UpFront with NGS: Manuscripts

18 November 2015

Did you know that the the Library of Congress has an Extensive Manuscript Collection?

The Library of Congress (LOC) never ceases to amaze me with the breadth of its collection. I frequently use these LOC collections -- Chronicling America and Maps. I occasionally dabble in other collections and somehow have managed to overlook the Manuscripts collection! Sacré Bleu.

The other week on FB there were a few posts pointing to finding aids for these two LOC manuscript collections -- Hillcrest Children's Center (Washington, D.C.) records, 1815-1966 and Aaron Ziegelman Foundation collection.

Of course that just whetted my appetite to know what else the LOC Manuscripts collection has.

You can search by keywords or browse by collection as well as by subject and other options.

As always, I started by searching on North Carolina and was surprised to find this genealogical collection (see entry below). The Contents list provides detailed information about what is included. You can also print out any located finding aids in various formats (e.g. PDF) which is the most useful format for me as the “Scope and Content Note” was very helpful.

If you are researching Northumberland & Henrico Counties VA this looks like it could be an excellent resource.

Walter Jones (1745-1815) ... because of Walter Jones’s association with the county court, his papers include several non-family legal documents, actions brought before the court, lists of fees due the clerks, and bills and receipts for legal services rendered by Jones that often cite specifies of the cases involved. These documents supplement the public records of the transactions of the Northumberland County Court ...

... a memorandum book of notes and drafts of legal documents pertaining to Thomas Jones’s service as justice of the peace of Henrico County between 1783 and 1794...

I next searched on Connecticut, my home state, and found these two interesting sounding collections ...

John Fisher papers, 1777-1802 -- Military supply agent and merchant. Correspondence, memoranda, accounts, purchase and delivery orders, receipts, requisitions, invoices, and other financial and mercantile records relating primarily to the distribution of food and supplies to the Continental Army in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

William Torrey papers, 1777-1904 -- Continental Army officer. Orderly books of the Second Massachusetts Regiment, 1777-1783, kept primarily by Torrey, including general, division, brigade, and regimental orders, a muster roll of the regiment, memorandum book containing returns, Continental Congress resolves, and miscellaneous material.

I then searched on South Carolina – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 and there were 14 finding aids found!

Some collections seem to also have been microfilmed. In that case, you may find that a local library may have a copy or be able to borrow one via interlibrary loan (ILL). I used Worldcat to search on “Edmund Ruffin diaries” + microfilm and I found that several nearby university libraries have microfilm copies from this collection. So, this gives me an option to see the contents of a collection held in DC just a few miles from my house.

If you haven’t checked out the LOC Manuscript collection, I really suggest that you do.

What is your favorite newly discovered LOC Manuscript collection? Do you have an all time favorite one that has greatly assisted your research?

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14 May 2014

NGS 2014 Family History Conference -- Session W145 -- Using Civil War Maps in Genealogical Research

Whether you attended the recent NGS conference in person or virtually, I hope you had a great and productive time. If you were not able to attend the conference, audio tapes of many sessions will become available in the future. Watch here for an announcement.

In the meantime, I’ve planned a series of quick posts about some of the sessions I attended. Since it’s impossible to walk away from any NGS conference talk without learning about something or being reminded of a resource or tactic, I will be sharing a few tidbits that caught my attention.

For each talk I will provide title, presenter, session ID and page in syllabus. This way, those who attended the conference can check out the syllabus for more information and all, in the future, can access the recorded version (as available (R)). I will also share some of my experience with whatever the topic or additional research into the topic that I did. All of the images used in these posts WERE NOT part of the discussed presentation though they may result from a mentioned resource.

W145 (R) Using Civil War Maps in Genealogical Research, Cassandra Britt Farrell (Map Specialist and Senior Reference Archivist, Library of Virginia), Syllabus page 51

This was a fascinating talk that focused on Virginia maps. I do love maps and I have found that Civil War era maps can be particularly detailed and often include excellent detail on geographic features as well as information on those living in the area.

Particularly helpful was the understanding I gained about how maps were created and published and the issues that plagued the Confederate Army in terms of publishing maps. Her discussion on how maps were quickly produced in the field was fascinating. The idea of sun prints caught my attention. If you search the Library of Congress Civil War Map Collection for sun prints, 59 are found for VA, TN and other southern states.

I hadn’t thought about northern newspapers printing maps! Basically, northerners wanted to see where battles were occurring and learn where there family members were fighting. These were published in the newspapers of the time. They may not be the most detailed maps created at the time and yet they can provide context.

New-York daily tribune. (New-York [N.Y.]), 30 May 1864. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030213/1864-05-30/ed-1/seq-1/>

Though the focus of the talk was VA maps, I feel confident that I can use what she discussed to look more deeply into NC maps. I am familiar with many of them and the NC Archives and its partners have done a wonderful job of creating the North Carolina Maps digitized collection which includes published, manuscript and other types of maps. I know wonder if there are other hidden civil war era map gems to be found!

The associated syllabus pages provide a great overview of the talk (which covers so much more than my brief summary) and also include a bibliography.

Editor’s Note: This series is not presented in any particular order.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com