TIP #403 - THE PRINTED WORD One of the first sources a new family researcher looks for is a book of biographies. How many of us have headed off to the library and started searching through the books to see if our ancestor's name appears in print? Thus a book of biographies can be a God-send to us. It could answer a lot of our questions including our ancestor's full name, his parents' name, possibly grandparents and great-grandparents, where and when he was born, who he married (likely information about his wife's family), names of his children, what he did for a living, special training, his political affiliation (this was much in vogue in the 18th and early 19th centuries), church membership and military engagements. But before we start beaming with joy when we find the most beautiful write-up on our ancestor (if we're lucky!), remember the old adage "let the buyer beware." Well, "let the reader beware!" I remember all too well when my bubble was burst in my early years of researching by an older and wiser family historian. I was just beaming as I went to the copy machine to make a photocopy of this masterpiece. It was magnificent! What an education, what a hero; surely the head of any family tree of renown! The other lady, wise beyond her years, brought me down to earth with a thud by telling me that a lot of this biographies were called "vanity books". Publishers toured the state and drummed up business by selling space in a book of biographies that any family would be proud to own. There was a fee set, and the more the subject wanted to pay, the longer and more glowing his biography. The editor did no genealogical research to prove or disprove the gentleman's (or gentle lady's) claim. He took what the person wrote, possibly changing some punctuation here and there and made the sentences more readable. So .... if the fellow wanted to embellish his military service a tad here and there, or increase the acreage, or call his cabin a "mansion house" or forget to say that Grandpa had been hung as a horse thief ... so be it. Thankfully, most of the subjects were honest and put the facts down as they remembered them or knew them. Were there errors? Certainly. But, a biography can start us on the trail of finding out more about our ancestor as a real person. Church biographies, of ministers and church officials, tended to be honest to the point of embarrassment at times. No flowery words if the minister had a problem with drinking, or wasn't a good speaker, or sang off key, or was a little on the obese side - or fell into "heresy" and left the denomination. But, the editor, normally another minister, could really praise the subject too if he was a good exhorter, could read the Word fluently and cared for his people. Listed below are some of the main biographical sources for individuals in Kentucky and where they can be found. Ancestry.com will lead you to biographies in print by using their search feature on line. Dickey, John Jay. Autobiography and Diary. Lexington, Ky.: University of Kentucky, 1951. John Jay Dickey (1842-1934) was a Baptist minister from Fleming County, Kentucky, who used his diary to record the genealogies of anyone who would allow him to do so. The diary runs from 18 November 1882 to 15 October 1933. See below for index book of same. These deal primarily with the eastern counties of Kentucky. Biographical Cyclopedia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: Embracing Biographies of Many of the Prominent Men and Families of the State. Originally printed in 1896, this has been reprinted by S. C. Easley, Southern Historical Press, 1980. There are several hundred biographies and is indexed. Biographical Directory of the Kentucky General Assembly. Frankfort, Ky.: Published by the Kentucky Historical Society, 1964. This is a directory which includes members of every session of the Kentucky General Assembly from 1792 to 1964.There is a notes section which often gives the date andplace of death of the official if he died in office. It also shows any expelled officials, when expelled and why. Biographical Encyclopedia of Kentucky of the Dead and Living Men of the Nineteenth Century. Published in 1878 by J. M. Armstrong, Cincinnati, OH; shown as 2 volumes in one. There are over 1,000 biographies, is indexed. Denominational Biographies: Most major denominations have published histories of their churches which normally contain biographies on the ministers and sometimes lay people. Draper Biographical Sketches, University of Chicago Library, published 1951. This is on microfilm only and includes many biographies of early Kentucky notables. It is not indexed. Family History Libraries. The Family History Libraries across the United States have large files of family histories and biographies. Kentucky Biography Project. This is an internet site which was originally the brainchild of the late Jeff Murphy. In his desire to have a computer copy of old biographies no longer under copyright, Jeff set up a website for posting these biographies. I was fortunate to work with Jeff in the very beginning of this project and helped him develop the criteria as well as typing quite a few thousand biographies. Other typists volunteered their time and approximately 7,000 biographies were entered out of Perrin's history and many other books not shown in this listing. When Jeff became ill, I set up a query list version of the site for those without internet abilities and have posted over 8,000 biographies. These are also archived to a Kentucky biography board at: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=board&r=rw&p=localities.northam.usa.st ates.kentucky.bios I am currently still posting from the original site and have added approximately 2,000 new biographies to my rootsweb site above. The original site was transferred to a rootsweb board after Jeff's untimely death and can be found at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/search.html The above site will have the original biographies less the ones I have added in the first site shown. Kentucky Genealogy and Biography. This series is likely the most popular of all biography series of Kentucky residents. These were vanity books and have been reprinted by Southern Historical Press. Some are available in soft cover as well as hard-bound. The reprints have eliminated much of the extraneous materials about the counties and contain the biographies, by county, in alphabetical order. The original title was Kentucky, a History of the State, by W. H. Perrin, et al., published during the 1880s. Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, KY. The society has a large amount of biographies and family histories. Must visit in person. Kentucky Index of Biographical Sketches in State, Regional and County Histories. Authored by Michael L Cook, Evansville, Ind.: Cook Publications, 1986. This index is in alphabetical order and given the page number and reference book where found. Pioneer Ghosts of Kentucky was authored by Wilma Winton. It deals with the life of John Jay Dickey and is an index to the Dickey Diaries. It is a 4-voume set, published 1986. You may check a much early tip on early historians in Kentucky for other volumes which may be found in some of the major Kentucky libraries. (c) Copyright 8 August 2002, Sandra K.Gorin, All Rights Reserved. sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Col. Sandi Gorin Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/ GORIN worldconnect website: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~sgorin SCKY resource links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html