The Portland daily press., 1876-07-08
Magazine Notices.

That excellent quarterly, The Maine Geneak
ogist and Biograpaer, completes its first volume
with the June number, and has succeeded in
establishing for itself a recognized position in
periodical literature. 1t supplies medium,
long wanting, for the diffusion of knowledge
of family history in this state, and serves to
preserve many curious and interesting facts in
relation to our early history which were fast
fading from the memory of men. The jour-
nal deserves all the support and more, which it
is receiving. The contents of the June num-
Der are as follows: Shurtleff Family records
treating of the descendants of William Shurt-
l ears in the Plymouth Colony
as early as 1854, aud who is believed to be the
ancestor of all the New England Shurtleffs;
another installment of the Kittery Family
Records; a paper contributed by James w.
North on the history OF the Establishment of
College in the District of Maine, said college
being Bowdoin; a list of Tax-Pdyers in Fal-
mouth in 1777, communicated by Professor
Hall of Colby University; a sketch of the
late Commander Weld n. Allen of the United
States Navy; the Roll of Capt. Bragdon's
Company at Bunker Hil contributed by Ed
win Emery and the entertaining Notes and
Queries. From these we learn that Edwin
Emery of Whitinsville, Mass, is preparing a
history of the town of Sanford, from its earli-
est settlement to the present time, which he
designs publishing this year, and that DR.. l..
G. Herrck of Woodstock, Ohio, has now in
preparation genealogy of the Herrick family
of this country, revision of the genealogy
published by Jedediah Herrick in 1885, brought
down to the present time. w. B. Lapham
Augusta, Me.
Numbers 1878 and 1874 Of LittelPS Lioiag Age
for the weeks ending July 1st and Sth respect
lively, have some noteworthy articles, as fol-
lows; The Course of Religious Thought, by Ri,
Hon. w. L Gladstone, Contemporary Review.
The Intellectual Revival of the Middle Ages,
Westminster Review; Natural Religion, part
vi, Macmillan; Remarks on Modern Warfare,
by military Officer Fraser; Zachary Macau-
lay, by w, G. Blaikie, ID. D., Sunday Maya
zine; Visit to Spanish Prison, Temple Bar;
The "Venus'' of Quinipily, Macmillan; The
Kings of the Renaissance, Charles VIII and
Louis XII, by the author of "Mirabeau" etc.,
Temple Bar; Tricks of Memory, Queen; Early
Autumn on the Lower Yangtze, Fortnightly
Review; Norwegian Deep-Sea Explorations,
Academy; Pocket Money, Saturday Review;
James Northcote, r.. A. Fortnightly Review;
together with the beginning of a new serial,
'Caritl," by Mrs. Oliphant, an instalment of
"What She Came Through" by Sarah Tyler
author of Lady Bell' and the conclusion of
two shorter stories. The usual select poetry
and miscellany complete the number.
The Wide-A,gake, for July, has toned its
covers down to sober colors, thus promoting
good taste, and suggesting solid merit within.
Some of the drawings of this number need a
little finer touch at the engraver's hands. The
literary contents are invariably good Boston,
ID. Lothrop & Co.
DR.. Lapham, Secretary of the Maine Genea-
logical aud Biographical Society, and editor of
the Geneatogist, has compiled the family rec
ords of some of the descendants of Thomas
Besbedge (Bisbee) who landed at Scituate
Harbor 1854. The records are printed in PAM
phlet form for private distribution, and are of
much value to those interested in the family
and its history. The pamphlet bears the title
"Bisbee Family Records 1t appears that
there were twentg g-fve Bisbees from Massachu-
sets in the war of the Revolution and twenty
eight from Maine in the war of the Rebellion.