Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Benefactors to humanity - pt. 2
The previous post singled out Herman Ferguson of the Olde Mecklenburg Genealogical Society for praise as one of the army of genealogical researchers who transcribe local records, making them more accessible to researchers. Mecklenburg County is lucky to have other diligent researchers compiling and abstracting records of marriages, wills, deeds, and court minutes. We are lucky that one of them - Margaret Hofmann - has agreed to give a talk as part of the library's annual Novello festival of reading in October. Her participation in this high-profile event reflects her importance as a genealogist and researcher and the importance of genealogy as an area of interest among library users. The formal announcement of the Novello line-up will be August 3. Stay tuned.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Benefactors to humanity
The Carolina Room relies on book donations more than other branches of the library. Works of history at the town and county level and works of genealogy attract small groups of loyal readers. Extra copies become available infrequently. Over the years, we have received gifts of manuscripts, out-of-print, and rare books that have broadened and deepened the collection.
One type of historical/genealogical work never fails to impress me: the transcription of local records. Diligent researchers have indexed years of old newspapers, combed through handwritten books in county courthouses or ventured out to find and decipher old tombstones. Thanks to such work performed over the past century and more, the Carolina Room has at least partial transcriptions of records from every county in the state, and many in South Carolina as well. A noteworthy recent addition came from Herman Ferguson of the Olde Mecklenburg Genealogical Society, who has expanded his transcription of Mecklenburg County Court Minutes. The most recent volume extends the transcription back to 1764. These records exist in the original form and in microfilm, but reading them is an incredible chore. Herman Ferguson and others like him are benefactors to humanity.
One type of historical/genealogical work never fails to impress me: the transcription of local records. Diligent researchers have indexed years of old newspapers, combed through handwritten books in county courthouses or ventured out to find and decipher old tombstones. Thanks to such work performed over the past century and more, the Carolina Room has at least partial transcriptions of records from every county in the state, and many in South Carolina as well. A noteworthy recent addition came from Herman Ferguson of the Olde Mecklenburg Genealogical Society, who has expanded his transcription of Mecklenburg County Court Minutes. The most recent volume extends the transcription back to 1764. These records exist in the original form and in microfilm, but reading them is an incredible chore. Herman Ferguson and others like him are benefactors to humanity.
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