Friday, August 18, 2006

"Courthouse Research for Family Historians" - excellent book!

Faithful readers will recall that over a month ago on one of my good genealogy days, I bought four genealogy books at Amazon. One of them was "Courthouse Research for Family Historians" by Christine Rose, published 2004 by CR Publications (only $21.98 retail). This book got rave reviews when it came out two years ago, and I understand why. I finally finished it tonight.

This is one of the best genealogy books on my shelf. Christine covers all types of courthouse records, especially property, estate, civil and criminal court records, drawing on her vast experience visiting courthouses in 49 states. There are plenty of examples from her own research and experience that illustrate the points.

The book prepares you for visiting the courthouse in person or for research using microfilm or the Internet. The last chapter is an unexpected gem - "Strategies That Work." It provides steps to take to locate children, identify parents, work around missing wills, writing letters to courthouses, and more.

All in all, an excellent work on a subject rarely addressed in genealogy books in this depth.

I highly recommend Christine Rose's book to you, especially if you are just starting to explore Courthouse records.

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