Ancestry.com- Shaking Your Family Tree, July 16, 1998

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Shaking Your Family Tree

July 16, 1998

Shaking Your Family Tree, by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.

SEARCHING FOR OLD AMERICAN TOWNS

by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.

To determine where records about our ancestors might be found, we spend a great deal of time trying to pinpoint where they were at specific times. The next step is to ascertain the place's present-day name, and what civil jurisdiction or division it's under. Then we can begin to actually track down the records.

Urban and suburban development probably has been the greatest cause of the disappearance of old American place names, but there are other reasons, such as man-made lakes and reservoirs, as well as a few deliberate name changes. Whatever the reason, in order to find your ancestors in American records, you usually must determine the correct county.

A century ago, George Cram's Unrivaled Atlas of the World was published. It contained an index of more than 100,000 place names of "every county, city, town, village, and post office in the U.S., showing the population of the same according to the census of 1890.''

But, the informed genealogist will say, the 1890 census is not extant. True, but Cram had access to it before it was destroyed in the 1921 fire. This original work was published in 1898, and it ties cities, towns and villages to specific counties, which makes it a valuable aid for family historians. At the time of its creation, about 45 percent of the places listed were too small or obscure to have their population counts listed by the census taker, and, of course, many localities have long since disappeared from our maps and atlases.

It has been reprinted recently under the title of American Place Names of Long Ago, with an introduction by Gilbert S. Bahn, Ph.D. Under each state is first listed all the counties (or, in the case of Indian Territory, the nations and reservations) and their respective populations. Then, in alphabetical order within each state, it gives the place name, the county in which the place is located, and the population at the time of the 1890 census. State capitals and large cities are in caps, county seats are in boldface, post offices are in Roman type, and places that are not post offices are rendered in italics. Places that were too small for a population count are indicated by an "X".

This is an invaluable book, and you will want one for your personal library or your genealogy library. It's available from Genealogical Publishing Co., ($38.50 postpaid), 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202-3897; (800) 296-6687.

(c) 1998, Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Julie Case are co-editors of Missing Links, a free weekly genealogy e-zine. To subscribe, send your request to: Missing Links Newsletter

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July 16, 1998
	SEARCHING FOR OLD AMERICAN TOWNS by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.
To determine where records about our ancestors might be found, we spend a great deal of time trying to pinpoint where they were at specific times. The next step is to ascertain the place's present-day name, and what civil jurisdiction or division it's under. Then we can begin to actually track down the records. Urban and suburban development probably has been the greatest cause of the disappearance of old American place names, but there are other reasons, such as man-made lakes and reservoirs, as well as a few deliberate name changes. Whatever the reason, in order to find your ancestors in American records, you usually must determine the correct county. A century ago, George Cram's Unrivaled Atlas of the World was published. It contained an index of more than 100,000 place names of "every county, city, town, village, and post office in the U.S., showing the population of the same according to the census of 1890.'' But, the informed genealogist will say, the 1890 census is not extant. True, but Cram had access to it before it was destroyed in the 1921 fire. This original work was published in 1898, and it ties cities, towns and villages to specific counties, which makes it a valuable aid for family historians. At the time of its creation, about 45 percent of the places listed were too small or obscure to have their population counts listed by the census taker, and, of course, many localities have long since disappeared from our maps and atlases. It has been reprinted recently under the title of American Place Names of Long Ago, with an introduction by Gilbert S. Bahn, Ph.D. Under each state is first listed all the counties (or, in the case of Indian Territory, the nations and reservations) and their respective populations. Then, in alphabetical order within each state, it gives the place name, the county in which the place is located, and the population at the time of the 1890 census. State capitals and large cities are in caps, county seats are in boldface, post offices are in Roman type, and places that are not post offices are rendered in italics. Places that were too small for a population count are indicated by an "X". This is an invaluable book, and you will want one for your personal library or your genealogy library. It's available from Genealogical Publishing Co., ($38.50 postpaid), 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202-3897; (800) 296-6687. (c) 1998, Los Angeles Times Syndicate Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Julie Case are co-editors of Missing Links, a free weekly genealogy e-zine. To subscribe, send your request to: Missing Links Newsletter Return to Myra Vanderpool Gormley Main Page Return to Columns Main Page
Copyright 1998, 1999, Ancestry.com Inc. and its subsidiaries. Terms and Conditions \| Privacy Statement