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Warmer temperatures, rain in the forecast into the midweek

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Today in History: Monday, March 6

<p>Like puzzles?</p><p>I hope you do if you&#8217;re a genealogist, because our great hobby of genealogy is full of them.</p><p>Here&#8217;s our puzzle of the day. How could it be that a local family you&#8217;re researching turns up in three different towns over 50 years, and as far as you can tell the street address remains the same?</p><p>The solution points to a vital fact: a genealogist must also be an historian.</p><p>Let&#8217;s say this family lived in a portion of Kingston Township lying close to the Susquehanna River in the early 1880s. In 1887 that part of the township became the independent borough of Dorranceton. Then in the 1920s Dorranceton merged with the adjacent borough of Kingston (which itself had been formed from Kingston Township in 1857).</p><p>Problem solved. The people stayed put, and the town under them changed.</p><p>The principle that you must know your history to do your genealogy efficiently holds true not just with Luzerne County here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but everywhere else as well.</p><p>Are you researching ancestors in Poland? That great nation has seen repeated border changes down through the centuries, mainly as a result of war and annexation. So your ancestor could have lived in Poland and Russia, or in Poland and Germany, without ever moving.</p><p>The same rule prevails in most other parts of the world. Border changes, the creation of new nations, the fall of old nations, annexations, secessions, shift of place names from one language to another &#8211; all these factors can throw the unwary genealogist for a loop and bring progress to a halt.</p><p>Hit the library&#8217;s history shelves and read, read, read, about your target area.</p><p>Don&#8217;t expect instant results, though. Even here in Northeastern Pennsylvania there can be lots of historical ground to cover. Once our county included nearly all of Northeastern Pennsylvania. So an early landowner of &#8220;Luzerne County&#8221; could today be recorded in Lackawanna County or another county that in time split off from Luzerne.</p><p>Good allies in cases like this are local libraries and historical societies. That&#8217;s where you&#8217;ll find the histories. Visit the Luzerne County Genweb as well as other regional Genwebs for background.</p><p>When you do the research you will learn how and when the area&#8217;s counties were formed and how and when the communities (cities, boroughs and townships) were formed also. A Jackson Township address of the mid-1800s could translate into something in the area of Shickshinny today. Another in the southeastern part of the county could lie in today&#8217;s Penn Lake Park borough, created in the 1960s.</p><p>Finally, remember that in the 18th century nearly all Northeastern Pennsylvania was commonly referred to as &#8220;Wyoming.&#8221; Even that name emerged dominant only after the earliest white settlers stopped calling it &#8220;Connecticut.&#8221;</p><p><strong>News Notes:</strong> The Luzerne County Historical Society&#8217;s Bishop Memorial Library has reopened. Hours are noon-4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays. Members have unlimited access to the huge collection of historical and genealogical material. Non-members pay a daily $5 reading fee. Go to the society&#8217;s website www.luzernehistory.org for information on new exhibits at the museum and other events.</p><p>Congratulations to the Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The research library, on the grounds of the Hanover Green Cemetery, Main Road, Hanover Township, is open Thursdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the second Saturday noon to 4 p.m.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Tom Mooney Out on a Limb </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_TOM_MOONEY-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Tom Mooney Out on a Limb </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Tom Mooney</p><p>Out on a Limb</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Tom Mooney is a Times Leader genealogy columnist. Reach him at tommooney42@gmail.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Out on a limb: One puzzle after another in the genealogy game