Mr. Callary --
I appreciate your cautionary comments on historiography. They are a good
reminder of how easily casual explanations can become "The Truth" over
time.
Since presumably most of the place names that interest you were given by
the company to points along their lines during the 19th and early 20th
centuries, I'd think there might be something in the huge collection of
papers the CB&Q donated to the Newberry Library. But I'd also guess you've
looked into that already.
The only other suggestion I'd have is for you to share with us the specific
names that interest you. This list includes many former CB&Q employees,
some of whom are great repositories of historical information, as well as
many others who live or lived in various communities along the railroad. I
suspect many of those who would say they knew nothing about "general
sources of information" might have their memories jogged by a specific
place name ("Oh, that was the superintendent's name," or "That was near
where I grew up; there's an old-timer named XXXXX who knows all about that
region").
If it's a very long list of names, maybe it could be up-loaded the files
section.
Good luck with your research,
Jonathan Harris
>
>Perhaps I should have stated things more clearly in my first posting. Yes,
>I have gone through most of the county histories (most of which copied
>nearly verbatim from one another so errors have perpetuated and become
>dogma over the years). I have gone thru a large number of town and
>township histories (most of which copied from the (copied) county
>histories) and the miscellaneous information in the major regional history
>centers. So I have done the academic background work but I don't see why
>this was relevant.
>
>Now I'm hoping to fill in some blanks and come accross some inhouse or
>interest group publications that do not make it into the large databases;
>something like Ackerman has done for the IC would be ideal.
>
>Again I would appreciate leads and I reiterate the county histories are
>often suspect and the copying of one from another lends a patina of
>authority by weight of numbers to what may have been originally a less
>than solid surmise.
>
>The best sources for such as this are insider sources, such as Ackerman
>for the IC, whose purpose is not to sell books such as the county
>histories which turned every township into a paradise and every community
>into a paragon of virtue and industry.
>
>So anything published by the Burlington or by employees or knowledgeable
>interest groups or individuals would be appreciated.
>
>Cheers,
>
>
>***********************************************************************
>Edward Callary, Editor Phone: 815-753-6627
>NAMES: A Journal of Onomastics Fax: 815-753-0606
>English Department email: ecallary@n...
>Northern Illinois University
>DeKalb, Il 60115-2863
>***************************************************
>
> Visit the American Name Society Homepage:
> http://www.wtsn.binghamton.edu/ans/
>
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