El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-01-02

Jul II tA4A the D-A4EG u the a
triots' Memorial chapter of the
! Daughters of the American Revolu-
ton, located in Washington, to other
/ chapters Of that organization, to uni
! Versities. colleges and schools and to
many private persons, asking cooper
I alton in a movement for the conserva-
! ton of original sources of history in
/ the United States by. the preservation
/ Of local records. The editors Of all the
! small town and county newspapers in
/ the United States viii be asked to de-
vote half a column of space weekly
/ 70 the publication of local genealogical
material which viii be of historic
value in the future. Much of this
! material now existing in the form Of
old letters and records, is carelessIy
stored in some farm house or village
attic, liable TO be destroyed at any
time. The members of the D. A R.
and their friends will endeaYOr to col
| lect this material and place it at the
disposal Of the editors.
Last summe. a woman, prominent in
D. A. R circles, devoted a considerabl
part of her vacation in securing data
regarding the history of one Of the
patriot soldiers who rOwed Benedict
Arnold to the British ship The Vul-
ture," after his act of treason. This
man declined the strongest inducement
( to enter the British army as a COM
I A-44ao4bAAIu ULA4EUAs anu was CQLfL4AGQ
I q British ship in New York harbOr
EoS s.y pOnths before he was returned
to the American army. During this
/ time he su1<eres great hardships, at
glad to eat raw fish. caught by a bent
pin attached to wooden yArS rsTslsd
from his clothing.
Unearths Old Records.
The investigator knew the village IN
which this patriot was buried, but
could not locate his grave until an
old woman produced from an attic a
record Of his death, giving the loca-
ton of his grave, which was on an old
farm Through this she was led to an
old man, who in his youth. had helped
to bury the soldier. A little further
quest brought her to the aged grand
daughter of the patriot, who was able
TO tell interesting stories of her grand
fathers experience with Benedict Ar
mold, who sold him 10 the British
But for the faded indistinct, old rec
ord, thrust out of sight in an attic,
this historic information would not
have been secured and the grave of
one of the bravest heroes of the revO-
luton would stil have remained I'M
known.
This incident is one Of many en-
countered by the Daughters in their
quest for genealogical information. Tt I
has led to a movement for the multi Z
plication Of every historic record by /
the modern printing press. What is J.
trash today may be valued history to- l
morrow, so with the cooperation of I
morrow, so with the cooperation OF the /
editors Of the country the Patriots (
Memorial chapter hopes to inaugurate :
a crusade for the preservation Of his
tOric records that Will prevent the
possibility of their becoming extinct. 3
Loss of Valuable Material.
The fire { the state capitol in Al I
bany destroyed a wealth of genoa I
logical and historical material that !
can never be replaced. Had this ma I
terial all been duplicated by the print
ing press there are many families who
would not now be mourning the loss
of authentic information about their
ancestry This new movement Of the
D. A r. viii go far towards prevent
ing a repetition of such a loss. While
all original manuscripts should me pre-
served with care because of their assO- l.
citation, the reproduction Of their con
tents in the newspapers viii preserve
their material for future use.
Preserving Family Histories.
Another important genealogical ef-
fort being put into effect through the
agency Of the Patriots Memorial chap
ter, is the registration of the family
history of pupils in the public and
private schools. Already several high
schools have begun this work. The
ords which go back to at least three
generations. These records are TO be
preserved in the schools and will be in
valuable to the genealogical student
Of the future.
Aside from their genealogical value
these records will give important so
Geological Information. Each one viii
show the nationality from which a /,
child is descended and indicate the
traits Of character which should be-
ong to him. The Importance OF gene
3logy as a study is becoming more I
fully recognized every year It COM
oines so readily with the study OF l
local history that even in some ele-
nentary schools it is receiving atten-
ion.
Device for Children to Use.
A fan-shaped family register has
)een devised for the use Of school chill
lren. The point Of the fan starts with
he name of the child. Back Of that
stand two divisions for the name OF
lis parents. Beyond there is row OF
our divisions for the names OF his 8
grandparents. The third row from his
'wn contains eight spaces for the 6
James Of his eight grandparents IN T
.ach of these spaces is written the
lame and the date of the birth, mar
iage and death of the person. Having g
hUs gone back three generations the +
interest in genealogical research IS =
o developed that most children VIII oe +
nxious to broaden the family ran oy e
he records of still earlier ancestors
The subject of genealogy has De- y
ONE one Of the most popular IN PUB =
lie Libraries and the number OF genoa .
ogical publications has increased D
realty during the past quarter OF
In the library Of congress in
Washington is found the largest col n
ectiOn of general genealogical ma y
erial In the United States. There are "
1cal libraries in some of the states.
specially the Boston library, when ~
ontain more material for local genoa Il
)gy than the library of congress but :
here is no other institution having so =
lrge a general collection. 1t IS the y
mention of those in charge to con q
niue to make genealogy a speciality o.
here are few books pertaining 70 y
merican genealogy that are not found :,
pom its catalOgs and every new DOCK -
oming out upon this subject IS pur- 49,
nased unless 1t comes 10 the library Il;
Y copyright.
Find Information IN Libraries. II
The western genealogists come TO e
he library of congress because most -
the people of the western states are ~
7scendants of those who came from u
ne east and therefore stu
ant. wishing to go back two or three az
eneratiOns, REQUIRES access to records III
eastern families. These are gener- ~.
lsly supplied at the great national "
brary. This library also has a con ny
derab1e collection Of books pertain 81