Books on the Shelf

I was reading about Lilburne and Isham Lewis on a website the other day. It was my usual, looking for a needle in a haystack search for the day. I had heard of these brothers and the scandal that had been associated with them. Both Lilburne and Isham Lewis were charged with murder in December of 1811 in Livingston, Kentucky.

I of course had purchased a copy of the book Jefferson's Nephew's: A Frontier Tragedy by Boynton Merrill, Jr. (Clicking on the title will take you to an online preview of the book.) I knew the book was on my shelf waiting for me to read it. It had been my intention to read it over the winter; of course one thing led to another and I did not get the book read. I did however, get my reading done on the Tudor's as well as some other research on King Henry VIII. So my interest was peaked about these Lewis brothers and I decided to pull the book off of the shelf.

I began the book knowing I would get some background on the Lewis family related to Thomas Jefferson. I know a little bit about Thomas Jefferson's genealogy and I know a little bit about the Lewis family related to Thomas Jefferson. I am surprised at the detail of the actual book and the dealings with the two families. So far the book seems to be well researched.

I must also say that I have contacted several libraries in Virginia recently; to see what books on the Lewis families of Virginia they might have on their shelves. I was surprised at the few number of books on library shelves; well the ones I called anyway. I called one library and they had a grand total of three books on their shelves. I already own all of those books, so I crossed that library off of my list of places to visit. This was a book that most of the libraries have on their shelf.

As I sat reading my book late the other night, I noticed something odd about it. I knew it was a used book. I can say I never really paid attention to the stamps on the book, until I was actually reading it. Well it is stamped as "discarded" but it also stamped from Staunton Public Library. Hey, I have been there! They have a fabulous genealogy room, with lots of resources for Virginia and some surrounding areas. I was slightly amused at the coincidence of purchasing a book online from a random seller, and knowing this was one of my favorite places I visited last year to do research. I was thinking I should go back there a few weeks ago, maybe I missed something I was supposed to find. Only problem is my traveling companions get bored faster than I do.