The
following article is from The Historical Society of Berks County Email
Newsletter,
and is copyright 2003 by George M. Meiser, IX, It is re-published
here with the permission of the author. |
The Historical Society of Berks County Email
Newsletter
Historical Society of Berks County
PA, http://www.berksweb.com/histsoc
Centre Avenue, Reading, PA 19601
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4/12/2003 – The Historical Society of Berks County: Historical
Society News Bits
Historical Society of Berks County
940 Centre Avenue
Reading, Pennsylvania 19601
Phone 610 375-4375 Fax 610 375-4376
George M. Meiser IX
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New CD of Montgomery's 1909 annals a
real treasure!
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After spending some 20 hours
exploring the ins and outs of the new CD of M. L. Montgomery's (1909)
2-volume "Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County," I
can state without fear of contradiction that this CD is an absolute
treasure. EVERY library in the county should have a copy, as should every
genealogist and local history buff---provided, of course, they have a
computer! |
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In the early evening of the day
the CD arrived, I was so taken with its format and capabilities that I sat
transfixed, unable to take my eyes from the monitor. Hours passed by like
minutes. Countless facts of great interest were wrested from their hiding
places, buried within bios of obscure people one would never ordinarily
read. It's astonishing how many valuable references there are to old-time
forges, furnaces, early mills, and canal sites that don't appear on the
pages devoted to those topics. |
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A check in Montgomery's index for
breweries yields nothing, yet do a search for brewery, brewer, or
breweries and you find 64 leads. Several family cemeteries that had
heretofore escaped my notice-and which do not appear in the cemetery
books--- appeared casually within biographical sketches. This is the type
of information having a searchable CD reveals. No paper index is so
revealing. |
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In regard to those individual
biographical sketches, be aware they number some 4,000! Add to that the
fact that there are over 50,000 names on this single CD. Yes, every bit of
information found on the 1.723 pages has been included. Absolutely
nothing has been omitted! |
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As I sampled all the CD's
features, I couldn't help but marvel at its ease of use. In view of the
fragility of the original volumes' pages and the fact you are physically
dealing with two cumbersome books, there is no way any mortal can move
from page
42 to 1646 in the blink of an eye. And with no damage to 94-year-old
sulfated paper. |
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As was the case in Retrospect
Publishing Co.'s previous CD, of Montgomery's 1886 Berks history, the type
is crystal clear--even at the greatest magnification. Text is read with
great ease. |
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One of the most appealing and
useful features of this CD is the bookmarking arrangement. When you click
on "bookmark," a big box appears with two windows. In the top
one you compose a label., i.e., "unknown Lesher cemetery near
Virginville." In the larger window below it, you can type notes. At
the bottom is an acorn that you drag to the page you're reading and drop
same on the line you wish to consult later. Yellow highlighting marks the
spot. |
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As one of the most appealing
aspects of Montgomery's 1909 set is the great number of high quality
portraits, I was eager to see how they would look on the monitor.
According to the index, Isaac Spatz appears on page 1048, which I typed in
the window. Only his bio appeared. I tried another person with the same
result. Had Retrospect omitted the portraits because of possibly not
reproducing well on a contrasty medium?
Then it hit me. Looking at the volumes in CD form, one is not aware
that portraits are all on unnumbered pages, either before or after the
respective biographical sketch. Accordingly, you can't type in the
portrait page! If a bio is on page 483 and you want to see the
accompanying picture, you type in 483. When that printed page appears, you
simply go up to the tool bar and hit either "Next Page" or
"Previous Page" and the portrait shows up....beautifully. Hit
"Print" and you have a splendid replication. |
As stated at the outset, this CD is a treasure. [Go
to Disc Page]
To get a copy [ Click here to go to the Order
Form ], send a check for $54.90 (includes postage) to "Retrospect
Publishing" at 1307 Warrington Place, Alexandria, VA 22307 Request
"Annals by Montgomery, 1909" (Item B-182).
http://www.RetrospectPublishing.com/
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