Mastering Family, Library & Church Records

Quillen's Essentials of Genealogy #6

by W. Daniel Quillen

A must-have for any budding genealogist — fills a gap on the genealogy bookshelf!

Mastering Family, Church and Library Records is the latest in Quillen’s Essentials of Genealogy series. Many genealogists—beginners as well as experienced researchers—overlook records that are often available at their fingertips. Quillen helps genealogists find, explore and extract the most relevant information from these records. Family records often supply genealogists with far more information than most individuals are aware. Sources such as family bibles, legal papers, letters, and even old photos can provide great data. Church records in particular are routinely overlooked but can provide a wealth of genealogical information, often extending family trees back—and forward—several generations. Libraries are often great depositories of information that go unsearched as genealogists explore more exotic sources of information such as Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com and CyndisList.com. Quillen’s habit of using his own ancestors to illustrate research techniques, as well as his entertaining writing style, have made each of these books popular among genealogists. Family Chronicle magazine says "Quillen approaches his subject with passion and a touch of humor."

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 2012

About the author

For more than 20 years, W. Daniel Quillen has been a professional writer specializing in travel and technical subjects. He has taught beginning genealogy courses to university students and working adults, and is a frequent lecturer in beginning and intermediate genealogy classes in Colorado. He has compiled his years of genealogical training and research into a growing series of genealogy how-to books. He lives in Centennial, Colorado, with his wife and children.

Reviews

[Kathy KS · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this short book to be a helpful addition to anyone researching their family history's reading list. Of course, it is not designed to be THE beginning book someone might read when learning to research their genealogy, but it supplements one the included topics: family records, libraries, and church records. Even these topics are not covered definitively, but each topic is introduced with research strategies and examples taken from the author's own family research (I love case studies and examples). I sometimes felt he left out something or was slightly wrong about something (the early precursor to today's United Methodist Church was the Methodist Episcopal Church, NOT "Methodist Episcopalian"), but the techniques he describes should aid researchers to develop their own search strategies and find some sources.

The edition I read was copyrighted in 2012, so includes many examples of online searches and sites to visit. Some of that information is now outdated, but one can pretty easily catch up with the changes using standard search techniques.

This volume is just one of the Quillen's Essentials of Genealogy series. I think I'll check out some of the others. I've been researching and teaching genealogy for over 50 years, but it always seems to help review some things, find out new information, or be reminded of something I've missed in my research.

[Trudy Pomerantz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have found Quillen's books an excellent introduction to genealogy. Having read most of his Essentials series, I do find them somewhat repetitive but did find them worth reading as I start on this adventure ie trying to trace both my and my husband's ancestors.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Corsets are evil!