I’ve recently been reminded of a few things that seemed to fall together into a somewhat oddly named post. What is the Logic?—Begging the Question First, I was reminded of the logical fallacy that goes by the name “begging the question.” Nowadays, that phrase is often used to mean a statement that seems to demand […]
Begging the Citation Read More »
Though we think of hope as something for the future and memory as something of the past, they are entwined and entangled. Our dreams are imprinted by our past and our memories are shaped by our desires. Hope springs eternal, so the saying goes, and eternity is not only the future, it also includes the
What’s Hiding in a Place? Read More »
Like many bloggers of yore (in internet terms I suppose “yore” means more than a year or two ago), I’m shocked to discover that my blogiversary is upon me. It has been exactly one year since my first post. At the end of this post, I’ll celebrate a little with links to some of my
1st Blogiversary and The Power of Negative Thinking Read More »
Land records can be a great place to find evidence of relationships between people but I am going to write about a part of land records that normally makes the eyes glaze over. In many places, such as the eastern U.S., land holdings were not specified by the convenient lines derived from latitude and longitude
Knowing by Metes and Bounds Read More »
Independence is an important topic this time of year. Though inspired by that 4th of July kind of independence that is not what I’m thinking about. Instead, I’m thinking about data independence. As we gather our evidence, one question that always needs to be asked is, “is this data independent of the data already collected?”
A few days ago, I was chatting with an architect and he mentioned how useful Sanborn Maps are for historical preservation. I said something about having looked at them and we chatted a bit more and I started describing some details that I’d seen in the maps. Eventually, I could tell something suddenly clicked. He
A Memory Trip Down Any Lane Read More »
Years ago my grandfather ordered a few copies of a book that covered some research into his surname. After he died, my mother asked if I wanted a copy but added that the book wasn’t any good. I wondered how my mom, who is not a family historian, was able to make such a judgment.
Judging a Book by its Innards Read More »
When we were children most of us complained that we had nothing to do at one time or other. At the same time we usually had piles of blocks, Legos or some such thing waiting for us to build something. There were so many things we could have built when we had “nothing to do.”
10 Things to Do with a Piece of Evidence Read More »
Have you ever been happily reading along, learning about a family you’re researching and then you start to get a queasy feeling. A few pages back you read something that you really think might lead you to a breakthrough. Now, after reading just a bit more, inside your head a little voice starts to object.
When Memory Divides Read More »
I suppose everyone has had the experience of learning something new and suddenly that little fact seems to pop up everywhere. That experience has just happened to me again, so I’ve been inspired to write about it. A few posts back I wrote about This Republic of Suffering, about death and dying in mid-nineteenth century
That Flash of Recognition Read More »