4 Ways to Make Genealogy Part of Your Kindle Library

I recently purchased an Amazon Kindle e-reader.  I've used the Kindle app on my phone and computer but I'm new to the Kindle e-reader and wondered how I might incorporate my genealogy research into my Kindle Library. These are the four ways I have found to do that so far. 

1. Public libraries may offer ebooks for checkout through an app such as Hoopla or Libby  Sometimes there are genealogical or historical ebooks available to borrow which allow reading via Kindle. Take advantage of this if your local library offers one of these services.
2. The ability to take notes and highlight as you read a book is a great feature.  The notes are saved to your device even if you remove the book.  You may also email these notes to the email address associated with your Kindle.
3. The most obvious way is by purchasing ebooks on the topic of genealogy.
4. Files or documents can be sent to the Kindle. This can be accomplished in several ways:  

• Using a USB Cable and file explorer on your computer to drag and drop files
• Emailing the files to your Kindle's email address(found on the device under all settings  or at your Amazon account under device management--Preferences and Personal Documents) There are size and document type restrictions   
• Using Send To Kindle from your account or the app 
  From the Send To Kindle page, the current size limit is 200 MB
  Supported File Types: PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT, RTF, HTM/HTML, EPUB, and most image file types.  

Type of documents I send to my Kindle

• Genealogical Course Syllabi
• Family Tree Reports
• Ongoing Research Reports
• Genealogy Quarterlies
• Articles I've Written About My Research
• Timelines

Understanding Our Ancestors: Tuberculosis & Influenza

I'm writing an article about my great grandparents, William Green Cook & Jane Bell King Cook and their descendants.  In order to get a better understanding of the social aspect of what happened with my family in the early 1900s,  I've added several books to my personal library.  My Cook family was hit pretty hard by tuberculosis.  It all but wiped out my Great Aunt Rebecca's branch of  the family.  I knew very little about what had happened prior to my researching the family and even then very little about the TB hospitals.

The list of books I'm studying are as follows:

• The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History--John M. Barry(2005)
• Fevered Lives: Tuberculosis in American Culture since 1870--Katherine Ott(1999)
• Bargaining for Life: A Social History of Tuberculosis, 1876-1938 (Studies in Health, Illness, and Caregiving)--Barbara Bates(1992)
• Living In The Shadow Of Death: Tuberculosis And The Social Experience Of Illness In America--Sheila M. Rothman(1994)
• The White Plague: Tuberculosis, Man and Society--Jean Dubos(1987)
• Discovering Tuberculosis: A Global History, 1900 to the Present--Christian W. McMillen(2015)

I also purchased one book about Yellow Fever because I wanted to compare that with the other illnesses.  I don't know of anyone in my family that died from Yellow Fever.  If you have any family from areas where there was swamp land you may find some of your family dealt with it. 

The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, The Epidemic That Shaped Our History--Molly Caldwell Crosby(2007)

There are many other issues that our ancestors dealt with regarding their health and economic situations.  It is hard for us to understand why they made certain decisions but reading about what was happening in the world during their lifetime helps to put that into perspective. In 1927, my dad's brother died of scarlet fever.  Dad had rheumatic fever when he was of elementary school age but was fortunate enough to survive even though it threw him behind in school because of having to be absent.

Look at your family.  What obstacles did they face? Health? Disabilities? Financial? Environmental? Look for books on that time period and subject to get a better understanding. It really does help.

18 of my favorite books in my personal library

I can hardly believe that I've been blogging about my genealogy for 18 years.  When I consider that I've been researching for about 32 years, it doesn't seem like that far of a stretch.  In keeping with the purpose of my blog, I am celebrating the 18th blogiversary with a favorites listing(in no particular order).  I've compiled a list of 18 of my favorite genealogy/history books in my personal library.  I have an account at LibraryThing.com for cataloging purposes.  This really helps me out so that I don't buy more than one copy of a book(Yes, I've done that before.) You'll see that some of the books are Volume 1 of a set. That's my way of "squeezing in" the entire set as one book.  I also use WorldCat.org to find books which aren't in my personal library ...yet.

1. The Evolution of the Southern Backcountry: A Case Study of Lunenburg County, Virginia, 1746-1832. Richard R. Beeman. 1984.
2. The Making of African America: The Four Great Migrations. Ira Berlin. 2010
3. Communities of Kinship: Antebellum Families and the Settlement of the Cotton Frontier. Carolyn Earle Billingsley. 2004.
4. DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer: Tennessee. Delorme. 2017.
5. Ancestry's Red Book : American state, county & town sources. Alice Eichholz. 1992.
6. Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America. David Hackett Fischer. 1992.
7. Tennesseans before 1800. Davidson County. Marjorie Hood Fischer. 1997.
8. History of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford, and Marshall Counties, Tennessee. Goodspeed Publishing Company. 1988(reprint).
9. Lady First: The World of First Lady Sarah Polk. Amy S. Greenberg. 2019.
10. Land and Property Research. E. Wade Hone. 2008.
11. The Kentucky Encyclopedia. John E. Kleber. 1992.
12. Bedford County Tennessee Land Deed Genealogy, 1807-1852 (Vol. #1). Helen Marsh. 2003.
13. Davidson County Tennessee Wills & Inventories: 1783-1816 (Vol. #1). Helen C. Marsh. 1989.
14. Chancery Court of Records of Bedford County, Tennessee. Timothy R. Marsh. 1988.
15. The North Carolina gazetteer : a dictionary of Tar Heel places and their history. William S. Powell. 2010.
16. History of Rover and the 10th District of Bedford County Tennessee. Rover Historical Society. 1986(update printed in 1999).
17. Tennessee Convicts: Early Records of the State Penitentiary 1831-1850. Volume 1. Charles A. Sherrill. 2015.
18. Traveling the Trace: A Complete Tour Guide to the Historic Natchez Trace from Nashville to Natchez. Cathy Summerlin. 1995.

John Wright of Williamson Co TN --1809--Books in estate inventory of merchant

Book Inventory from the estate of a merchant
Once again while looking thru Probate Records of my Ogilvie line I have happened upon another file near it with a listing of book titles or types.  This listing was a store inventory list which was part of the estate of John Wright of Williamson Co. TN(1809).  I've copied the listing here and I'm sure there are spelling errors.  I did alphabetize the list.

• Beauties Poetry
• Bibles
• Blank Books
• Chapter Books
• Church of England Prayer Books
• Clarissa Harlowe
• Dwight's Geography
• Enticks Dictionary
• Franklin's Works
• French Revolution
• Gandenetia De Lucca
• Gibson's Surveying
• Goldsmith's England
• History of England
• Hymn Book
• Immortal Wester
• Johnstone's Dictionary
• Large Bible
• Lord Rivers
• Manson Spelling Book
• Married Lady's Companions
• Maury Primmers
• New England Primmers
• Reading Made Easy
• Roman Catholic Prayer Books
• School Master's Assistant
• Scots Sessions
• Small Hymn Book
• Spelling Books
• Stephen De Bourbon
• Tale of Times
• Testaments
• Vendee War
• Vision Columbus
• Volumns of Charlotte
• Washingtons Monuments

Ancestry.com. Tennessee, Divorce and Other Records, 1800-1965 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.Williamson Co. Divorce, Probate and Other Records 1800-1899, Wo-Za Description Images 978, 979, 1000 & 1001 of 1833 Tennessee, Divorce and Other Records, 1800-1965

Original data: Tennessee. County records. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives. Microfilm roll numbers 99 to 108, 115, 336 to 337, 428 to 431, 519, A-4098, A-5278, B-1 to B-9, B-44 to B-127, B-314, B-441 to B-445, B-471 to B-473, B-1607 to B-1613, and B-1781 to B-1789.

Jane B Campbell's unsold estate inventory--1825 Williamson Co. Tennessee

I've been working on my Ogilvie family a bit today, more specifically the family of William Ogilvie(1728-1813) and Mary Harris(1732-1807) who lived in College Grove, TN during the early 1800s.  William and Mary are my 5th Great Grandparents. While reading thru the Ogilvie wills I noticed an inventory listing for a Jane Campbell from Williamson Co. TN just below part of the probate of Richard Ogilvie.  I thought this was very interesting and have listed some of the items below.  As far as I know she is a part of my family.


Pg 33 Williamson Co Tn Will book July Term 1825   A list of articles belonging to the estate of Jane B Campbell deceased  remaining unsold which according to law will be kept for the use of her children.

Map of United State with a book
Map of the World with a book
Large Family Bible
Guthrie's Geography(2 Vol)
Scott's Family Bible
Sheriden's Dictionary(2 Vol)
Plowden's History of Ireland(5 Vol)
Swifts Works(2 Vol)
Burns Works(4 Vol)
Tattler(4 vol)
Life  of Bonapart(3 vol--1 vol missing)
Rush Works (2 Vol)
Lock's Essay(2 Vol)
Brown's History of Missions(2 Vol)
Curran's speeches(2 Vol)
Angustil's Universal history(9 vol)
Carr's sermons(2 Vol)
Emmon's sermons
Campbell's Lectures
Don Quizote (4 vol)
Charlemagne (2 Vol)
Bailey's Dictionary
Henry's Dialogues(2 Vol)
Broken set of Shakespeare(5 Vol)
Confession of Faith
Jackson's Book keeping
Court of St. Cloud
Moses' Gazetteer
Freeman's Poems(2 Vol)
Bucks Miscellany
Breckenridge Insurrection
History of Virginia
Stodert on Judgement
Mrs. Graham's works
Reliques of Burns
Franklin's works
January Letters
Rainey's poems
Baxter on the Soul
Hervey's Meditations
Lee's Memoirs
Buck's Expositor
Henderson's sermons

also listed were 6 beds, bedroom furniture, kitchenware(pots pans and utensils as well as dishes) and of course.....bookcases.

3 History/Genealogy books for which I'm thankful

3  History or Genealogy related books for which I'm thankful....

Morgan, Ted. Wilderness at Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993. Print.

Egan, E. W. Kings, Rulers, and Statesmen. New York: Sterling Publishing Company, 1976. Print. 

Wright, Louis B. The Atlantic Frontier: Colonial American Civilization. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1964. Print.