Places you wish your ancestors were born in

Daniel Downs' Xenia Ohio Citizen Journal blog gives a pointer to Xenia's Greene County (Ohio) Public Library's genealogy resources. Wow. Working with the Greene County Records Center and Archives, OHIONET, and OCLC Preservation Services, the library digitized four volumes of birth records kept by the local probate court from 1869 to 1909. After that local health departments took over the job in Ohio.

"The birth records are arranged chronologically by the date the birth was recorded. The record contains the child's full name, date of birth, place of birth (city/township/county), sex, legitimacy, race, parents and their residence." Searchable and browseable, the digital images I viewed were clear -- actually better than microfilm because of the zooming capabilities -- and the library provides ample information to cite them properly in your notes. What a wonderful service!