Your Genealogy: Nov/Dec 2017

The article in this new issue of Your Genealogy Today that grabbed by attention was Buried Alive! A Grave Situation by Robbie Gorr. Perhaps it was the approach of Halloween, or the idea of scratching at the lid of a coffin; even writing about that gives me the shivers.

Some went to lengths to ensure it was not their fate. From the London Illustrated News of Saturday, November 29, 1873.

CURIOUS WILLS.
The dread of being buried alive has led many testators to give very particular directions as to the steps to be taken before the burial of their bodies to make sure that life is totally extinct. Some of these directions are very strange, but are so effectual for the purpose for which they were given, that, if faithfully carried out, all possibility of doubt would be removed about their being, when afterwards buried, absolutely dead. The testator must have been as dead as the celebrated Marley, “dead as a door nail,” if, previously to his interment, he had, in accordance with his will, his head cut off or his jugular-vein opened ; and there are several wills directing one or the other of these to be done. Equally efficacious must have been the device of another testator, who directed his heart to be pierced through with a red-hot iron.
Mr. John Jacob Daniel Weiss, a surgical-instrument maker, of the Strand, whose will was proved in 1844, gave very precise directions on the subject, about which there is just a little touch of his business. He says: “And, lastly, it is my express desire that, on my death, a surgeon shall be called in by my executors, who shall place a seton needle four inches long through my heart, which shall remain there, and he be presented with a ring of the value of five guineas for his trouble.”

Here's the table of contents for Your Genealogy: Nov/Dec 2017:

How to Scrapbook Your Photos 
Lynn Cassity offers suggestions for how to properly preserve those treasured family photos

Advice from the Pros
Diane L. Richard looks at the benefits of historical research for genealogy

Secular Parish Records
David A. Norris looks at why colonial churches were an important source of local government records

Perfect Pitch
Sue Lisk reveals how smaller bit players in your family’s history can play a significant role in the overall picture

Dubuque’s Third Street Cemetery
Constance R. Cherba researches the history of an Iowa cemetery that was almost lost to time

Researching Postal Records
Diane L. Richard looks at geography, politics, religion and more as found in post office records

Buried Alive! A Grave Situation
Robbie Gorr discovers how a missed diagnosis of sleeping sickness caused the death of a distant ancestor

The Riddle of Patti Morris
Richard H. Goms Jr. details his attempts to solve the mystery of the life and death of a young girl in the 1930s, and his discovery of newfound cousins

Language and Genealogy
Gena Philibert-Ortega asks: "Have you researched at NARA? Not sure what NARA is, or what they have?"

The Back Page
Dave Obee encourages you to find your newsworthy ancestors