Books published by Heritage Books

Nine intimate portraits of notable Native Americans caught in the devastating clash between European and tribal cultures in the American West. Subjects of the biographies include:Shabni, the Paul Revere of Illinois. He Has Pawed Through was of mixed Ottawa and French parentage and fought for the British as an aid to Tecumseh during the War of 1812. Following Tecumseh's death at the Battle of the Thames, Shabni swore off violence against his white neighbors and became known as a peace-keeper in the Old Northwest. Shabni's nickname was earned during Black Hawk's War for his daring ride across the Illinois frontier to warn white settlers of an impending attack by warriors of the hostile Sac tribe. Shabni's actions were motivated by his desire to maintain peaceful relations between whites and Native Americans.Makesit. Big Foot is now a virtual unknown in the history of the Great Lakes region, a leader amongst the Potawatomi whose unfounded trust in the treaties offered by the United States cost him and his people their village overlooking beautiful Lake Geneva, now present-day William's Bay, Wisconsin.Captain Billy Caldwell. The son of a Mohawk woman and an Irish soldier in the British Army, Billy Caldwell is a historically misunderstood figure whose true character has been ignored and forgotten in favor of folktales and anecdotes. Often painted as a "noble savage," Billy was a failed entrepreneur and political opportunist reluctant to acknowledge his Native heritage until it could be used to his advantage in securing a job as an agent in the negotiation of the Treaty of Chicago with the Potawatomi tribe. This section was contributed by Dr. James A. Clifton.Brave Bear. This young Sioux will be forever remembered for his involvement in the notorious "Brave Bear Murder Case." He was a killer, a thief, allegedly a procurer of women, and a prison escapee whose life ended at the end of a hangman's rope. Was he a cold-blooded criminal or a man unable to adapt to the imposition of the white man's law on the Lakota Sioux?Other chapters describe the following: Starr Wilkenson, the Idaho Giant of mixed Cherokee and African descent; Totuya, last of the Yosemites; White Cloud, the Winnebago prophet of disaster; and Wabansi, the Potawatomi warrior chief known as First Light. The text is enriched by excellent period photographs, extensive notes and a full-name plus subject index.

When a chancery bill involved an estate, the Execution Docket Books provided a wealth of information naming the deceased landowner with a list of heirs and the amount they received, sometimes stating where the recipients were living at the time of the estate settlement. Each settlement commenced with a lawsuit heard before the chancellor. If the chancellor determined that the land in a bill should be sold by decree of partition, the clerk and master held a sale, usually on the courthouse steps, the land going to the highest bidder, generally on time and with interest. "It would appear that the workbook was devised by James A. Greer, clerk and master of the Chancery Court, to aid him in receiving funds from the sale of lands necessitated by the order of the court. Equally important to Mr. Greer, and the court, was the dispersement of the funds in the correct proportion to the legal heirs. These procedures sometimes required several months to conclusion and thus "open cases" were recorded in his workbook." A full-name index is included to aid in locating ancestors.

The Maine Farmer newspaper was established in 1833 by Dr. Ezekiel Holmes and was issued regularly for nearly a hundred years. Published weekly, it was devoted to the interest of agriculture and the "mechanic arts." The first issue was dated January 21, 1833, and called the Kennebec Farmer. The name was changed to the Maine Farmer on March 18 of the same year. The Maine Farmer carried marriage notices from the entire state, but most of the entries were from the Kennebec Valley. These records will prove to be of value to both the professional and the amateur genealogist, not only for the information that they contain, but for the clues that they give as to where further information may be found. The book is alphabetically arranged and includes both brides' and grooms' names. Entries typically list the full name of each party, and often give the date and place of the wedding, father's name (when known), and name of minister or official who performed the ceremony. A citation at the end of each entry gives the date of the newspaper issue in which the original notice appeared. A helpful appendix lists (alphabetically) all of the ministers mentioned in the book, including the denomination, location of the ministry, and dates during which he practiced in that area. This valuable feature may help the researcher find the location of important church records-another great source of family information. Yet another locating aid included in this book is a list of all the towns mentioned in the text.

Written by eminent German-American historian Rudolf Cronau, this book is a concise survey of German-American achievements in America based on his previous work, a comprehensive German-language history. Drei Jahrhunderte deutschen Lebens in Amerika (1909).German Achievements in America, originally published in 1916, is a richly illustrated English-language compendium intended to illuminate the basic dates, facts, and events in German-American history. Then, as now, it provides a convenient introduction to German-American history, from the beginnings to the First World War. There are many chapters discussing in detail the German-American contributions to politics, agriculture, industry, commerce, physical education, science, publishing, literature, music and arts. Given the author's education at the art academy in Düsseldorf, this work is especially good in the insight it brings to the arts, music and literature of German-Americans. This book also contains one of the first chapters on the topic of German-American women. Of special interest, given the time when the book was written (World War I), is the final chapter entitled "The Future Mission of the German Element in America." This basic history has been edited and provided with a new introduction and a selective bibliography by Dr. Don Heinrich Tolzmann, an internationally recognized scholar in the field of German-American Studies.

This compilation of Cape Cod records consists of complete transcriptions of about 4,000 gravestones from three of the four oldest cemeteries in Provincetown, Massachusetts, as well as a study of smallpox burials there. The inscriptions have been retained in lot groupings to aid researchers, and where stones were difficult to read they have been checked against vital records of the town for accuracy. "These three cemeteries have a total of over 900 lots and over 4000 burials and often span three generations of families. Each cemetery's contents are recorded by lot numbers in a separate part of this volume and each part is indexed by names of persons, places and ships; all citations are to lot numbers. Lot maps of the three large cemeteries are also included for reference."