracks many strands of the "Lanphere Line" but not nearly all of them. For example, my part of the line ends with my great great grandfather. This is a wonderful resource for genealogists.

Once in a while we are blessed to have someone bestow upon us the immeasurable gift of enlightenment concerning the mislaid contributions of people who have rendered great service to America. Too often Afrikan Americans have been misrepresented or removed from history. Professor Wilson has served the discipline of history well in her account of Charles Hatfield, his antecedents, Louisiana history and the Southern University Law School. Mr. Hatfield never graduated from law school, but his struggle to achieve opened the door for many others. Fortunately, his contribution was recognized by the University in his lifetime.
The author is not parochial in her approach. She recounts the Hatfield origins in Europe, the family arrival in America, their travel to Louisiana and how they acquitted themselves there. She is expansive in her telling of the Haitian Revolution to portray Louisiana of the nineteenth century, what it meant to Hatfield, and by extension black and white Americans of that era.
George and Eliza Douse's entrepreneurship (Orange Hill) shows that business and profession have always been integral to the Afrikan in America,. The location of the inn is historically interesting; Highway 61's centrality in America intertwines the Mississippi River and the Blues. Again, the summation of the Haitian Revolution contributed to a greater understanding of the Douse's prioritizing the documentation of their free status. This recounting also emphasizes the panic element in the South regarding white's security and the status of Afrikans in America.
Professor Wilson has "humanized" individuals such as Homer Plessy by placing them in a community context, as opposed to just being aware of them as a name on legal brief. Other individuals such as Albion Tourgeé are brought back to our consciousness. Tourgeé, as well as being a great attorney, was an exceptional socially conscious novelist. He brought a consciousness concerning racism, with a talent that Scott Turow and John Grisham as lawyer/authors are recognized for today.
The need for black professional graduates is presented brilliantly by the recounting of Louisiana's bloody political struggle over the voting franchise and subsequent political entrenchment. This bloodshed occupied a full decade and part of another. These events were repeated in other black political strongholds such as South Carolina and North Carolina in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Against this background, Professor Wilson charts the progress of these warriors who made the law their weapon of choice. Even as they chose their weapon, their adversary (white supremacy) reached into their arsenal of obfuscation. Blacks wishing to pursue the law in their home states were forced by the political climate to attend schools outside of their home states or forego that education. The challenge in various states is aptly recorded and the struggle in Louisiana can be placed into focus.
The segregationists, however, weren't through. They utilized the classic American solution: throw money at a problem, buy off the opposition. They told the presidents of the black colleges that the white institutions collectively would contribute funds for the enrollment of black students, provided that those administrators would not support black attendance at state (white) schools in furtherance of professional education, i.e. law, medicine, dentistry, et cetera.
The black administrators found themselves on the horns of a dilemma with the sword of Damocles hovering overhead. These administrators knew more acutely than others that separate but equal was inherently unequal. They also knew that some professional education was better than none. Reluctantly, the arrangement was acquiesced to. In some instances where the admission to the state schools was blocked by custom (de facto segregation), black law schools were instituted, i.e. Louisiana State University/Southern University School of Law. Whiatever choice these administrators made, Professor Wilson's cogent presentation of the problem informs the reader's capacity to grasp the issue and understand the dynamics underlying positions and actions taken.
Professor Wilson initially intended to produce a biographical sketch of Attorney Louis Berry, whom you will meet in the book, fortunately she undertook the telling of this Hatfield saga. This respect for African American history speaks well for the future. Mainstream America is bereft of appreciation for truth and justice. How refreshing that there is a voice at an historically black university that will take us forward into our past and back into our future..
Let us hope that Professor Wilson will take on other aspects of the quest for justice in American history and thereby enrich us all.


Adisa Makalani

How do I write a review if I can't buy the book? Do you send it to me to review???

Richard LeConte Anderson spent his life researching and accurately documenting all the know decendents of the Guillaume LeConte the French Huguenot who immigrated to New Rochelle New York in the late 1690's. This two volume edition is a professional work. While the pages are photo copied or (Xeroxed if you will) it represents the best compilation of LeConte family geneology available. He lists his sources and references.

The book doesn't just cover the Bornemann family but also puts it into a context.

Being related to the author myself I really enjoyed reading it, but I do think that others can find a lot of interesting things too.

It covers both german and american history, and through letters from relatives Alfred Bornemann gives a good picture of how people thought "back then".
Read it!!!
Jens Borneman