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A few
family history
insights ...

Individuals pursue family history for a number of reasons. Whatever your perspective, your research will reward you in the present, and will be something future generations of your family may appreciate for years to come. The understanding of the lives of our ancestors through the ages can help us understand our own place in the grand parade of humanity.

As you proceed in your research, however, beware of unsourced information in previously-published works, lest you unwittingly perpetuate genealogical fiction. For example, in the course of your research you will likely come across (1) a previously published --- but undocumented --- genealogy that connects your family to all the royal families of Europe; (2) a published genealogy that may have its hard facts in order, but then in flowery prose goes on to anoint everyone who ever carried the family name with a stratospherically superior level of pious and noble character; or (3) a published genealogy that --- with no documentation --- states that it was your intrepid ancestor who swam across the frigid Delaware to hand-deliver George Washington's forgotten ditty bag.

With enough research, you will find that true stories about your ancestors are usually more interesting than folklore or fiction. Exploring the role of your ancestors in local history can be endlessly fascinating as you learn about events that never came close to making it into your high school history book. Don't worry about finding that nut on your family tree. If you are ambitious enough to discover 12 generations of ancestors (i.e. 4094), you'll find that --- if you are truly objective --- you'll have roughly an equal number of saints and sinners, and a balanced collection of visionaries and dolts. So whatever the assets and liabilities of individual ancestors, ultimately we can thank our ancestors collectively only for the fact that they survived long enough to have at least one child and create the next generation --- leading forward, ultimately, to us!.

--- Excerpted from Family History 101: An Introduction, by R. W. Bacon (2006).

New England Genealogy
... and Research Planning & Execution

Genealogy, at least until recent decades, used to be regarded by academic historians as the poor cousin of history, dismissed as a lightweight pastime for people seeking vicarious pride for a family link to George Washington's valet, Charlemagne, or Fred Flintstone.

Changing motives for genealogical study, as well as the slow-but-steady introduction of rigorous professional standards, have changed this view to a degree. Big-picture historians have come to realize that the leading men and women prancing on the historical stage were also people --- with families, homes, neighbors, and community connections. Historians have come to realize that the micro-study of individuals, friends, and associates can contribute much to the understanding of the macro-history.

Speaking of professional standards, the sample research checklist here is one of many helpful forms and charts in The Micro Historian's Guide to Research, Evidence, & Conclusions: Step-by-Step Research Planning & Execution, published by Variety Arts Press in 2018.

Below are publications in this category currently available. Click on any book title below and you'll go to a page with a more detailed description of the book, a preview of selected pages, and a link to purchase and pay via PayPal.

Click on any title below for more information,
and to read the contents and introduction.


Early Families
of Middletown, Connecticut
- Vol. I: 1650-1654
(Early Settler Profiles,
Land Grant Maps, Timelines, and
Compiled Research & Analysis)
By Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2012)
8.5x11.0, 195 pages; comb-bound
ISBN: 978-0-9817945-5-6
LOC: 2012949502

$50.00 (US) includes
book-rate shipping in the U.S.

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


The Micro-Historian's Guide
to Research, Evidence,
& Conclusions:
Step-by-Step
Research Planning & Execution
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2018)
6x9 softcover, 112 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-4-7
LOC: 2018905458

$16.00 (US) includes
book-rate shipping in the U.S.

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


The Visitor's Guide
to the Weeks Brick House & Gardens
A guide to the 1710 house,
gardens, public hiking trails,
and 300-year history
of the Weeks family farmstead
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2015)
5.5x8.5, softcover, 60 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9817945-9-4
LOC: 2015914615

$16.00 (US) includes
book-rate shipping in the U.S.

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


3 1/2 Centuries in Greenland:
The Weeks Brick House Farm
of Greenland, N.H.
By Neill DePaoli, Ph.D.
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2010)
8.5x11.0, 44 pages, comb-bound
ISBN: 978-0-9817945-4-9

Please note that this publication is available for purchase through the Weeks Brick House & Gardens.

$25.00 (US) includes shipping.

Payment accepted by PayPal (at the Weeks Brick House & Gardens web site).

To order this title by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check directly to the Weeks Brick House & Gardens, P.O. Box 93, Greenland, NH 03840.


Forthcoming titles in progress:

- Early Families of Middletown, Conn. - Vol. II: 1654-1700, by R.W. Bacon.