Then What? Part Eight Historical Context

Experts usually write articles about various subjects and publish them in magazines, journals, quarterlies, etc. These all fall under the category of periodicals. There are national periodicals, regional, state, county, family/surname, ethnic, historical, and many others.

Where to find them? Major repositories of periodicals can be found at a local university. Online JSTOR has a major holding of titles. The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has a tremendous collection. Other libraries throughout the U.S. also have holdings. University libraries are exceptionally diverse in their holdings - and what they don't have can be inter-library loaned to them. For a short 11 minute video on finding periodicals click here.

Here is the website for the Western Historical Quarterly. This is an example of a regional periodical. To view the website click here

Universities publish periodicals. This one has an online index beginning in 1959. Often historical articles can be found helpful to research. If one has a subscription or is at the BYU Harold B. Lee Library they can see the original articles online, not to mention the actual collection in the Periodicals section of the library. Click here for the website.

Ethnic groups, religious groups, family groups, surname groups, and many others have periodicals. Journal of Mormon History is a great site because it's entire index is online click here.

Every state has a quarterly of some time, sometimes more than one. Utah Historical Quarterly and other publications are available in full text for free online. Check out the list below of content. In addition to the quarterly they have the Utah Centennial County History Series - full book - online, etc. Click here to go to the website.

Every state has periodicals. Utah, for instance, has The Utah Historical Quarterly. It is online for free. There are articles about land records, court records, tax laws, prison experience, occupations, locations, mining and many other topics. Click here to go to the website.

 

Case Study Historical Context

Joseph Howell Evans went  to prison for polygamy. There are several articles in the Quarterly about the prison, photos, every day life, and details. One detail is that Rudger Clawson was the first prisoner for polygamy. Joseph H. Evans the second. They were bunk mates. Rudger kept a journal, so looking for his journals would also prove fruitful in obtaining further information on the details of Joseph H. Evans' life.

"Mason" Beck

Frederick Jacob Beck, as a bricklayer, acquired the nickname of "Mason Beck." He served a five year apprenticeship to learn his trade. Born 13 February 1831 in Flad, Hjorring, Denmark to Jacob Beck and Dortha Christensen. He served in the War of 1864 between Denmark and Germany. He and his family immigrated to the United States from Hamburg to New York on the ship S.S. Kenilworth from 25 May 1866 - 16 July 1866. The ship caught fire three times en route and was condemned at New York. Afterwards they traveled by rail to Nebraska where they joined the Joseph S. Rawlins Wagon Company. In 1868 they moved to Alpine and Frederick practiced his trade of brick layer as well as being a farmer. He served several times on the City Council.

Honey Bee Camp

Honey Bee Blooms by Inkie mama at Flickr

The Honey Bee Camp began in 2012. One industrious member of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers asked her friends and neighbors to form a group and they are going strong. This delightful group of women enjoy the monthly program with a luncheon afterwards.

Then What? Part Seven Occupational Records

There are three super free collection databases to use when doing any kind of research: WorldCat, Google Books, and FamilySearch Catalog.

Case Study:

Joseph Howell Evans, from census and court records, was listed a blacksmith on Temple Square and at City Creek Canyon. Play with the search terms. Utah Blacksmith brings up 359 hits. The 2nd one fits the pioneer time period. Worth looking into. One of the best things about this database is that is contains many university and historical society databases. In addition to topics one can search by name. It is worth scrolling through all the hits. An advanced search can be done to limit the number of hits.

Google Books pulls up a biography for an Alpine, Utah blacksmith by the name of Benjamin Bates. Many of the books are in the public domain. By clicking the tool symbol to the far right (not pictured) you can download the entire book in .pdf form.

There are a number of ways to search the FamilySearch catalog for occupational records. The first choice, perhaps, would be to search by place. For example, Utah, Salt Lake, Salt Lake City - Occupational. The example below covers Blacksmiths in Utah. By doing a subject search the following book pulls up. There are several entries within it for Joseph H. Evans.