| Genealogy Gems: News from the Allen County Public Library at Fort Wayne, No. 230, April 30, 2023 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Genealogy Gems (genealogygems genealogycenter.info)
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| Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2023 20:58:42 -0400 | |
Genealogy Gems: News from the Allen County Public Library at Fort Wayne
No. 230, April 30, 2023
In this issue:
*Another Look at Reasonably Exhaustive Research
*PERSI: A Research Gem
*Have Ancestors from Western Ukraine or Southeastern Poland? Locate Your Ancestral Town!
*Technology Tip of the Month: The Case of the Moving Image
*PERSI Gems: Planting Seeds
*Genealogy Center’s May Programs
*Staying Informed about Genealogy Center Programming
*Genealogy Center Social Media
*Driving Directions to the Library
*Parking at the Library
*Genealogy Center Queries
*Publishing Note
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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in the United States is to divide records evidencing our ancestors’ lives into published, official or governmental, and unpublished.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!
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PERSI: A Research Gem
by Allison DePrey Singleton
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The Genealogy Center is delighted to be the home of the Periodical Source Index (PERSI). Created in 1985, PERSI assists genealogy researchers in finding articles in more than 11,000 titles of periodicals and is designed to make that research easier, since many publications do not have their own indexes. Researchers have difficulty knowing every periodical that might benefit their research due to such factors as limited availability, the unexpected location of information, and the size of the organization that creates the periodical. The library staff designed PERSI to help overcome these obstacles and leave no stone unturned. Even though it has been around for more than 37 years, it has only come to be hosted on the Genealogy Center website this past year. Let’s explore how to use PERSI.
The indexed periodicals come from local, regional, and state genealogical societies, historical societies, museums, academic institutions, special interest groups, for-profit publishers, individuals, and many other organizations. Currently, the Genealogy Center receives more than 3,000 periodical subscriptions that are part of its permanent collection. Once we have a full run of a periodical, they are bound and shelved based on topic or location. The current periodicals are kept unbound in alphabetical order. All of them have been cataloged into our collection.
PERSI indexes the titles of articles. The content is not itself indexed, which means researchers need to look for topics and subjects surrounding their ancestors’ lives. PERSI has a surname index that can be searched, but it is unusual for entire articles to be written about one person or one family. Often, these articles include a wide variety of information, including transcriptions of court records, cemetery markers, wills, and other types of records or historical topics. It is best to look for both the surname and the topics or subjects for each ancestor being researched.
Searching PERSI is a learned skill. We recommend that you watch at least one of our videos on PERSI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFEY98WZ_uk&list=PL8AE558B5D8661B31&index=51 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN7gUzHdZ4o. Both of these videos will supply tips and tricks to get the most out of PERSI. Wildcards are not available at this time, but it is possible to enter search terms in quotes. More specific results will be found this way. It is also important to think of every term that can be used to describe an event in an ancestor’s life. For example, if seeking material on a death event, use terms such as death, die, funeral, wake, burial, bury, cemetery, grave, headstone, homicide, suicide, murder, kill, will, probate, etc. Be creative!
After an exciting discovery has been made within PERSI, obtaining a copy of the article is the next step. The first option is to visit the Genealogy Center to view the article in person. Researchers are able to make photocopies, scans, or take pictures. We then recommend contacting the publisher for each periodical to see if an inexpensive or free copy could be obtained. The next step is to see if there is a copy of the article in a local library. WorldCat.org is the best option for finding locations of these titles. Lastly, an article order can be made through the Genealogy Center at a small fee. The order form needs to be filled out here: https://acpl.lib.in.us/images/Documents/Gendocs/Forms/articlerequest.pdf. The form can be mailed or emailed. Pre-payment is no longer necessary. The best part of the Genealogy Center’s hosting PERSI, creating the index, and having the periodicals on the premises is that our staff are also here to assist. We want your search to be successful.
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Have Ancestors from Western Ukraine or Southeastern Poland? Locate Your Ancestral Town!
by Kate McKenzie
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Locating your ancestral town in western Ukraine or southeastern Poland can be a challenge - this area has been under the rule of many governments and empires over the centuries. During their lifetimes, some people found themselves living in Austria, Poland, and Ukraine, all without ever leaving their village. Exploring the history of the area can help inform your genealogy research.
The present-day areas of western Ukraine and southeastern Poland previously formed the “Austrian Crownland of Galizien'' as Galicia was known in German. Galicia was the largest province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was ethnically diverse. The two largest groups included the Poles and the Ruthenians (historic term for Ukrainians). Jews made up the next largest group, and 2% of the population was German. The Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed the area that was Galicia in 1772 and had rule over it until 1917-18 when Galicia came under the rule of the Republic of Poland, which lasted until 1939. The area was later divided between the Ukrainian SSR and the Polish People’s Republic. 1991 saw the independence of Ukraine and Poland.
To locate your ancestral town, first you will need to obtain clues about the name of your ancestor’s village through records. Interview relatives and record what you know. Do any family documents provide clues about the town of origin? Search for a passenger list for your immigrant ancestor and locate potential citizenship documents to help identify the town of origin. Items such as church records and obituaries may provide clues as well.
I located a passenger record for my immigrant ancestor which stated that he was from “Bronica” and that his ethnicity was Ruthenian. A naturalization record noted his place of birth as “Bronyicza”. Although my ancestor stated he was Ruthenian (Ukrainian), both of these potential spellings appear to be Polish transliterations. This was common - during the Austrian period records were often written in Polish, German or Ukrainian. Unfortunately, searching online for my ancestor’s town under these two potential spellings yields no results for a present-day town.
Next, use a gazetteer: Gazetteers may be the next step in identifying the village for your immigrant ancestor. The Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia by Brian J. Lenius (943.8 L547G) is a valuable tool. Along with identifying the geographic location and standardized spelling of your ancestral town, the gazetteer can be used to determine the various jurisdictions for each community (administrative, judicial, Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Jewish, and more). Geographic and historical information is also included, along with reference maps.
Using the Ukrainian-Polish Place Names List within Lenius’ gazetteer, I located the town name, Bronica, which was located on my ancestor’s passenger record. Bronica is the Polish place name. Next to this is the Ukrainian place name - the spelling in Ukrainian Cyrillic is provided as well as English transliteration. Bronytsya is the town name for my ancestor’s village located in present-day western Ukraine!
After you have located the town, you can use Lenius’ gazetteer to help determine which archives may hold the records for your ancestors’ town! The gazetteer provides contact information for various archives in Ukraine and Poland and descriptions of their holdings.
A couple of additional resources:
HalGal - Genealogy of Halychyna /Eastern Galicia, “Finding Your Ancestral Village: http://www.halgal.com/findingvillage.html
947.71 P63U Ukrainian genealogy: a beginner's guide by John D. Pihach
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Technology Tip of the Month: The Case of the Moving Image
by Kay Spears
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As Hercule and I take a peaceful train journey through Yugoslavia, I thought I’d take this time to examine the case of the moving image. You may or may not be aware, but nothing gives me a headache faster than Microsoft Word. Yes, the program that has so many helpful features is hard to use. So, our mystery starts pleasantly enough. Our victim was typing away on a Word document, occasionally inserting images, editing, humming to themselves, when they noticed that one of their images had moved. They had wanted the image to be at the top of their document. They were puzzled, and well they should be. What happened to their image? The answer: Microsoft Word is what happened.
Let’s take a look at Microsoft Word. First of all, Microsoft Word is primarily a word processor. That means if all you are going to do is type a bunch of words, everything will be just dandy. But anything involving a layout function, like images, charts, footnotes, indexes, table of contents, etc. may involve a learning curve.
When you insert an image into Word, it places your image by default “in line with text.” What that means is that wherever your cursor is when you insert is where your image will land, and it will be “anchored” to the text. When you insert an image and continue to type, your image will move along with your typing. And that’s all good if that is what you want. So, here are some things to be aware of: some things that are in Word, and some things that I have done to work around them.
Everyone has their own way of working. If I am going to insert any images into a Word document, I usually do so after I’m done typing. It just saves me a lot of headaches. (If you are writing a genealogy, adding images, and making a lot of edits to the text, you may not know when you are truly done with typing). However, Word has a lot of formatting options when it comes to inserting objects. You can change the default from “in line with your text” by right clicking on that image. Go into “wrap text” and pick the one you want. Your text should then flow around the image. Be aware that when you do this, your image probably will jump to somewhere else on the page, but you can move it to where you want it. You may also resize it.
Your image also should stay put, notice I said “should.” Sometimes it doesn’t. There are many options you can do if that happens. One of the things I do if it’s still not staying put is “fix the position.” The way you do this depends on what version you have. Versions older than 2003 have a different way of finding this option. Actually, if you are still using 2003, you should really upgrade. To find this option in later versions, click on the image. When you select the image, you should be able to see a little tiny anchor in the margin of the document close to the image. You should also see the “text wrap” symbol. Click on that symbol to open your “layout option” dialog box. Notice the two options available in that box are “move with text” and “fix position on page.” By default, the “move with text” will be checked. If you want your image to stay where it is, select “fix position on page.” You will also see the words “see more.” If you click on the “see more,” you will open up another dialog box with more options.
I suggest you play with all of these options before you start working on the document you want to use. See what they can do and find where they are located. By the way, you can open these dialog boxes up in different ways: by right clicking or by using the menu ribbon and the task pane. While Microsoft Word is only a “word processor,” it has a lot of formatting options hidden away that are intended to help you. Remember, experiment and have some aspirin nearby. Lastly, don’t be afraid to Google questions; sometimes you might even find the answer you want.
Next article: The Case of the Scary Upgrade.
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PERSI Gems: Planting Seeds
by Adam Barrone and Mike Hudson
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Three of my grandparents were raised on northeast Indiana farms before coming to Fort Wayne as young adults in the 1940s. Their agrarian upbringing shaped their lives. After moving to the city, they devoted ample portions of their back yards to growing fruits and vegetables. My maternal grandmother made certain that I was well-trained in weed pulling as we worked in her inner-city garden. The basic principle was this: learn to identify the crops, flowers, and trees she planted and pull everything else by the root.
There were history lessons, too, to be heard in Grandma's garden. Her lone peach tree served as a reminder of the orchard on her parents' property in Noble County which, she said, prevented the loss of the family farm during the Great Depression. Those peaches became a valuable cash crop in times of great need. While Grandma and I worked in the yard, she, too, spoke of our Alaskan relatives in whose honor she had planted spruce and birch trees.
My paternal grandparents' neighborhood on the edge of Fort Wayne was a cleared farm field when aerial photographers flew over in 1938. The families who settled on its platted lots soon made their mark on the landscape, planting a variety of trees near their modest homes. Cottonwoods there, large during my 1980s childhood, are now positively enormous. The current owner of my grandparents' former home recently felled one of these arboreal monstrosities which posed an increasing risk to surrounding properties and utility lines. The hired crew had ample space to drop the tree nearly intact, but the direction of the fall was critical. All went according to plan. The neighborhood shook as the eighty-year-old cottonwood struck the earth. My son and I counted the rings while I reminisced about the swing my father fashioned there from a white nylon rope, a steel swivel, and an old tire from his Suzuki motorcycle.
The tales we tell and the stories we write plant seeds in the minds of the next generation. We help them understand their place in our landscape and support their growth by sharing knowledge of our family history. We at the Periodical Source Index strive to support you in your efforts to plant and to nurture.
https://www.genealogycenter.info/persi/
Black sheep and bad seeds, family history research tips
Jefferson County (OH) Lines, Vol. 30, Issue 3 (Fal 2010)
Blackcapped chicakdees fond of sumac seeds, brief note, 1945
Outdoor Indiana, Vol. 12, Issue 6 (Aug 1945)
Bob Smith and Clem Glotzhober test dandelion seeds for Henry Ford, 1942, MI
Michigan History, Vol. 89, Issue 2 (Mar 2005)
Charlie Stillwell broke both arms, slipped on watermelon seeds, 1922, IA
Poweshiek County Iowa Searcher, Vol. 34, Issue 4 (Apr 2010)
Chewing sunflower seeds, German custom
Heritage Review, Vol. 25, Issue 1 (Mar 1995)
Civilian Conservation Corps camps turn in tons of tree seeds for state forest nurseries, 1940
Outdoor Indiana, Vol. 7, Issue 11 (Dec 1940)
Father Vicente de Santa Maria plants date seeds, c. 1782
Ventura County Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 48, Issue 3-4 (2005)
Freedom Seeds planted over 60 years ago bear fruit, events, commemorations, 2014
Graybeards (Korean War Veterans Association, IL), Vol. 28, Issue 5 (Sep 2014)
Loretta Evans re planting genealogy seeds may produce information later
Ancestry (MyFamily.com, CA), Vol. 24, Issue 5 (Sep 2006)
Mount Vernon black walnut seeds planted on grounds of embassies and legations abroad, 1931
Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, Vol. 65, Issue 7 (Jul 1931)
Seeds taken to moon in 1971 planted in Indiana
Hoosier Heritage Magazine, Vol. 3, Issue 1 (2006)
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Genealogy Center’s May Programs
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Join us for another month of free, virtual programs.
May 2, 2023, 2:30 p.m. EDT “HistoryForge: Mapping Your Family History” with Eve Snyder, PhD - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367036
May 2, 2023, 7 p.m. EDT “Duelling Constitutions” with Dr. James Oakes, a Friends of the Lincoln in Indiana program - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfcKw69Bvufo1Uqm-cL2ckYNhA0zsVWUB5cEAyFkorWKbV7Pw/viewform
May 4, 2023, 6:30 p.m. EDT “Unraveling Your Ancestry: A Conversation on Genealogy & DNA” with Sara Allen - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8454117
May 7, 2023, 2:00 p.m. EDT “Alcohol, Prohibition and Temperance Societies in Ohio and Indiana” and “Researching Criminal Ancestors” with Ron Arons, a Northeast Indiana Jewish Genealogy Society program - https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsdeuprTksHNZj5VS50fZ0XRsGLUuwu5hJ#/registration
May 9, 2023, 2:30 p.m. EDT “Genealogy Resources at the Norwegian American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library” with Dana Kelly - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367134
May 10, 2023, 7 p.m. EDT “A Lonely Voyage: Finding Irish Immigrant Women in the United States” with Elizabeth Hodges, an Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana program - https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qjJVneUeSuKLfPU_dX3w2w#/registration
May 11, 2023, 6:30 p.m. EDT “Mysterious Codes: Passenger Manifests Letters and Numbers” with Christine Cohen - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367189
May 16, 2023, 2:30 p.m. EDT “Court Records Research without the Law Degree” with Kate Towsend - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367247
May 18, 2023, 6:30 p.m. EDT “Database Dive: Tracing Your Swedish Roots with ArkivDigital” with Kathy Meade - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367288
May 20, 2023 2 p.m. EDT “Research Tools & Tips - Deep Dive into Missouri and North Carolina” with Dr. Al Brothers, an African American Genealogy Society of Fort Wayne program - https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtdOyqrTItGNXj0pNzU3jz6nAroXP0tYoX
May 23, 2023, 2:30 p.m. EDT “In Search of the Blonde Tigress: Finding Missing Persons” with Silvia Pettem - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367350
May 25, 2023, 6:30 p.m. EDT “Using Blogs to Share Family History Writing” with Craig Siulinski - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367408
May 30, 2023, 6:30 p.m. EDT “Uncover Your Family’s Story Using the Periodical Source Index (PERSI)” with Elizabeth Hodges - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367457
Please register in advance to enjoy these engaging programs.
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Staying Informed about Genealogy Center Programming
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Do you want to know what we have planned? Are you interested in one of our events, but forget? We offer email updates for The Genealogy Center’s programming schedule. Don’t miss out! Sign up at http://goo.gl/forms/THcV0wAabB.
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Genealogy Center Social Media
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GenealogyCenter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/genealogycenter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ACPLGenealogy
Blog: http://www.genealogycenter.org/Community/Blog.aspx
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/askacpl
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Driving Directions to the Library
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Wondering how to get to the library? Our location is 900 Library Plaza, Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the block bordered on the south by Washington Boulevard, the west by Ewing Street, the north by Wayne Street, and the east by the Library Plaza, formerly Webster Street. We would enjoy having you visit the Genealogy Center.
To get directions from your exact location to 900 Library Plaza, Fort Wayne, Indiana, visit this link at MapQuest:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=900%20Webster%20St&city=Fort%20Wayne&state=IN&zipcode=46802%2d3602&country=US&geodiff=1
>From the South
Exit Interstate 69 at exit 302. Drive east on Jefferson Boulevard into downtown. Turn left on Ewing Street. The Library is one block north, at Ewing Street and Washington Boulevard.
Using US 27:
US 27 turns into Lafayette Street. Drive north into downtown. Turn left at Washington Boulevard and go five blocks. The Library will be on the right.
>From the North
Exit Interstate 69 at exit 312. Drive south on Coldwater Road, which merges into Clinton Street. Continue south on Clinton to Washington Boulevard. Turn right on Washington and go three blocks. The Library will be on the right.
>From the West
Using US 30:
Drive into town on US 30. US 30 turns into Goshen Ave. which dead-ends at West State Blvd. Make an angled left turn onto West State Blvd. Turn right on Wells Street. Go south on Wells to Wayne Street. Turn left on Wayne Street. The Library will be in the second block on the right.
Using US 24:
After crossing under Interstate 69, follow the same directions as from the South.
>From the East
Follow US 30/then 930 into and through New Haven, under an overpass into downtown Fort Wayne. You will be on Washington Blvd. when you get into downtown. Library Plaza will be on the right.
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Parking at the Library
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At the Library, underground parking can be accessed from Wayne Street. Other library parking lots are at Washington and Webster, and Wayne and Webster. Hourly parking is $1 per hour with a $7 maximum. ACPL library card holders may use their cards to validate the parking ticket at the west end of the Great Hall of the Library. Out of county residents may purchase a subscription card with proof of identification and residence. The current fee for an Individual Subscription Card is $85.
Public lots are located at the corner of Ewing and Wayne Streets ($1 each for the first two half-hours, $1 per hour after, with a $4 per day maximum) and the corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Harrison Street ($3 per day).
Street (metered) parking on Ewing and Wayne Streets. On the street you plug the meters 8am – 5pm, weekdays only. The meters take credit cards and charge at a rate of $1/hour. Street parking is free after 5 p.m. and on the weekends.
Visitor center/Grand Wayne Center garage at Washington and Clinton Streets. This is the Hilton Hotel parking lot that also serves as a day parking garage. For hourly parking, 7am – 11 pm, charges are .50 for the first 45 minutes, then $1.00 per hour. There is a flat $2.00 fee between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.
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Genealogy Center Queries
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The Genealogy Center hopes you find this newsletter interesting. Thank you for subscribing. We cannot, however, answer personal research emails written to the e-zine address. The department houses a Research Center that makes photocopies and conducts research for a fee.
If you have a general question about our collection, or are interested in the Research Center, please telephone the library and speak to a librarian who will be glad to answer your general questions or send you a research center form. Our telephone number is 260-421-1225. If you’d like to email a general information question about the department, please email: Genealogy [at] ACPL.Info.
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Publishing Note
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This electronic newsletter is published by the Allen County Public Library's Genealogy Center, and is intended to enlighten readers about genealogical research methods as well as inform them about the vast resources of the Allen County Public Library. We welcome the wide distribution of this newsletter and encourage readers to forward it to their friends and societies. All precautions have been made to avoid errors. However, the publisher does not assume any liability to any party for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, no matter the cause.
To subscribe to “Genealogy Gems,” simply use your browser to go to the website: www.GenealogyCenter.org. Scroll to the bottom, click on E-zine, and fill out the form. You will be notified with a confirmation email.
If you do not want to receive this e-zine, please follow the link at the very bottom of the issue of Genealogy Gems you just received or send an email to kspears [at] acpl.lib.in.us with "unsubscribe e-zine" in the subject line.
Curt B. Witcher and John D. Beatty, CG, co-editors
No. 230, April 30, 2023
In this issue:
*Another Look at Reasonably Exhaustive Research
*PERSI: A Research Gem
*Have Ancestors from Western Ukraine or Southeastern Poland? Locate Your Ancestral Town!
*Technology Tip of the Month: The Case of the Moving Image
*PERSI Gems: Planting Seeds
*Genealogy Center’s May Programs
*Staying Informed about Genealogy Center Programming
*Genealogy Center Social Media
*Driving Directions to the Library
*Parking at the Library
*Genealogy Center Queries
*Publishing Note
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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!
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PERSI: A Research Gem
by Allison DePrey Singleton
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The Genealogy Center is delighted to be the home of the Periodical Source Index (PERSI). Created in 1985, PERSI assists genealogy researchers in finding articles in more than 11,000 titles of periodicals and is designed to make that research easier, since many publications do not have their own indexes. Researchers have difficulty knowing every periodical that might benefit their research due to such factors as limited availability, the unexpected location of information, and the size of the organization that creates the periodical. The library staff designed PERSI to help overcome these obstacles and leave no stone unturned. Even though it has been around for more than 37 years, it has only come to be hosted on the Genealogy Center website this past year. Let’s explore how to use PERSI.
The indexed periodicals come from local, regional, and state genealogical societies, historical societies, museums, academic institutions, special interest groups, for-profit publishers, individuals, and many other organizations. Currently, the Genealogy Center receives more than 3,000 periodical subscriptions that are part of its permanent collection. Once we have a full run of a periodical, they are bound and shelved based on topic or location. The current periodicals are kept unbound in alphabetical order. All of them have been cataloged into our collection.
PERSI indexes the titles of articles. The content is not itself indexed, which means researchers need to look for topics and subjects surrounding their ancestors’ lives. PERSI has a surname index that can be searched, but it is unusual for entire articles to be written about one person or one family. Often, these articles include a wide variety of information, including transcriptions of court records, cemetery markers, wills, and other types of records or historical topics. It is best to look for both the surname and the topics or subjects for each ancestor being researched.
Searching PERSI is a learned skill. We recommend that you watch at least one of our videos on PERSI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFEY98WZ_uk&list=PL8AE558B5D8661B31&index=51 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN7gUzHdZ4o. Both of these videos will supply tips and tricks to get the most out of PERSI. Wildcards are not available at this time, but it is possible to enter search terms in quotes. More specific results will be found this way. It is also important to think of every term that can be used to describe an event in an ancestor’s life. For example, if seeking material on a death event, use terms such as death, die, funeral, wake, burial, bury, cemetery, grave, headstone, homicide, suicide, murder, kill, will, probate, etc. Be creative!
After an exciting discovery has been made within PERSI, obtaining a copy of the article is the next step. The first option is to visit the Genealogy Center to view the article in person. Researchers are able to make photocopies, scans, or take pictures. We then recommend contacting the publisher for each periodical to see if an inexpensive or free copy could be obtained. The next step is to see if there is a copy of the article in a local library. WorldCat.org is the best option for finding locations of these titles. Lastly, an article order can be made through the Genealogy Center at a small fee. The order form needs to be filled out here: https://acpl.lib.in.us/images/Documents/Gendocs/Forms/articlerequest.pdf. The form can be mailed or emailed. Pre-payment is no longer necessary. The best part of the Genealogy Center’s hosting PERSI, creating the index, and having the periodicals on the premises is that our staff are also here to assist. We want your search to be successful.
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Have Ancestors from Western Ukraine or Southeastern Poland? Locate Your Ancestral Town!
by Kate McKenzie
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Locating your ancestral town in western Ukraine or southeastern Poland can be a challenge - this area has been under the rule of many governments and empires over the centuries. During their lifetimes, some people found themselves living in Austria, Poland, and Ukraine, all without ever leaving their village. Exploring the history of the area can help inform your genealogy research.
The present-day areas of western Ukraine and southeastern Poland previously formed the “Austrian Crownland of Galizien'' as Galicia was known in German. Galicia was the largest province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was ethnically diverse. The two largest groups included the Poles and the Ruthenians (historic term for Ukrainians). Jews made up the next largest group, and 2% of the population was German. The Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed the area that was Galicia in 1772 and had rule over it until 1917-18 when Galicia came under the rule of the Republic of Poland, which lasted until 1939. The area was later divided between the Ukrainian SSR and the Polish People’s Republic. 1991 saw the independence of Ukraine and Poland.
To locate your ancestral town, first you will need to obtain clues about the name of your ancestor’s village through records. Interview relatives and record what you know. Do any family documents provide clues about the town of origin? Search for a passenger list for your immigrant ancestor and locate potential citizenship documents to help identify the town of origin. Items such as church records and obituaries may provide clues as well.
I located a passenger record for my immigrant ancestor which stated that he was from “Bronica” and that his ethnicity was Ruthenian. A naturalization record noted his place of birth as “Bronyicza”. Although my ancestor stated he was Ruthenian (Ukrainian), both of these potential spellings appear to be Polish transliterations. This was common - during the Austrian period records were often written in Polish, German or Ukrainian. Unfortunately, searching online for my ancestor’s town under these two potential spellings yields no results for a present-day town.
Next, use a gazetteer: Gazetteers may be the next step in identifying the village for your immigrant ancestor. The Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia by Brian J. Lenius (943.8 L547G) is a valuable tool. Along with identifying the geographic location and standardized spelling of your ancestral town, the gazetteer can be used to determine the various jurisdictions for each community (administrative, judicial, Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Jewish, and more). Geographic and historical information is also included, along with reference maps.
Using the Ukrainian-Polish Place Names List within Lenius’ gazetteer, I located the town name, Bronica, which was located on my ancestor’s passenger record. Bronica is the Polish place name. Next to this is the Ukrainian place name - the spelling in Ukrainian Cyrillic is provided as well as English transliteration. Bronytsya is the town name for my ancestor’s village located in present-day western Ukraine!
After you have located the town, you can use Lenius’ gazetteer to help determine which archives may hold the records for your ancestors’ town! The gazetteer provides contact information for various archives in Ukraine and Poland and descriptions of their holdings.
A couple of additional resources:
HalGal - Genealogy of Halychyna /Eastern Galicia, “Finding Your Ancestral Village: http://www.halgal.com/findingvillage.html
947.71 P63U Ukrainian genealogy: a beginner's guide by John D. Pihach
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Technology Tip of the Month: The Case of the Moving Image
by Kay Spears
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As Hercule and I take a peaceful train journey through Yugoslavia, I thought I’d take this time to examine the case of the moving image. You may or may not be aware, but nothing gives me a headache faster than Microsoft Word. Yes, the program that has so many helpful features is hard to use. So, our mystery starts pleasantly enough. Our victim was typing away on a Word document, occasionally inserting images, editing, humming to themselves, when they noticed that one of their images had moved. They had wanted the image to be at the top of their document. They were puzzled, and well they should be. What happened to their image? The answer: Microsoft Word is what happened.
Let’s take a look at Microsoft Word. First of all, Microsoft Word is primarily a word processor. That means if all you are going to do is type a bunch of words, everything will be just dandy. But anything involving a layout function, like images, charts, footnotes, indexes, table of contents, etc. may involve a learning curve.
When you insert an image into Word, it places your image by default “in line with text.” What that means is that wherever your cursor is when you insert is where your image will land, and it will be “anchored” to the text. When you insert an image and continue to type, your image will move along with your typing. And that’s all good if that is what you want. So, here are some things to be aware of: some things that are in Word, and some things that I have done to work around them.
Everyone has their own way of working. If I am going to insert any images into a Word document, I usually do so after I’m done typing. It just saves me a lot of headaches. (If you are writing a genealogy, adding images, and making a lot of edits to the text, you may not know when you are truly done with typing). However, Word has a lot of formatting options when it comes to inserting objects. You can change the default from “in line with your text” by right clicking on that image. Go into “wrap text” and pick the one you want. Your text should then flow around the image. Be aware that when you do this, your image probably will jump to somewhere else on the page, but you can move it to where you want it. You may also resize it.
Your image also should stay put, notice I said “should.” Sometimes it doesn’t. There are many options you can do if that happens. One of the things I do if it’s still not staying put is “fix the position.” The way you do this depends on what version you have. Versions older than 2003 have a different way of finding this option. Actually, if you are still using 2003, you should really upgrade. To find this option in later versions, click on the image. When you select the image, you should be able to see a little tiny anchor in the margin of the document close to the image. You should also see the “text wrap” symbol. Click on that symbol to open your “layout option” dialog box. Notice the two options available in that box are “move with text” and “fix position on page.” By default, the “move with text” will be checked. If you want your image to stay where it is, select “fix position on page.” You will also see the words “see more.” If you click on the “see more,” you will open up another dialog box with more options.
I suggest you play with all of these options before you start working on the document you want to use. See what they can do and find where they are located. By the way, you can open these dialog boxes up in different ways: by right clicking or by using the menu ribbon and the task pane. While Microsoft Word is only a “word processor,” it has a lot of formatting options hidden away that are intended to help you. Remember, experiment and have some aspirin nearby. Lastly, don’t be afraid to Google questions; sometimes you might even find the answer you want.
Next article: The Case of the Scary Upgrade.
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PERSI Gems: Planting Seeds
by Adam Barrone and Mike Hudson
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Three of my grandparents were raised on northeast Indiana farms before coming to Fort Wayne as young adults in the 1940s. Their agrarian upbringing shaped their lives. After moving to the city, they devoted ample portions of their back yards to growing fruits and vegetables. My maternal grandmother made certain that I was well-trained in weed pulling as we worked in her inner-city garden. The basic principle was this: learn to identify the crops, flowers, and trees she planted and pull everything else by the root.
There were history lessons, too, to be heard in Grandma's garden. Her lone peach tree served as a reminder of the orchard on her parents' property in Noble County which, she said, prevented the loss of the family farm during the Great Depression. Those peaches became a valuable cash crop in times of great need. While Grandma and I worked in the yard, she, too, spoke of our Alaskan relatives in whose honor she had planted spruce and birch trees.
My paternal grandparents' neighborhood on the edge of Fort Wayne was a cleared farm field when aerial photographers flew over in 1938. The families who settled on its platted lots soon made their mark on the landscape, planting a variety of trees near their modest homes. Cottonwoods there, large during my 1980s childhood, are now positively enormous. The current owner of my grandparents' former home recently felled one of these arboreal monstrosities which posed an increasing risk to surrounding properties and utility lines. The hired crew had ample space to drop the tree nearly intact, but the direction of the fall was critical. All went according to plan. The neighborhood shook as the eighty-year-old cottonwood struck the earth. My son and I counted the rings while I reminisced about the swing my father fashioned there from a white nylon rope, a steel swivel, and an old tire from his Suzuki motorcycle.
The tales we tell and the stories we write plant seeds in the minds of the next generation. We help them understand their place in our landscape and support their growth by sharing knowledge of our family history. We at the Periodical Source Index strive to support you in your efforts to plant and to nurture.
https://www.genealogycenter.info/persi/
Black sheep and bad seeds, family history research tips
Jefferson County (OH) Lines, Vol. 30, Issue 3 (Fal 2010)
Blackcapped chicakdees fond of sumac seeds, brief note, 1945
Outdoor Indiana, Vol. 12, Issue 6 (Aug 1945)
Bob Smith and Clem Glotzhober test dandelion seeds for Henry Ford, 1942, MI
Michigan History, Vol. 89, Issue 2 (Mar 2005)
Charlie Stillwell broke both arms, slipped on watermelon seeds, 1922, IA
Poweshiek County Iowa Searcher, Vol. 34, Issue 4 (Apr 2010)
Chewing sunflower seeds, German custom
Heritage Review, Vol. 25, Issue 1 (Mar 1995)
Civilian Conservation Corps camps turn in tons of tree seeds for state forest nurseries, 1940
Outdoor Indiana, Vol. 7, Issue 11 (Dec 1940)
Father Vicente de Santa Maria plants date seeds, c. 1782
Ventura County Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 48, Issue 3-4 (2005)
Freedom Seeds planted over 60 years ago bear fruit, events, commemorations, 2014
Graybeards (Korean War Veterans Association, IL), Vol. 28, Issue 5 (Sep 2014)
Loretta Evans re planting genealogy seeds may produce information later
Ancestry (MyFamily.com, CA), Vol. 24, Issue 5 (Sep 2006)
Mount Vernon black walnut seeds planted on grounds of embassies and legations abroad, 1931
Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, Vol. 65, Issue 7 (Jul 1931)
Seeds taken to moon in 1971 planted in Indiana
Hoosier Heritage Magazine, Vol. 3, Issue 1 (2006)
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Genealogy Center’s May Programs
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Join us for another month of free, virtual programs.
May 2, 2023, 2:30 p.m. EDT “HistoryForge: Mapping Your Family History” with Eve Snyder, PhD - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367036
May 2, 2023, 7 p.m. EDT “Duelling Constitutions” with Dr. James Oakes, a Friends of the Lincoln in Indiana program - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfcKw69Bvufo1Uqm-cL2ckYNhA0zsVWUB5cEAyFkorWKbV7Pw/viewform
May 4, 2023, 6:30 p.m. EDT “Unraveling Your Ancestry: A Conversation on Genealogy & DNA” with Sara Allen - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8454117
May 7, 2023, 2:00 p.m. EDT “Alcohol, Prohibition and Temperance Societies in Ohio and Indiana” and “Researching Criminal Ancestors” with Ron Arons, a Northeast Indiana Jewish Genealogy Society program - https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsdeuprTksHNZj5VS50fZ0XRsGLUuwu5hJ#/registration
May 9, 2023, 2:30 p.m. EDT “Genealogy Resources at the Norwegian American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library” with Dana Kelly - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367134
May 10, 2023, 7 p.m. EDT “A Lonely Voyage: Finding Irish Immigrant Women in the United States” with Elizabeth Hodges, an Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana program - https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qjJVneUeSuKLfPU_dX3w2w#/registration
May 11, 2023, 6:30 p.m. EDT “Mysterious Codes: Passenger Manifests Letters and Numbers” with Christine Cohen - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367189
May 16, 2023, 2:30 p.m. EDT “Court Records Research without the Law Degree” with Kate Towsend - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367247
May 18, 2023, 6:30 p.m. EDT “Database Dive: Tracing Your Swedish Roots with ArkivDigital” with Kathy Meade - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367288
May 20, 2023 2 p.m. EDT “Research Tools & Tips - Deep Dive into Missouri and North Carolina” with Dr. Al Brothers, an African American Genealogy Society of Fort Wayne program - https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtdOyqrTItGNXj0pNzU3jz6nAroXP0tYoX
May 23, 2023, 2:30 p.m. EDT “In Search of the Blonde Tigress: Finding Missing Persons” with Silvia Pettem - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367350
May 25, 2023, 6:30 p.m. EDT “Using Blogs to Share Family History Writing” with Craig Siulinski - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367408
May 30, 2023, 6:30 p.m. EDT “Uncover Your Family’s Story Using the Periodical Source Index (PERSI)” with Elizabeth Hodges - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8367457
Please register in advance to enjoy these engaging programs.
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Staying Informed about Genealogy Center Programming
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Do you want to know what we have planned? Are you interested in one of our events, but forget? We offer email updates for The Genealogy Center’s programming schedule. Don’t miss out! Sign up at http://goo.gl/forms/THcV0wAabB.
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Genealogy Center Social Media
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GenealogyCenter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/genealogycenter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ACPLGenealogy
Blog: http://www.genealogycenter.org/Community/Blog.aspx
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/askacpl
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Driving Directions to the Library
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Wondering how to get to the library? Our location is 900 Library Plaza, Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the block bordered on the south by Washington Boulevard, the west by Ewing Street, the north by Wayne Street, and the east by the Library Plaza, formerly Webster Street. We would enjoy having you visit the Genealogy Center.
To get directions from your exact location to 900 Library Plaza, Fort Wayne, Indiana, visit this link at MapQuest:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=900%20Webster%20St&city=Fort%20Wayne&state=IN&zipcode=46802%2d3602&country=US&geodiff=1
>From the South
Exit Interstate 69 at exit 302. Drive east on Jefferson Boulevard into downtown. Turn left on Ewing Street. The Library is one block north, at Ewing Street and Washington Boulevard.
Using US 27:
US 27 turns into Lafayette Street. Drive north into downtown. Turn left at Washington Boulevard and go five blocks. The Library will be on the right.
>From the North
Exit Interstate 69 at exit 312. Drive south on Coldwater Road, which merges into Clinton Street. Continue south on Clinton to Washington Boulevard. Turn right on Washington and go three blocks. The Library will be on the right.
>From the West
Using US 30:
Drive into town on US 30. US 30 turns into Goshen Ave. which dead-ends at West State Blvd. Make an angled left turn onto West State Blvd. Turn right on Wells Street. Go south on Wells to Wayne Street. Turn left on Wayne Street. The Library will be in the second block on the right.
Using US 24:
After crossing under Interstate 69, follow the same directions as from the South.
>From the East
Follow US 30/then 930 into and through New Haven, under an overpass into downtown Fort Wayne. You will be on Washington Blvd. when you get into downtown. Library Plaza will be on the right.
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Parking at the Library
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At the Library, underground parking can be accessed from Wayne Street. Other library parking lots are at Washington and Webster, and Wayne and Webster. Hourly parking is $1 per hour with a $7 maximum. ACPL library card holders may use their cards to validate the parking ticket at the west end of the Great Hall of the Library. Out of county residents may purchase a subscription card with proof of identification and residence. The current fee for an Individual Subscription Card is $85.
Public lots are located at the corner of Ewing and Wayne Streets ($1 each for the first two half-hours, $1 per hour after, with a $4 per day maximum) and the corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Harrison Street ($3 per day).
Street (metered) parking on Ewing and Wayne Streets. On the street you plug the meters 8am – 5pm, weekdays only. The meters take credit cards and charge at a rate of $1/hour. Street parking is free after 5 p.m. and on the weekends.
Visitor center/Grand Wayne Center garage at Washington and Clinton Streets. This is the Hilton Hotel parking lot that also serves as a day parking garage. For hourly parking, 7am – 11 pm, charges are .50 for the first 45 minutes, then $1.00 per hour. There is a flat $2.00 fee between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.
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Genealogy Center Queries
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The Genealogy Center hopes you find this newsletter interesting. Thank you for subscribing. We cannot, however, answer personal research emails written to the e-zine address. The department houses a Research Center that makes photocopies and conducts research for a fee.
If you have a general question about our collection, or are interested in the Research Center, please telephone the library and speak to a librarian who will be glad to answer your general questions or send you a research center form. Our telephone number is 260-421-1225. If you’d like to email a general information question about the department, please email: Genealogy [at] ACPL.Info.
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Publishing Note
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This electronic newsletter is published by the Allen County Public Library's Genealogy Center, and is intended to enlighten readers about genealogical research methods as well as inform them about the vast resources of the Allen County Public Library. We welcome the wide distribution of this newsletter and encourage readers to forward it to their friends and societies. All precautions have been made to avoid errors. However, the publisher does not assume any liability to any party for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, no matter the cause.
To subscribe to “Genealogy Gems,” simply use your browser to go to the website: www.GenealogyCenter.org. Scroll to the bottom, click on E-zine, and fill out the form. You will be notified with a confirmation email.
If you do not want to receive this e-zine, please follow the link at the very bottom of the issue of Genealogy Gems you just received or send an email to kspears [at] acpl.lib.in.us with "unsubscribe e-zine" in the subject line.
Curt B. Witcher and John D. Beatty, CG, co-editors
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