Demographic trends and patterns provide valuable insights into social structure and behavior, both past and present, and are particularly useful in gauging the effect and extent of social change. While national, state, and local records of pre-1900 demographic information exist, they are often incomplete, inaccurate, or missing altogether. An alternative source of information is genealogical material, which can be used to cross-check the accuracy of demographic directions generalized from locational records. "Historical Demography through Genealogies" makes extensive use of genealogical...

Demographic trends and patterns provide valuable insights into social structure and behavior, both past and present, and are particularly useful in gauging the effect and extent of social change. While national, state, and local records of pre-1900 demographic information exist, they are often incomplete, inaccurate, or missing altogether. An alternative source of information is genealogical material, which can be used to cross-check the accuracy of demographic directions generalized from locational records. "Historical Demography through Genealogies" makes extensive use of genealogical...