What Maps Tell Us about Neighborhoods--Holmes Map of 1687

In 1683, William Penn engaged Thomas Holme to prepare a new map of the Pennsylvania colony. Remarkable for its detail, the map was a town plan for the colony as well as a tool for the sale of property. Used in conjunction with contemporary land records, newspaper files, and other original sources, the map reveals a great deal about the lives of the people who lived in the colony. Sue Long will demonstrate how a map can guide our discovery of the lives of people who are found on a map.

Sue Long

Sue Long is an experimental psychologist with a doctorate in that discipline from Cornell University. She began her family history research as a teenager. Her first research project was to assist a grandmother who wanted to join the Daughters of the American Revolution, but discovered her family was descended from pacifist Bucks County Quakers, so that proved to be a dead end. However, her Quaker research led her to the 1687 Holme map of early Pennsylvania. Applying the techniques of cluster genealogy, she studied the map in detail. She also digitized related Monthly Meeting records, immigration records, land records, court records, tax lists, and probate records—55,000 records in all. Her impressive research demonstrates how maps can assist us in learning about our ancestors, their communities, and the lives they led. She details her findings online with her blog, Taking the Long View (http://takingthelongview.org/).