No, I'm not talking about sports here(although New England is a GREAT place to live
lately thanks to our great pro and college teams.) I'm referring an article in Family
Tree Magazine by David A. Fryxell. It's entitled "States of Mind" and it lists the best
and worst states for researching your family tree. I guess it won't come as a surprise
to many genealogists that Massachusetts comes out as the best state!
Mr Fryxell lists several reasons, including the Massachusetts State Archives, the
accessibility of local records on the city and town level, and of course, the New
England Historical and Genealogical Society. I'd add to that the availability of printed
material that appeared during the genealogical boom of the late 19th century when
numerous books were written about the history of the towns and counties of Massachusetts
which include genealogies of leading citizens. I've found so much information just in the
editions I've found on Google Books! (Of course some of these were "vanity pieces"
or downright inaccurate, so it pays to further research the information they give.)
I won't give anymore details on the article. Go read it and see for yourself how your
home state ranks. Is it among the ten worst or ten best, and do you agree with its ranking?
1 comment:
I'll have to get a copy. I don't know where they rank South Carolina, but so far I've found it to have fabulous resources. I'm very curious....
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