Prosopography

For every ancestor who leaves a voluminous paper trail scattered throughout the historical record, there are a few who barely leave a footprint in time, if any at all. Some of our forbearers seem to emerge fully-formed, as if by immaculate conception with no evidence of pedigree. Farmers, the poor and former slaves tend to leave less records behind than the wealthy or prominent people of a community with few exceptions.  How can we reconstruct the lives and origins of these obscure ancestors?  Tough challenges call for creative solutions. Enter Prosopography. Stage Right.

So, what is prosopography you say? Prosopography is the attempt by scholars to study the collective history of a certain group of people and their relationships to each other by finding references to them in as many primary sources as possible. Prosopography combines the methods of history, genealogy, demographics and onomastics . It's a One-Place Study on steroids.You create a list of questions or information you want to know about this group. Queries range from occupation, social origins, birthplace or known associates and kin. The goal is to come up with a collective biography of an entire group of people. Like genealogy, Prosopography is about discerning relationships between people and their communities.

For example, say your great-great grandfather, John Smith, was working as a blacksmith in some hit-and-miss town in Nowhere, America who didn't leave much of a paper trail to follow. Instead of screaming at your computer screen at 3 am surrounded by a mess of notebooks and cats, look through the records of your ancestor's town and compile a list of every blacksmith or skilled tradesman working during that time.  Generate a couple of questions you want to know about the blacksmiths and tradesman and find references to them in as many sources as you can find.  If you're diligent and patient enough, you're start to notice that most of these men knew and were affiliated with each other.

You may even discover hidden relationships which would have been unknown if you just focused on John Smith. He may have been an apprentice to his pipe-smoking Uncle Job or a witness to his brother's messy divorce proceedings. Using the methods of prosopography can help you learn about the blacksmiths and skilled tradesmen in your town as well as providing possible clues to the genealogical origins of great-great grandpa, John Smith.

Best of Luck,


RS

You can learn more about Prosopography at http://prosopography.modhist.ox.ac.uk/tutorial/tutorial_3.htm