CENSUS BOOKS

On March 1, 1790 President George Washington signed a measure authorizing the first U.S. census.  (Prior to that date "...a census was taken in Virginia, and people were counted in nearly all of the British colonies that became the United States." (Wikipedia article, "United States Census")  Since 1790 a census has been conducted every ten years in this country, with the last one completed in 2010.

While the census statistics are used by the government in various ways, they can be of use to private citizens also. Those of us who are into genealogy usually find them quite helpful. In fact, census reports may be one of the first sources we go to when researching family trees.

The Bullis Collection has many books that may be of interest to those of you researching your ancestors.  We're describing three of them in this post. Two of these books cover the New York state census, which we've been told were conducted every ten years from 1825-1875, in 1892, and then again from 1905-1925.

1. United States life tables, 1910,

published by the Washington Govt. Printing Office, 1916,

65 pages including tables

2.  Census of the state of New York, for 1865: taken in pursuance

of article third of the constitution of the state, and of chapter

sixty-four of the laws of 1865,

published in Albany: printed by C. Van Benthuysen & Sons, 1867, 743 pages

3. A Gazetteer of the state of New York: comprising its topography, geology,

mineralogical resources, civil divisions, canals, railroad and public institutions,

together with general statistics, the whole alphabetically arranged; also, statistical

tables, including the census of 1840, and tables of distances: with a new township map of the

state, engraved on steel, by J. Disturnell, 1842, 479 pages, 2 leaves of plates, map

(Wow! We challenge you to read that last title in one breath!)

These books (and a lot of others--most of which have shorter titles) are in the Bullis Room for your use. If you're interested in using them to aid in your family tree search (or for any other research), please call the library and arrange for a time to meet with one of us volunteers.

HISTORY OF CANADA

Yesterday was Flag Day in Canada, and in honor of that special day we wanted to let you know of a couple of items in the Bullis Collection that have to do with our good neighbor to the north.

First, there's a copy of  Montreal: Canada Railway News Co. Ltd. It was published sometime in the 1880s, and is listed in the data base as "Souvenir of Quebec." This single folded sheet contains 12 leaves of plates.  We're all curious about how it came to be a part of the collection. Did a Bullis family member bring it home as a souvenir of a trip to Montreal? Once again, we wish these items in the collection could talk.

Another Canada item is the book A History of Canada, written by Charles George Douglas Roberts and published in Toronto in 1902. According to the website "Queen's University Archives," Douglas was a talented poet and prose writer who was born in New Brunswick in 1860.  His literary talents were recognized with his award of the 1926 Lorne Pierce medal and with knighthood in 1935. Prior to that, the Royal Society of Canada elected him a fellow in 1890. Douglas died in 1943 in Toronto, leaving a huge volume of poetry and prose that is still read and appreciated today.

One more thing - We'd like to extend a special invitation to our Canadian neighbors: when you travel south of your border, please stop in the Bullis Room and say hello to us. It would make our day...no, our week...even our year!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY (again)

This week our search for "Valentine's Day" in the Bullis data base resulted in these two hits:

Laboratory Manual of Biology

by George W. Hunter

and

American Politics (non-partisan) from the

beginning date...; also a complete Federal blue book....

by Thomas V. Cooper

At this point, we have no idea what these books have to do with Valentine's Day! (When we have a chance to look them over, we'll let you know.) In the meantime, we are including a link to our 2010 post which we think does a proper job of wishing you the best on this February holiday.

http://bullisbookchronicles.blogspot.com/2010/02/happy-valentines-day.html

HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY

This past week we took a close look at this book in the collection: History of New York City from the Discovery to the Present Day (written by William Leete Stone and published in New York by Virtue and Yorston in 1872).

If you are looking for information about NYC's current present day, you'll need to continue your search. But if you're interested in the city's history from its discovery to 1872 (the author's "present day"), this is the book for you.

The volume is divided into three parts. The first part covers the period from 1508 to 1674; the second from 1674 to 1783. The third part covers the years 1783  to 1872 and includes information about these topics:

Publishing Houses

Banking Capital Invested

Schools of Art, Painting and Sculpting

The visit of the Russian Duke

Dickens Dinner

Also included are 38 pages of plates as well as illustrations and maps. You're welcome to stop by and take a look.

THE STORY OF THE GREAT MARCH

We have a suggestion for all of you interested in the Civil War - stop by the Bullis Room and ask to take a look at the book The Story of the Great March by George Nichols, published in 1865.

"This is the Civil War diary of Major George Ward Nichols, aide-de-camp to General William T. Sherman during the latter part of the war. It is a personal story, describing his experiences during Sherman's March to the Sea and the subsequent march through the Carolinas.

  "For a personal journal it is surprisingly well written and describes this journey as a decidedly uncertain endeavor. Written in the vernacular of the time, it provides a unique insight into the operations and risks associated with the most singular military event of the war."

Illustrations, plates and a folding map aid in the reader's appreciation of this event. You won't be disappointed.

AUSTIN STEWARD'S SOJOURN

In three weeks, we'll have an opportunity to learn more about Austin Steward's journey from slavery to freedom.  Steward, you remember, escaped from slavery in the early 1800s and was aided by anti-slavery members of the Society of Friends in the Farmington area.

On Sunday, February 10, 2 PM in MPL's Community Room, Dr. David Anderson and members of AKWAABA: the Heritage Associates will present "If My Life is But Spared," a dramatic presentation on the life of Steward based on Underground Railroad reenactments created by AKWAABA.

Dr. Anderson states, "There is much to the Steward story; in my book he is heroic, and a pathfinder for those who would follow, including Frederick Douglass."

So, please mark your calendars. We hope to see you at Dr. Anderson's presentation. And afterwards, we invite you to stop by the Bullis Room.

VOLUNTEER WEEK 2013

In our last two posts, we wrote about some of our older books in the collection. Now we're focusing on taking care of all the books in the Bullis Room.

Lot of work goes into maintaining this collection. Over the years we've cataloged,  shelved, sorted, repaired, and restored books while also setting up, organizing, cleaning and dusting the room they are in. All of this takes lots of volunteers, and we are always in need of more.

In 2013 National Volunteer Week runs from April 21 to April 27, but we don't have to wait until then to get involved.  The beginning of this new year is a good time for all of us to be thinking about how we can use some of our spare time to help our community.

We hope that you will consider the Bullis Room when you're doing your volunteer planning. If you'd like more specific information about what sort of tasks are involved, please stop by the library and ask for June. She'll give you a tour and fill you in.