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From: "Christy Fillerup" <>
Subject: Re: [TGF] Social Commentary from beyond the grave
Date: Tue, 25 May 2010 16:28:19 -0600
References: <AANLkTilFrXz8r_oWVSM_CQbPxGgkXiTwc29Zsf_ZUbVy@mail.gmail.com><COL117-DS149BFD7EA662CD501703C1ACE60@phx.gbl>
In-Reply-To: <COL117-DS149BFD7EA662CD501703C1ACE60@phx.gbl>


I appreciate the comments on small pox very much. I've added _Pox Americana_
to my purchase list. (Don't we all wish we had enough money to purchase
every book we have on that list?) Although I didn't originally have an
interest in small pox, per se, it was fascinating to me to see such a
counter-intuitive discussion of it in original records. Counter-intuitive
because I am guilty of not expecting to see the clergy in the eighteenth
century on the side of modern scientific advances.

But it was more than just small pox specifically that made these entries
jump off the page. It was a reaffirmation that I was doing thorough
research. It can be easy to rely on the IGI when doing English parish
register research. Yet if I had I would never have come across these jewels
of information. I would not have come across them even if I had used the IGI
as an index and only read the pages my ancestors were entered on.

Nope, these children were not related to me in any way, but they were part
of my ancestor's FAN group. Reading the parish register page-by-page for a
decade on either side of the events I was interested in yielded great
information. Their deaths and the notes of the clergyman alerted me to the
fact that my ancestors were fighting with this same question. Should they be
inoculated, or not? Their parish church was divided by this issue, and it
was undoubtedly on their minds.

It was like a pin hole sized telescope back to their era. Man, I'm such a
history nerd! But then, this was always the draw of family history for me.
Distilling historical events right down to the individual level.

Thanks for the listen!
Christy


----- Original Message -----
From: "Melissa Barker" <>
To: "Christy Fillerup" <>;
"transitional-genealogists-forum"
<>
Sent: Sunday, May 23, 2010 10:38 AM
Subject: Re: [TGF] Social Commentary from beyond the grave


> Christy,
>
> Thanks for sharing, this is very interesting. If you are looking into the
> practice of inoculating for small pox I would suggest that you check out
> Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, one of our founding families. During
> the small pox epidemic she was one of the first and few to engage in the
> inoculating process with her children and herself.
>
> Melissa Barker
> Professional Genealogist
> Specializing in Tennessee and Kentucky Genealogy Research
> Visit My Website: www.freewebs.com/genealogyservices/

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