Saturday Picks: October 9th - 23rd

(copyright 2010, http://www.shbwgen.blogspot.com/) I'm making my "Friday Finds" a Saturday thing and bi-weekly, hopefully I'll be able to stick to it if I do that... we'll see.  Anyway, these are finds and reads that I've discovered recently and enjoyed:

• I was looking for an obscure bit of Vermont history when I hit the search key too soon and this (Vermont Historical Society) came up.  My interest in Vermont is in Rutland County as well as possible other places that I still need to work on.  The Society's library has quite a collection which can be searched on their website.
• This whole website is interesting but my favorite articles were How Food Is Sold To Immigrants At Ellis Island and The Detained Immigrant. 
• I've been pretty single-mindedly obsessed with Kentucky lately, especially counties and the changes they have undergone over the years.  An good map showing both Kentucky's originally county lines from 1790 and today's county lines can be found here. 
• Keeping with that same theme is Genealogy of Kentucky Counties and Kentucky County History Timeline from The Harrison Genealogy Repository (they also have these same pages for Pennsylvania and a few other states). 
• Another excellent map charting Kentucky's county boundary changes through the years can be found here.
• I had never heard of the Wise County Historical Society (Wise County, Virginia)  before last week but am now a fan.  Not only did they publish the excellent Appalachian Quarterly but they are responsible for the National Melungeon Registry.  I especially found their Genealogy Aids interesting (note: not all the aids listed on the page appear to be online)
• I'd learned of The Filson Historical Society at the Expo and was impressed with the Louisville-based organization.  Their newsmagazine (The Filson) is what led me to them and past issues of it can be read here.  I'm also a fan of the Society's blog. 
• Through the Filson, I also learned of the Cincinnati Historical Society which has a great deal of past issues of journals relevant to the Ohio Valley online.

Blog posts:

• I'm a huge Francophile so everything over at The French Genealogy Blog is a must read for me.  I especially liked the post Anonymous Parents - Accouchement sous X.  Not only was it informative, it was a touching read - like every good blog post should be.
• I enjoy all of Barbara's posts, especially when it involves her photography - like her Wordless Wednesday posts.  Her Top Tens are also excellent and I was really inspired by the one she did on her brick wall ancestors.
• I'm sad John and Greta are stopping their respective weekly round-up series, but can understand their reasons. 
• This post isn't a new one, but it is one I keep coming back to and have found hugely helpful.  Anyone with Kentucky roots would be wise to read it also.  

Online Books:

• A Century of Wayne County, Kentucky 1800-1900 by Augusta Phillips Johnson.  It can be read in "snippet view" on Google Books and in its entirety at Ancestry through subscription.  I wish every county history was as well done and interesting as this one.  Even if you aren't interested in Wayne Co. itself, it provides an excellent introduction to early Kentucky, southeastern Kentucky especially.  
• Other Kentucky books I've found useful are Lincoln County, Kentucky (can be partially read at Google Books) and A History of Kentucky Baptists (can be read in full at Google Books). 
• History of Rochester and Monroe County, New York (available in full at Google Books).  Not great, but helpful nonetheless.

Closing Tip :

• This was one of the most useful things I learned at the Expo: study the water ways (creeks, rivers, streams, etc.) near where your ancestor lived.  This was stressed by Arlene Eakle at one of the sessions I attended and she also mentioned the fact that a water way could be named one thing in one county and another in a different county.  For instance, a creek runs through two different counties.  In one county it is called Red Creek but across the county line it is called Blue Creek.  I've found this very helpful in trying to track where my rural ancestor's might have lived.