This is a book most any genealogist or family researcher should at least look at if not own. Owning it would be like having a little historical reference guide to turn to just when you needed it the most!

Stuck trying to figure out where your ancestor may have gone or why? Look at the timelines for the different states in this book and see if something happened around the time your ancestor “disappeared” or “took off for Georgia”.

There are timelines for epidemics, disasters, modes of transportation and even uncivil disobedience (riots). Military actions, both in America and abroad can also be found.

Immigration your interest? The timeline within is an excellent overview of exclusions, laws, and little-known trivia -- who knew that a special law was passed in the 1950s to allow Basque sheep herders in on ‘non-quota visas’?

Good advice runs throughout such as reminding researchers that even if their ancestor wasn’t mentioned in a local history book or the old newspapers, it will still be worth one’s time to study the area. “Look for settlement patterns to understand what was going on when the ancestor lived there” writes Jacobson.

In chapter six, “Myths, Confusions, Secrets and Lies” Jacobson is quick to point out that “every story handed down is not necessarily correct”. She acknowledges that “there is a truth in there somewhere” but you need to study history in order to find the real answers. This short but interesting chapter ends with a list of clues that might indicate a family has hidden their racial origin such as racial designations changing in the censuses over time, a change of a surname for no good reason, or a lack of any family history.

You can read the chapters that interest you the most or read it from cover to cover. However you choose to read it, you’ll definitely learn something pertaining to your family research. (this review will also be posted in the near future at the Union County Public Library, Monroe, NC, web site) ( )