Family History Library, what a great place for ancestry searching
The above photo was by Lidia Camacho. Family History Library, what a wonderful place to do your ancestry search. There are genealogy collections, rooms and departments. Depending on the size of the library and the knowledge of the staff, staff members who specialize in genealogy information or belong to genealogical societies, or organizations like National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution or the "Sons of the American Revolution" are usually overseeing the genealogy departments. At the family history library there are books and there are more books. There are family history books, some to help you to do your ancestry search and others that are on individual families. Some family history books contain, city or county history with biographies of early settlers to the area, farmers, blacksmiths; doctors, lawyers and bankers are included. These books give the lay of the land for the early period of the city or county. You will find books and literature on local businesses and business people. There are regional history books that cover 2 to 4 counties, especially if 1 or more counties are small or sparsely populated. You will find books that are indexes to public records for birth, marriage and death records. This is a great help in obtaining official documentation from the county offices for your ancestry search. The books are done by local genealogy societies or they are the books that were indexed by the W.P.A. during the depression. Some libraries have the patriot index books for the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. There are books on the "War of the Rebellion" (Civil War). City directories, telephone books (it is interesting to look at the early telephone books). Maps and surveys of the city or county.
At a family history library you will find index books on the cemeteries in the county. If the county is large with many cities, the books will be done by the city, or if less populated by township. Such as Oak Hill Cemetery in North Township. Don't forget the Periodical Source Index, genealogical societies newsletters. The list is numerous. All of these books and periodicals are great help in doing your ancestry search. For cenus records there are index books for the U.S. Federal Census from 1790 to 1900.1910, 1920 and 1930 are on computer. Many libraries have the microfilm for all yearsfrom 1790 to 1930. The actual pages can also be viewed and printed off from the internet,thru ancestry.com and heritagequest.com Another resource is The Mormon Church website: familysearch.org, for checking census records. Mormon genealogy records contain: International Genealogical Index, the 1880 U.S.Federal Census. You can find the 1881 British Census and the 1881 Canadian Cenus alongwith other records. Per a friend in a local Mormon Research Center all the U.S. FederalCensus records are being digitized and will be free to read and print from their website. Another good source for family history search is local newspapers. Most libraries subscribeto one or more newspapers. The recent newspapers are kept on the shelf for 1 to 2 weeks,then are filed in binders for keeping until the time for being microfilmed. Check out: Tracing Family History Books. Keep searching at the Family History Library and continue to enjoy the ride along thegenealogy pathway.
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