A Trip in Time
Would you like to make a trip around the area your ancestors came from, in the timeframe they lived there? If/when you learn where your ancestors came from you can take that imaginary trip. Over the years I have purchased antique Baedeker’s travel books. I’ve researched how my ancestors might have traveled to reach their point of departure from Europe, what kind of transportation was available in that timeframe, and plotted possible routes to determine which books I should purchase. My specific ancestors came from Germany. This led me to explore multiple countries.

In these travel books are maps of cities as well as of buildings that existed in the timeframe the book covers (e.g., churches, cathedrals, etc.). Many are available in English as well as the native language. Copies of a lot of these maps are being sold on the Internet. They take you day-by-day from point to point, with sights you would have seen along the way. I have been lost in my reading of these travel guides for hours at a time–it is the next best thing to being there.

Marge Clark

Time Travel via Disney
Here is another way to put your family in historical perspective. If you are traveling to Walt Disney World in Florida, see the show at the Magic Kingdom called “The Carousel of Progress.” It follows an audio-animatronic family through the last century as they show how times have changed due to the many modern inventions. It’s one of the oldest attractions in the park, and often operates only seasonally during busier times.
 
Terri Walker

North Carolina Gazetteer
Thanks for a great newsletter. The article by Mr. George G. Morgan in the newsletter of July 29 will be very useful for those searching for old names of towns and places.

I grew up in North Carolina and wanted to mention a book, “The North Carolina Gazetteer, A Dictionary of Tar Heel Places,” by William S. Powell. It was first published in 1968 by The University of North Carolina Press and the fifth printing, noted in my copy, was in February 1982.

On page, 309, it states: “Madison, town in west Rockingham County at the junction of Mayo and Dan Rivers. Alt. 577. Authorized to be laid out in 1815; settled 1818; incorporated 1851. Names for James Madison (1751-1836), President of the United states when the town was authorized.” I have found places in this book that I have been unable to find elsewhere.
 
Nancy J. Fenner

If you have a suggestion you would like to share with other researchers, send it to: mailto:[email protected]. Thanks to all of this week’s contributors!

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