REVIEW: A Journey In Time: 1811-1986

I have been away from the blog for QUITE a while! It's not that I didn't have anything to say, but I have been doing A LOT of reading and I learned how to play at some games on facebook. And I finally dropped ALL facebook games so I could have time to go on with my life. SO... my newest venture is to start writing reviews of select books as I go along.

My first review is actually just because I was on Amazon.com trying to find the sequel to a local history book from the Potter County area of Pennsylvania where I grew up. I never did find the second book, but I found they had a listing for the first one, but no description or anything. And since no one has one for sale (at least right now) there was NO info at all! So I wrote a review.

A Review of A Journey In Time:1811-1986
By Dayton D. Mix (Pennsylvania)

This 1988 book was written by Harold F. Baker, a local history buff in North Central Pennsylvania. Following the settlement and descendants of the Sartwell Creek area in Roulette & Pleasant Valley townships in Potter County, PA, not far from the New York-PA border. Baker combined research into written sources and oral genealogical sources to create a fairly complete picture of the land and its people from 1811 through 1986. He also sprinkled old photos and graphics which are well documented and explained. There are several family listings of descendants that are invaluable to genealogists. 474 pages including the 41 page index.

That's it. Just getting my feet wet if you will. An appropriate start for me I suppose since I am a huge Potter County History Buff AND Baker was actually researching my paternal grandmother's family. In fact, Baker starts with the first settlers on Potter County, the family of Benjamin Burt. I didn't know it at the time I first got this book as a gift from my grandmother, but I guess Benjamin Burt would be my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandpa.

I LOVE local histories. I'm reading one now of the Sabula & Hickory areas of Clearfield county where my wife served as a pastor for a year. If you ever run across a local history, save it and share it with the local history society or genealogy group. Sometimes there are only a few copies left and when elderly relatives die, many families don't recognize the treasure they are about to throw away. OK... commercial is done!