Realtors press the importance of location. Genealogists and family historians should do the same. Over time boundaries change. This was the case with colonies, states, counties, townships, parishes, towns and cities. In some cases, they vanished altogether.
As I have put together the stories of my Crail, Berry and other ancestors the geography issue has come back into focus.
Some of ur ancestors settled in a given location and never moved their homestead. In the records, it would appear that they moved several times. Over the course of, say, 30 years, an individual could appear in the records of six or seven different townships or counties. If you look closely at the land description - it was the same place!
Start with the 13 Colonies. Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, as well as parts of other eventual New England states became Massachusetts. Counties that were once part of the Bay Colony became part of New Hampshire.
The Dutch laid claim to New Netherland, which included what became New York, New Jersey and parts of other colonies/states. Sweden held part of the territory for awhile.
Virginia county seemed to disappear, get renamed or reformed on a daily basis. Not to forget that the western counties became West Virginia in 1863. Virginia also claimed what became Kentucky.
The Pennsylvania - Maryland border was disputed for a time.
Virginia and Pennsylvania laid claim to parts of the Ohio Territory, as did Connecticut to northern Ohio.
Unfortunately, many researchers latch on to the present-day location to place their ancestors. I am sure that I still have geographical errors in some of my earlier entries. Fortunately, RootsMagic has a terrific feature that pops up a message that X did not exist at that time. I also check online to be sure about locations that don't ring true. In my narratives I try to include "present-day wherever" or a reference to the modern location in some form.
Tomorrow's post will include some suggestions for geographical issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment