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When Your Ox Is in the DitchWhen Your Ox Is in the Ditch. Genealogical How-to Letters. Vera McDowell . (1995), 1996, paper, 161 pp.
Vera McDowell's letters containing practical advice to genealogists first appeared in the Augusta Genealogical Society's newsletter, Southern Echoes, in July 1982, and since then she has become something of a "Dear Abby" in genealogical circles. Mrs. McDowell's emphasis is on problem-solving; thus all her letters bear the unstated refrain: when your ox is in the ditch (i.e. when you're stuck), here's what you do! The other thing that sets her apart is her enthusiasm for genealogy, and here her focus is on fun, personal fulfillment, and pure joy, and her letters resonate with the excitement of the chase. Ten years after
they first began to appear in Southern Echoes,
Vera McDowell's letters were assembled in the form
of a how-to manual and grouped into chapters
covering topics ranging from record-keeping and
numbering systems to courthouses and
cemeteries--traditional fare with a special McDowell
twist! Under the title When Your Ox is in the
Ditch, the compiled letters were published to
universal acclaim in l992. With the Society's
permission, it is now being released to an even
wider audience by the Genealogical Publishing
Company. |