long after its 1860 publication. Volume I opens with a genealogy of the Washington family, tracing its roots back to the time of the Norman Conquest, and explores the future general''s education as a boy, his service in the French and Indian conflicts, and his participation in the early rumblings of revolution in the British colonies in America. WASHINGTON IRVING (1783-1859) was born in New York City to Scottish immigrant parents. Considered by some the Father of American Literature, Irving is best known for his short stories, including The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, but he also produced an extensive bibliography of essays, poems, travel books, and biographies.  (less)

1217-1257brbrTwo major questions of the ages are: Who am I? and Where am I going? From the moment the first African slaves were dragged onto these shores, these questions have become increasingly harder for African-Americans to answer. To find the answers, you first must discover where you have been, you must go back to your family tree--but you must dig through rocky layers of lost information, of slavery--to find your roots.brbrDuring the Great Migration in the 1940s, when African-Americans fled the strangling hands of Jim Crow for the relative freedoms of the North, many tossed away or buried the painful memories of their past. As we approach the new millennium, African-Americans are reaching back to uncover where we have been, to help us determine where we are going.brbrbFinding a Place Called Home/bis a comprehensive guide to finding your African-American roots and tracing your family tree. Written in a clear, conversational, and accessible style, this book shows you, step-by-step, how to find out who your family was and where they came from.brbrBeginning with your immediate family, Dr. Dee Parmer Woodtor gives you all the necessary tools to dig up your past: how to interview family members; how to research your past using census reports, slave schedules, property deeds, and courthouse records; and how to find these records. Using the Internet for genealogical research is also discussed in this timely and necessary book.brbrFinding a Place Called Home helps you find your family tree, and helps place it in the context of the garden of African-American people. As you learn how to find your own history, you learn the history of all Africans in the Americas, including the Caribbean, and how to benefit fro@(Â? (õÃÿ¾Û€  (less)

part in the siege of Fortress Louisburg in 1758 and was much impressed by the beauty of Bras d'Or Lake. He met an early death in Quebec in 1759, but his sons fulfilled their father's wishes, emigrating more than fifty years later to Pictou and thence finding their way to what is now called Iona, Cape Breton.brAuthor S.R. MacNeil, Donald Og MacNeil's great grandson, was curator of the Highland Village museum at Iona and answered many requests for family histories from visitors. In response he compiled this very thorough collection of genealogical data on the families who first settled in Iona.brThe book begins with MacNeils, and continues with many familiar surnames including Campbell, MacKinnon, MacKenzie, MacLean, and MacDonald. Since it was first published in 1979, this genealogical study has been useful to many thousands of descendants who have traced their roots to Cape Breton immigration in the early nineteenth century.  (less)

be in existence for the meetings from the last quarter of the seventeenth century down to the time the work was originally published in 1938. The records are of two principal classes: (1) births and deaths and (2) minutes and marriages, and they are arranged in alphabetical order, by family name, under their corresponding monthly meeting. The marriages are arranged by the names of both brides and grooms. Also provided are abstracts of Quaker certificates of removal, which enable genealogists to trace Quaker ancestors from one monthly meeting to another.  (less)

Forms are well formatted and thoughtfully designed. Students will begin with a detailed record of their personal history, followed by individual histories of each parent, grandparent, and great-grandparent. Sample questions for taking oral histories and an oral history record form; forms to record the details of ongoing history such as family weddings, deaths, heirlooms, photographs, etc.; pedigree charts; family group sheets; and 1790-1930 Federal Census record sheets are all included. Once completed, the student will have the satisfaction of knowing that they preserved a piece of their family history  (less)

of kingdoms within the British Isles, together with their wives or consorts, pretenders, usurpers, and regents. Monarchs from Queen Boadicea of the early Britons to Elizabeth II fill these pages, including various tribal and Saxon rulers prior to 1066, the semi-legendary figures of the Dark Ages, and all those who helped to forge the kingdom of Great Britain. Author Mike Ashley presents in chronological order all the kings and queens of Britain as well as other powerful nobles and dignitaries; he includes, too, genealogies showing the family descent of all the leading royal families as a further bonus. His resulting superb and authoritative one-volume reference is now available in an affordably priced Trade Paper edition. "A unique Domesday Book of the British monarchy. A reference work without peers" - Peter Berresford Ellis "Everything its title promises. The pages are filled with maps, charts, time lines, and everything anyone might ever want to know about the royals from ancient times to the present." - Publishers Weekly "Written in a lively style and covering more than 2,000 years and 1,000 monarchs (more than any previous compilation)" - Booklist  (less)

the book offers a first-hand view of feud events. As a descendant of John McCoy, an uncle to Randolph McCoy, Truda was able to begin her research in 1920 by interviewing the notoriously tightlipped McCoys. When she married a distant relative, Rex Calvin McCoy, in 1921, the family opened up even further and provided Truda with a number of details that had never been published before. Truda completed her manuscript about 1935. Following fifteen years of research, she made several unsuccessful attempts with New York publishers to have the book published. Finally, she retired the manuscript to her attic where it remained until her death in February, 1974. Truda's son, Paul was left the manuscript as a part of Truda's will. In 1976, Truda's daughter, Judith happened on a television interview that caught her attention. In the course of the interview, much was made of how little written documentation regarding the McCoy side of the confrontation was available. She contacted the Pikeville Preservation Council and with the help of editor, Leonard Roberts, the book was published with an initial run of 5000 copies. To compliment the text, the Council assembled a team that produced the first and most comprehensive genealogy of the McCoy family. Also included were many rare photographs collected from McCoy family members. To date, The McCoys: Their Story has been the definitive source of McCoy genealogy information and the single best recounting of the McCoy side of the feud. Due to its limited number and the great demand for it, this book has become a family treasure.  (less)

the ancient language of Sanskrit sometime between 400 BC and 400 AD, it is set in a legendary era thought to correspond to the period of Indian culture and history in approximately the tenth century BC. Its main subject is a bloody feud between two branches of the ruling family of the northern Indian kingdom of Kurujangala, the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Their conflict culminates in an epic eighteen-day battle and the annihilation of nearly all those involved in the war, except the victors, the five Pandava brothers-Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva-and a handful of others. The poem's theme focuses on the Hindu concept of dharma, or sacred duty. In essence, the epic story represents an extended exploration of the responsibilities set forth by the code of dharma In addition to recounting a heroic tale, the Mahabharata contains a collection of writings on a broad spectrum of human learning, including ethics, law, philosophy, history, geography, genealogy, and religion. It also features a number of legends, moral stories, and local tales all woven into an elaborate narrative. In the rest of the world, the poem is largely recognized for several of these exotic tales and for the Bhagavad Gita, which encapsulates many of the basic tenets of Hinduism...."  (less)

full access to the College of Arms Library--which boasts the finest collection of heraldic manuscripts in the world--this colorful volume is both an authoritative, completely up-to-date reference for experts and an excellent introduction for beginners, covering the origins of heraldry, the composition of arms and their visual appearance, the use of arms as decoration, and much more.brThe authors explain how coats of arms differed from country to country, with informative sections on France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and other European nations, plus a complete chapter devoted to heraldry in America. They discuss the traditional tinctures (colors) used--two metals, five colors, and two furs--and reveal that the colors are continually updated (for instance, after World War II, the color Bleu Celeste was added to honor the Royal Air Force). The book also outlines the virtues associated with the colors (red or gules signified magnanimity, black or sable prudence), the types of shield division (such as pale, fess, bend sinister, and chevron), the symbolism of animals (the owl signified a lazy man, the bear a strong but unwise warrior), and countless other aspects of this ancient art. This encyclopedic resource also includes an appendix on the Royal Arms of Great Britain, a glossary of heraldic terms, and a list of English and Scottish Kings of Arms.brHeraldry is many things: a fascinating art, a system of symbols denoting prominent families and institutions, a beautiful display of pageantry, an important part of the historical record. The most authoritative guide to heraldry available, this lavishly illustrated volume is an invaluable reference for anyone interested in genealogy, history, chivalry, or the decorative art?ð  (less)

and two children.Eleanor of Aquitaine was a remarkable woman. She was an important factor in the reign of four kings, lived to the ripe old age of 82, bore 10 children and outlived all but two of them. Her sons were kings of England and her daughters queens of Castile and Sicily, while her later descendants included a Holy Roman emperor and kings of France and Spain, as well as a couple of saints. In an age of men, she was indeed a powerful woman.brbrBorn in 1122 into the sophisticated and cultured court of Poitiers, Eleanor of Aquitaine came of age in a world of luxury, bloody combat, and unbridled ambition. At only fifteen, she inherited one of the great fortunes of Europe - the prize duchy of Aquitaine - yet was forced to submit to a union with the handsome but sexually withholding Louis VII, the teenage king of France. The marriage endured for fifteen fraught years, until Eleanor finally succeeded in having it annulled - only to enter an even stormier match with Henry of Anjou, who would soon ascend to the English throne as Henry II.brbrWith astonishing historic detail, mesmerizing pageantry, and irresistible accounts of royal scandal and intrigue, Weir re-creates not only a remarkable personality, but a magnificent past era. As Weir traces the fascinating intersection of public and private lives in Europe's twelfth-century courts, Eleanor comes to life as a complex, boldly original woman who transcended the mores of society. Later, after sixteen years of imprisonment for plotting to overthrow Henry, the humbled Queen emerged, at age sixty-seven, to rule England."Her biography reads like a medieval romance, a marvellous intermingling of fact with legend--fascinat@(p£×=qÿ¾Û€  (less)