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Genealogy Gems: News from the Allen County Public Library at Fort Wayne, No. 230, April 30, 2023
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Another Look at Reasonably Exhaustive Research
by Curt B. Witcher
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Last week I had the very good fortune of being invited by Sarah Kirby to speak at the Huntington City-Township Public Library during National Library Week. I was asked to present a methodology talk on how we can find more records, access more data, in our quest to engage in “reasonably exhaustive research.” I thought it might be worthwhile to cover some of the points I shared in that presentation in this end-of-April column.
There are numerous ways one can approach the task of engaging in reasonably exhaustive research, and much has been written on the topic. One way I like to approach the topic is to be much more intentional in identifying a great number of repositories in which one will find records about people, places, time periods, and events. A good way to do that for ancestors in the United States is to divide records evidencing our ancestors’ lives into published, official or governmental, and unpublished. Further, explore for those records in repositories at the local level, state level, and national level.
The best among numerous places to look for published records at the local level is to explore the local public library. With very few exceptions, most public libraries have rich collections of materials that rather comprehensively cover the jurisdictions they serve. They typically collect histories of all types that cover the institutions, organizations and people of the particular area. Their collections most frequently contain city, county and rural directories, newspapers of all types, phone books, indices to vital records and court records, obituary and cemetery files, and pamphlet files that detail special events, individuals, and groups in the area. Yes, much of the aforementioned information can be found on the websites of large information aggregators such as Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, FindMyPast, and the Internet Archive to name some of the largest. However, if one is committed to engaging in reasonably exhaustive research, one truly must visit the websites and use the catalogs of the local public libraries to ensure that one is truly looking at, taking advantage of, and benefiting from all available data.
State libraries represent significant record repositories that should be often visited for published information about the state in which one is researching. In some states, the state library and state archive are a combined entity; in a few other states that don’t have a state library, the state historical society often performs the major roles of a state library. In a way, state libraries function like the public library for the state. Their holdings of directories, newspapers, and published histories are significant collections that they make available to researchers. Engaging their online discovery tools will almost assuredly lead one to many resources. They also typically have very robust collections of state government documents. While those documents may seem dusty-dry at first glance, they can hold valuable information about aspects of our ancestors’ lives. I appreciate that library catalogs can be challenging to use and are not all together that intuitive. Alas, in most instances they are all we have to get a virtual look at a library’s collection. Hence, take time to play a bit, try different search terms, and engage any Ask-A-Librarian services that may be offered as methods to more clearly understand their resources and services.
At the national level, libraries that one should consider exploring when doing reasonably exhaustive research in published materials include the Allen County Public Library, the Clayton Library of the Houston Public Library, the FamilySearch Library, the Midwest Genealogy Center, the NSDAR Library in Washington, DC, the New York Public Library, the New England Historic Genealogical Society library in Boston, the Newberry Library in Chicago, the Dallas Public Library, the Los Angeles Public Library, the Library of Congress, and many more. As mentioned previously, each of their online catalogs works a little differently so expect to spend a bit of time exploring different search terms and engaging any advanced search features you may find. And keep an eye peeled for any chat or live information services they may offer.
The template we can deploy in seeking official or governmental records is relatively straightforward—local courthouses and record repositories, state archives, and the National Archives. It can be easy for some to forget that for most of the repositories in this category, they are collecting records of the various governmental units. They typically are not collecting family histories, newspapers, and directories. The various libraries we previously discussed tend to take care of that responsibility.
Birth, marriage and death records, will and probate records, land records including grantor and grantee indices, pleadings and proceedings of local lawsuits, payment of taxes and fees, records of licenses of all types—basically anything that is the work of local government and local government offices will be found for some period of time in local courthouses or local government archives. One should determine the official local office responsible for a particular record or record group, and then inquire about their holdings, record retention schedules, and the process for accessing information and copies of documents. In some communities, the local public library or a local college or university may serve as a repository for some of the records of a local governmental unit, particularly the more historic documents and records. Don’t expect a lot from the websites of local archives and record repositories. A lot of their web real estate is consumed with contemporary hearings, rulings, and public meetings as well as public and political initiatives.
At the state level, state archives truly are a genealogist’s friend. First, the records they curate and provide access to are rich with data relating to the lives and times of our ancestors--both specific details and excellent contexting data. And second, the websites of many state archives contain very useful finding aids, indices, and increasingly, digital copies of actual documents. I know since I am a Hoosier this may be viewed as a biased comment; however, the Indiana Archives and Records Administration is a great website to look at as an example of what one may find available online. <www.in.gov/iara/> Nearly one and a half million names are searchable from this website just for starters. The Tennessee State Library and Archives and the Missouri State Archives are two other excellent state archive sites.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) with its various regional branches is the national level archive that curates many hundreds of millions of historical documents of great value to genealogists and historical researchers. This tremendously large website may appear intimidating and challenging to navigate. As referenced previously, it is truly worthwhile to take time to explore and play with the various search and discovery options. NARA partners with numerous large information aggregators in making digital copies of many records available online, the two most prominent being Ancestry and FamilySearch. In the coming three to five years look for some of the records digitized through these partnerships to be even more widely available online as embargo periods expire. It would take me at least several columns to begin exploring even a part of what NARA has to offer online. One may just want to devote a bit of scheduled time to exploring the Archives.gov website.
The button on the main page of the NARA website that likely bears exploring first is named “Research Our Records.” Under that button one can find links to search the catalog (take your time as the catalog initially can be quite frustrating!), other online research tools including Access to Archival Databases (AAD), researching your ancestry, and researching military records. The sheer quantity of data on this site begs one to explore. This site is so consequential that the Genealogy Center has posted many NARA finding guides for easier viewing at <www.genealogycenter.info/nara/>. It’s worth at least a quick look.
Exploring for unpublished materials--photographs, letters, diaries, daybooks, store ledgers, company records, and the like--may seem like a formidable task, particularly if we are committed to finding all the data possible. It helps to keep your geographic foci in mind. First, look on the local level, and for that we would be looking at local historical societies of all types. City and county historical societies typically have the most robust collections but don’t forget about ethnic, religious, and occupational historical societies. Some of these societies have very modest sized collections, while some are quite extensive. You won’t know until you look. Some local historical society websites are extremely poor relative to online indices, finding aids and collection descriptions. A phone call or email prior to a visit may be necessary to ascertain what resources are available to researchers.
State historical societies typically have amazingly robust collections of records and documents for the geographic areas they cover. In addition, their websites are typically quite good in providing meaningful discovery layers for their collections. Increasingly state historical societies are linking significant digital collections from their websites. Articulating Hoosier pride again, the Indiana Historical Society’s webpage offers much to explore. <IndianaHistory.org> Two links that can quickly lead to resources include the library catalog and digital collections links. Online finding aids can greatly assist in finding specific collections worth further exploration. Among other state historical societies of note are the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Ohio History Connection, the Kentucky Historical Society, and the Georgia Historical Society. Please note, though, that the website of the state historical society in the state where you are conducting research is always worth exploring.
In the category of national historical societies, I would suggest we consider historical societies that cover regions of the country if not the entire country. Such historical societies or organizations tend to be occupationally or ethnically based. These national historical societies tend to be overlooked by genealogists. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Historical Society and the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia are two examples of such organizations that may benefit family historians.
Though I am a big fan of using our just articulated strategy of published, official/governmental, and unpublished materials collected at the local, state and national levels as a guide in conducting reasonably exhaustive research, I must also offer that nearly any library or archive may have a manuscript collection that is most relevant to one’s research. Further, this library or archive might be outside our articulated strategy for locating such materials. A supplemental strategy is worth embracing: consult NUCMC (National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections), ArchiveGrid, Google and ChatGPT to locate important manuscript collections in repositories you may not initially consider searching.
Keep brainstorming ideas for engaging in reasonably exhaustive research!