A good local history is an excellent and
agreeable thing. It pleases on two counts. It satisfies the curiosity of the
inhabitants of a region, whether newcomers or old settlers, especially if no
adequate history had existed before. It dispels myths, corrects old wives'
tales. And, if the history is first-rate, it goes beyond a factual account of
persons and places, the particularities of a region, and shows the significance
of these human happenings in a larger scheme of things, in this case the
emergence of a new nation.
Ellis's history succeeds on...