Now up to eleven mostly Midwestern indexes and finding aids

In addition to the nine links posted last year, two additional research aids are available on my web site:

Wisconsin Small City Directories 1903-1936 -- four rolls of microfilm published by City Directories of the United States, containing 29 directories for various years for more than 24 different towns and 7 different counties -- but labeled neither on the boxes nor at the beginning of the films themselves!

In order to make this resource useable I have spooled through the four films and listed title and publisher (when available) and date, and posted the lists and indexed them. This Wisconsin listing joins similar listings for Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. I have included CDUS's numbers as well as the numbers assigned to them at the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center, where I consulted them.

Few of these towns were able to support annual or even biennial directories, but it's a good bet that diligent researchers who visit local libraries and archives will find directories for more years than were microfilmed here. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries each of these towns had their own confident local business community.

Indiana private laws relating to La Porte County 1843-1847 and 1850, abstracted from Google Books. This is an experiment in making this relatively obscure resource more available. These are drawn from "session law" books describing the laws passed relating to particular people and organizations in each legislative session. Are your people mentioned?



Harold Henderson, "Now up to eleven mostly Midwestern indexes and finding aids," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 24 April 2014 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : viewed [date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

Ramping up the web site

This past week I've added a couple of features to my Midwest Roots web site -- sixteen available presentations (formerly known as lectures), and seven books in which I will do free lookups within reason. In the right-hand column of any page, you'll see the picture of the sandhill cranes at Jasper-Pulaski, and below that a list of categories. Click on whichever one suits your fancy, but "presentations" or "free lookups" will show what's available -- everything from old court records and place names to a talk on the ten (genealogical) commandments.

I hope to add soon some lookups in unpublished materials I've indexed. In all cases, as usual around here, the content is mostly but not exclusively Midwestern.

Other somewhat recent additions are four "unfindables," my indexes of library resources not easy to locate either on line or in person: in Fort Wayne, microfilmed small-city directories in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan from the early 20th century; and in Mishawaka, a sizeable collection of out-of-county microfilmed Indiana newspapers.








Harold Henderson, "Ramping up the web site" Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 19 May 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]