| Genealogy Gems: News from the Allen County Public Library at Fort Wayne, No. 243, May 31, 2024 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Genealogy Gems (genealogygems genealogycenter.info)
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| Date: Fri, 31 May 2024 21:05:47 -0400 | |
Genealogy Gems: News from the Allen County Public Library at Fort Wayne
No. 243, May 31, 2024
In this issue:
*Festivals, Graduations, Holidays, Vacations, Reunions and Stories!
*German Ortsippenbuchs
*Beginning Steps to Jewish-American Genealogical Research
*PERSI Gems: Sourcing PERSI's Source
*Preservation Tips: Preserving Family Photographs—19th Century Photographs
*History Tidbits: “Wales Beyond Wales”—The Story of Welsh Patagonia
*Genealogy Center’s June 2024 Programs
*June Program Call-out
*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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Festivals, Graduations, Holidays, Vacations, Reunions and Stories!
by Curt B. Witcher
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Isn’t there an amazing number of events we have to anticipate beginning in May and touching the end of the year! For many, the just-passed Memorial Day weekend marks the commencement of all those traditional activities associated with summer. Festivals dot the calendars of so many communities across the country and beyond. Many appreciate how Memorial Day and Veterans Day bookend Fourth of July celebrations. We celebrate graduations, as well as walk in them, and we look forward to vacation times when we can explore new places and revisit the wonderful, comfortable places where we have made memories. Many days of these warmer months welcome family reunions and class reunions. And what do all these celebratory events have in common? Stories!
Indeed festivals, graduations, holidays, vacations, and reunions of all types are filled to overflowing with rich stories. Let’s make this year the year when we intentionally record all those stories that together are the fabric of our lives. With very few exceptions everyone has a smartphone. Take those family group photographs, snap those small gathering pictures and get snapshots of the pick-up sports activities and card games, and capture all those candid situations. Then commit to downloading those images to a hard drive and/or uploading them to a cloud folder. And finally, review the photographs within forty-eight hours of taking them to identify everyone and everything in the picture. It’s also good to associate the subjects of conversations with the appropriate photographs. Create a little spreadsheet with the image ID number in one cell, names in another cell, and notes in yet another cell all in the same row.
Have a voice recording app at the ready on your smartphone. Record casual conversations about recollections, aspirations, and especially family stories being recounted. Sitting around a campfire, waiting for the dogs and burgers to be done, or just taking a stroll, inquire about those who are present in the gathering, activities that have been shared over the years, and those who are no longer with you. Be far less concerned about having the perfect conversation and more about just having the conversation. Be in the moment so you can listen well and ask good follow-up questions or make observations that spur further recollections and sharing.
To ensure our stories are preserved we should engage in something else intentionally. We should share them in as many ways, on as many occasions, and with as many individuals as possible. For reunions, a follow-up group email is a vehicle for sharing; for family vacations, using social media is a good sharing medium. Sharing stories and images not only helps preserve them, it has the added benefit of enticing others you’ve been with to share as well.
Be intentional in creating and harvesting stories, and sharing those in ways that help ensure that they will last for generations and benefit many. Make it a storytelling summer!
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German Ortsippenbuchs
by John D. Beatty, CG
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A useful type of secondary source for researching German families is the Ortsippenbuch, sometimes also called the Ortsfamilienbuch. These German words are best translated as “town lineage book” and “town family book.” For many communities across the former German empire, historians and genealogists have extracted births, marriages, and deaths of residents from church records and compiled them into printed books, usually under an alphabetical arrangement. Knowing the ancestral town of interest, a researcher can sometimes find a volume where all the data from hard-to-read church records are extracted and arranged for convenient use. Another format is the so-called “house book,” organized by address, which lists the owners over time who have lived at a particular house number. The majority of Ortsippenbuchs have been compiled for the western parts of Germany. Fewer volumes exist for states the east, such as East and West Prussia, Posen, Pomerania, and Brandenburg, where many church registers are either lost or their German populations were displaced after World War II.
Researchers should also bear in mind that since these are secondary sources, they can be subject to errors and omissions. If church records exist, it is always a good idea to examine digital versions of the handwritten records if available to make certain an ancestor was not missed. I have seen one volume for an ancestral town in Rheinland-Pfalz that missed my early 18th century ancestor, so I was glad to have examined the handwritten records on FamilySearch.
The Genealogy Center has begun collecting Ortsippenbuchs from German book vendors as part of a larger effort to expand our offerings for continental Europe. We have added hundreds of these books to our shelves in the last year. Search our online catalog under the German town to see if we have one for your place of interest.
Our collection is still a work in progress. These volumes have been published in Germany for many decades, and many older ones have become quite scarce and hard to purchase. We are actively working to expand our collection. The St. Louis County Public Library, which has been collecting German volumes longer than we have, has amassed a vast collection, and its catalog is definitely worth checking. https://www.slcl.org/research-learn/genealogy. Moreover, there is also an online portal of digitized Ortsippenbuchs compiled by genealogy.net that should also be searched: https://www.online-ofb.de/. Finally, FamilySearch has an excellent online guide to these sources that contains other links to bibliographic lists for specific German states. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Germany_Town_Genealogies_and_Parish_Register_Inventories_on_the_Internet
With websites such as Ancestry, FamilySearch, Archion (archion.de), Matricula Online (https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/) and Metryki Genbaza (https://metryki.genbaza.pl/), researchers now have a variety of places to go online in search of German ancestral records. Even so, they can still encounter challenges from lost or destroyed records or having ancestors from places where records have not been digitized or extracted. Ortsippenbuchs are another tool in the genealogists’ research arsenal. Be sure to check these various links to see if a volume exists for your ancestral town.
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Beginning Steps to Jewish-American Genealogical Research
by Sara Allen
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Tracing Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors can be challenging. In this short article we will lay out some beginning principles for Jewish genealogical research, starting with emigration to the United States. Many of these steps will be similar for tracing non-Jewish immigrants, but some are specific only to Jewish families.
Your first step is to locate the entire immigrant family (mother, father, all children) in all the relevant United States records. This task includes finding census records, birth, marriage and death records, military draft registrations, obituaries, cemetery records (including tombstones), synagogue records, passenger lists, naturalization records, and more. One should note such types of information as exact birth dates; towns of origin in Europe; parent’s names of the immigrant; year of immigration; whether naturalized; and the given names and surnames that each family member used. It may useful to maintain a spreadsheet or document recording all the information you find about the family in the United States. Be prepared for discrepancies, since the records of recent immigrants can be plagued with spelling variations, differing dates, and conflicting locations for the same individual. Take these disparities into account when determining whether you have found the correct family back in the old country.
After gathering this information, you must next consider the problem of Jewish names. Many Jewish immigrants changed their first names and sometimes their surnames for various reasons in the years after emigration. One way to learn the original Hebrew given name used in Europe is to translate the Hebrew inscription on the immigrant’s tombstone. Typically, the inscription will identify the deceased’s Hebrew first name as well as that of his father. If you can’t translate the tombstone, check with the local synagogue or join the “Tracing the Tribe” Facebook group for Jewish genealogy, whose members will translate Hebrew tombstone inscriptions for you. For more information on Jewish naming conventions, consult the book, “Jewish Personal Names: Their Origin, Derivation, and Diminutive Forms” by Shmuel Gorr (Genealogy Center call number Gc 929.4 G68j).
If your ancestor came to this country in the twentieth century, his passenger arrival record should exist along with a naturalization record (at least for the males in the family). Both records can be key to finding the place of origin and the names of relatives in the old country. With Jewish ancestors, be sure to seek a passenger list under the different first names your ancestor used, including the Hebrew first name found on the tombstone or a variant of that name. The surname on the passenger list will probably be the one used in Europe, which may or may not be the same name found in later U.S. records. You should interview living family members about their knowledge of the family’s original names and towns of origin. This oral history may help you greatly in your quest.
Once you have identified the European town of origin, you can attempt to locate it on a modern map. It may be possible learn more about the current status of genealogical records for that village as well as determine where historic records might be located. Due to the complicated history of Eastern Europe, records for the same village could be found in three or more archives in different modern-day countries – such as archives in Moscow, Kiev, and Warsaw, because the village may have been under all three jurisdictions at different times. Should you have difficulty locating the village on a modern-day map, consult with a Jewish expert for assistance. The FamilySearch.org Research Wiki pages for each country can provide advice and links to starting points for research in that area of the world. (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Main_Page).
One of the best places to learn about Jewish research and to search English-language indexes of foreign records is the JewishGen.org website. JewishGen requires a free registration to use. It offers a unified search function that searches the entire site, a place where you should typically start. Use the default search option, which will search very broadly by first and last name. You can also change the search parameters if needed. You also will want to search broadly in locations over the entirety of Eastern Europe if the family was Ashkenazi, since families tended to move often or were recorded in different jurisdictions. Once you find some possibilities, use advanced techniques to locate other known family members in the same village. Get the records translated into English so you have the exact contents of the original source, and then look at the clues that you assembled from U.S. records to determine if the family found overseas is the correct family.
Sometimes achieving the greatest success in your research will depend on your ability to attain more advanced research skills. If necessary, reach out to more experienced Jewish researchers for assistance and encouragement along the way. We recommend joining an active Jewish genealogical society for the camaraderie and continuing education opportunities. “Tracing the Tribe” Facebook group is helpful, and the JewishGen website has message boards and town coordinators that can advise. Beginners may also want to familiarize themselves with such guidebooks as “Getting Started in Jewish Genealogy” by Gary Mokotoff (Genealogy Center call number GC 929.102 J55MoL).
Editor’s notes:
[1] While named the Northeast Jewish Genealogy Society, this society headquartered in Fort Wayne, IN has offerings that benefit all interest in Jewish history and genealogy including engaging some of the top Jewish presenters in the world for virtual presentations. Explore them further at https://neindianajgs.org/
[2] The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies will be holding their 2025 conference in Fort Wayne, IN August 10 through 14. It is not too soon to reserve those dates on your calendar and set aside some registration funds for this amazing event.
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PERSI Gems: Sourcing PERSI's Source
by Adam Barrone and Mike Hudson
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In this column, we share citations of the thought-provoking, odd, cringe-worthy, and sometimes humorous topics of the articles we catalog. Through our indexing work for the Periodical Source Index, we churn through the periodicals at our disposal, seeking to shine a light on every bit of useful research material we find among the pages.
This week, a former research librarian, new to searching PERSI, offered an observation about our index and posed a question. Among our citations, she noticed the vast and incredible variety of rare, niche, and truly special source material we cite. She wondered how the Genealogy Center learns about and acquires such serial publications, ones written for small local audiences, those from groups that share super-specific interests, and those which might be held in fewer than half a dozen repositories in the world. In other words, how did we build the incredible serials collection on which PERSI is based?
Parts of the Genealogy Center collection predate the 1961 founding of the Genealogy Department itself. Throughout the first part of the 20th Century, the collection of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County benefited from the work of our local DAR chapter and from frugal library administrators with a good eye who traveled widely seeking second-hand historical gems. In later partnerships with other libraries, most notably the Newberry, we photocopied huge numbers of disintegrating volumes to preserve, acquire, and share the knowledge they held. Over decades, we developed and maintained contacts with thousands of societies, authors, publishers, and donors who supply the periodical issues we bind and shelve. Piles arrive daily. A stack of one month's incoming serials would rival the height of a genealogy librarian or a PERSI indexer. We are grateful to the taxpayers of Allen County who provide the core funding supporting our acquisition efforts.
Do you know about an available publication, old or new, which you think should be added to our collection? We welcome donations, leads, and purchase requests from our patrons. Email us at: Genealogy [at] ACPL.Info
As you search PERSI, you will find gems published by special people with fascinating interests in places far and near. Try a PERSI search here:
https://www.genealogycenter.info/persi/
Have you used any of these gems in our holdings?
The Canal Society of Indiana sends us their journals and newsletters including the Hoosier Packet and Tumble. Vital to Indiana's growth, canal transportation brought settlers and commerce to this region. Among much evidence, you'll find a story of an old man named Maiden. He drunk drove an oxen-drawn wagon laden with supplies for canal workers. Mr. Maiden met his end near Evansville in 1851.
Ex-CBI Roundup, founded in 1946 and published to 2009, was a reminiscing magazine for former members of U.S. units stationed in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. Many war veterans hesitated to share their experiences with their own families. Through this publication, though, veterans wrote in to share their memories with military comrades, ones they knew would understand. Our collection starts with volume 20 in 1965; we seek earlier issues.
Kanhistique, published in Ellsworth, Kansas, from 1975 to 2008, was a paper devoted to Kansas, its history, and its antiques. It's full of vintage photographs of pioneer scenes, Kansas people, and the stuff they collected.
Luxembourg Heritage Society of Southern Minnesota Newsletter, 2007+, comes from a society active today. This is an example of our many publications which preserve history of particular immigrant groups. One article details the life Peter Schmitz and his journey from Luxembourg to Chicago to New Ulm, Minnesota. It tells of Indian attacks, ad-hoc militias, government reparations, a diphtheria epidemic, and a funeral cortege of forty vehicles.
Solitude in Stone, published in East Lansing, Michigan, from 1994 to 2010, relishes in the eccentricities of decedents as revealed via a walk through a cemetery. Karl Simpson's stone forever declares him a "Great Father & Grumpy Old Fart". Another photo, a wide angle of a cemetery, includes a common road sign which gave the photographer pause: "Dead End".
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Preservation Tips: Preserving Family Photographs—19th Century Photographs
by Christina Clary
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The earliest forms of photographs were tintypes, ambrotypes, and daguerreotypes. These typically date from 1840 to 1900. Daguerreotypes were the first to be developed and were printed on silver-plated sheets of copper. Their popularity waned around 1860 as ambrotypes and tintypes gained popularity. Ambrotypes were printed on glass, while tintypes were made on sheets of lacquered iron. Tintypes were especially popular during the Civil War, as they were more durable than ambrotypes. Most soldiers’ portraits were tintypes.
Distinguishing between daguerreotypes and tintypes can be difficult. The easiest way to identify them is to turn the lights off and shine a light directly at the photograph. If the image stays the same, it is a tintype. If the image looks like a photographic negative, it is a daguerreotype. The metal edges of these photographs can tear through paper envelopes. Completely wrap each photograph in tissue before placing it in a paper envelope or an archival quality plastic sleeve. Ambrotypes will need extra padding to prevent the glass from breaking, so be sure to wrap them well. These, along with any glass plate negatives, are better stored in a four-flap paper enclosure that wraps around the item. Keep them in a cool, dry place. Heat and humidity can cause rust and flaking on tintypes and daguerreotypes.
In the latter half of the 19th century, there was a shift from metal supports to paper supports. Collodion, albumen, and gelatin photographs are the most common types you might find in your family collection. The primary difference between these types lies in the chemical processes used for their development. Collodion photographs required a quick process to complete before the plate dried. They are less common than albumen and gelatin photographs. Both collodion and albumen photographs can have either a glossy, smooth surface or a matte finish. All three types typically exhibit purplish-red and brown tones.
Albumen photographs were popular from 1860 to 1880. This process used egg whites mixed with chloride, which caused the distinctive yellow tone they have developed with age. Since albumen prints were made on very thin paper supports, they were typically mounted onto a larger, sturdier support. Many cabinet card portraits are albumen prints. These have the studio name printed on the front or back and a cardboard-like feel. In contrast, collodion and gelatin photographs do not yellow with age and retain their purplish-red tones. Gelatin photographs, which replaced albumen in popularity in the 1880s, remained popular until the 1910s. These may exhibit some image fading over time, while collodion photographs do not.
The care for these photographs is the same regardless of the type. They should not be exposed to light, heat, or humidity for extended periods of time. Gelatin is especially sensitive to humidity. Albumen and collodion tend to be more brittle and can crack. Be sure to have clean, dry hands when handling, and only hold the edges when possible. Photographs should be stored individually in archival envelopes or an archival quality plastic sleeve and laid flat in boxes.
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History Tidbits: “Wales Beyond Wales”—The Story of Welsh Patagonia
by Logan Knight
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The word Patagonia conjures up many different images: Pampas-style open grasslands, gauchos tending herds of cattle, and an outdoor clothing brand are some of the most vivid. Lying at the southern tip of South America, it is about as far from any settled place as you can get. For one man, that was precisely the point.
That man was Michael D. Jones, a Welsh minister and nationalist. Wales is a small rugged country to the west of England and has been joined to it since the 1500’s. Jones was a passionate believer in Welsh culture and language, which he saw as threatened by the overwhelming dominance of English. While spending a few years in Cincinnati, he had seen his parishioners rapidly assimilate into Americans, often ditching their native language and culture. Jones viewed this as a problem and began to dream of a Welsh colony located where the English and their language and culture had yet to penetrate.
The new country of Argentina also had a problem. After driving out the natives, it had claimed large territories including Patagonia, but its presence on the ground was scant. Argentina decided to offer European settlers free land if they would come and settle it. Jones put his shoulder to the wheel, and began raising money and organizing other Welsh nationalists and potential settlers. In 1862, a committee sent Sir Thomas Duncombe Love Jones-Parry and Lewis Jones to scout for land suitable for a Welsh colony in Argentina. The Argentine government offered land in the Chubut River Valley of Patagonia. Parry and Jones accepted, perhaps a bit too readily.
July 28th 1865 saw a group of 153 Welsh settlers land at a place they would name Port Madryn (now Puerto Madyrn), and so was born what is called Y Wladfa (pronounced Uh Wuhladva) “the colony”. The colonists had been told the Chubut River Valley (known as Afon Camwy in Welsh) was very much like that of Lowland Wales. In truth, it is hard to think of a place less like it. Patagonia has a dry, cold, and windy environment, quite unlike the well-watered green valleys of Wales. The settlers founded the town of Rawson (pronounced row-son), along the Chubut River, after moving all of their belongings in the one wheelbarrow they had brought with them.
Despair overtook the settlers. Most had been coal miners or other types of industrial workers, poor preparation for establishing a farming colony. They even requested that the British Government settle them on the Falkland Islands, which was denied. The colony was saved by two. The local Tehuelche (pronounced two-L-chay) people, took pity on them and taught them to hunt and survive in the harsh environment. One of the female colonists, a Rachel Jenkins, suggested building irrigation canals to open up the area for farming.
These events allowed the Welsh to prosper in their new land. A number of other settlers followed, although only about 2,300 Welsh ever came to Patagonia. Wheat farms and even a railway sprung up. Welsh religion, buildings, cuisine and other markers of “Welshness” would graft onto the Chubut River Valley
While later groups of European immigrants would swamp the Welsh in the area (particularly Italians), Welsh Patagonians remain. A small number even continue to speak Welsh. Communities with names like Trewlew, Dolavon, Esquel, Trevelin, and Gaiman still dot the landscape. During the Falklands War of 1982, a choirmaster from Puerto Madryn was conscripted by the Argentine military junta, captured by the British military, and shocked members of the Welsh Guards by speaking to them in their native language. Today, there are a great deal of cultural ties between the Welsh Patagonians and the mother country, honoring Michael Jones’s dream of a “Wales Beyond Wales.”
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Genealogy Center’s June 2024 Programs
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Join us for another month of free, virtual and in-person programs!
June 4, 2024, 2:30 p.m. ET “Arizona Genealogy 101” with Yahm Levin and Wendi Goen - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10727539
June 6, 2024, 6:30 p.m. ET “*IN-PERSON* DNA & Genealogy Interest Group” - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10718974
June 11, 2024, 2:30 p.m. ET “From Sign-Up to StoriedBook™” with Heather Haunert - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10718168
June 13, 2024, 6:30 p.m. ET “Bluegrass Roots: Genealogical Records of the Kentucky State Archives” with Rusty Heckaman - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10718671
June 15, 2024, 1 p.m. ET “Research Tools & Tips: A Hands-on Workshop at the ACPL Genealogy Center” with Dr. Al Brothers and African American Genealogical Society of Fort Wayne Board Members.” This is a live, in-person program in the ACPL Genealogy Center.
June 18, 2024, 2:30 pm ET “Unraveling Ancestry in Alsace” with Kate McKenzie - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10840980
June 20, 2024, 6:30 p.m. ET “Building Bridges through Time: Genealogy 'Virtual Legacies' for Generations to Come with Lisa and Kevin Desforges - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10909146
June 25, 2024, 2:30 p.m. ET “FamilySearch Sleuthing” with Laura Street Chaplin - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10719419
June 27, 2024, 6:30 p.m. ET “Following the Money: Finding Your Family’s Story Using the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Records” with Elizabeth Hodges - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10840725
Please register in advance for these engaging programs.
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June 2024 Program Call-Out
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+++African American Genealogical Society of Fort Wayne+++
June 15, 2024, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET “Research Tools & Tips: A Hands-on Workshop at the ACPL Genealogy Center” with Dr. Al Brothers and African American Genealogical Society of Fort Wayne Board Members.” From 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. there will be a special session on “How to Create a Research Strategy” in the Discovery Center of the Genealogy Center. This is a live, in-person program in the ACPL Genealogy Center where you can get personalized assistance on your specific family history research.
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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 sspearswells [at] acpl.lib.in.us with "unsubscribe e-zine" in the subject line.
Curt B. Witcher and John D. Beatty, CG, co-editors
No. 243, May 31, 2024
In this issue:
*Festivals, Graduations, Holidays, Vacations, Reunions and Stories!
*German Ortsippenbuchs
*Beginning Steps to Jewish-American Genealogical Research
*PERSI Gems: Sourcing PERSI's Source
*Preservation Tips: Preserving Family Photographs—19th Century Photographs
*History Tidbits: “Wales Beyond Wales”—The Story of Welsh Patagonia
*Genealogy Center’s June 2024 Programs
*June Program Call-out
*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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Festivals, Graduations, Holidays, Vacations, Reunions and Stories!
by Curt B. Witcher
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Isn’t there an amazing number of events we have to anticipate beginning in May and touching the end of the year! For many, the just-passed Memorial Day weekend marks the commencement of all those traditional activities associated with summer. Festivals dot the calendars of so many communities across the country and beyond. Many appreciate how Memorial Day and Veterans Day bookend Fourth of July celebrations. We celebrate graduations, as well as walk in them, and we look forward to vacation times when we can explore new places and revisit the wonderful, comfortable places where we have made memories. Many days of these warmer months welcome family reunions and class reunions. And what do all these celebratory events have in common? Stories!
Indeed festivals, graduations, holidays, vacations, and reunions of all types are filled to overflowing with rich stories. Let’s make this year the year when we intentionally record all those stories that together are the fabric of our lives. With very few exceptions everyone has a smartphone. Take those family group photographs, snap those small gathering pictures and get snapshots of the pick-up sports activities and card games, and capture all those candid situations. Then commit to downloading those images to a hard drive and/or uploading them to a cloud folder. And finally, review the photographs within forty-eight hours of taking them to identify everyone and everything in the picture. It’s also good to associate the subjects of conversations with the appropriate photographs. Create a little spreadsheet with the image ID number in one cell, names in another cell, and notes in yet another cell all in the same row.
Have a voice recording app at the ready on your smartphone. Record casual conversations about recollections, aspirations, and especially family stories being recounted. Sitting around a campfire, waiting for the dogs and burgers to be done, or just taking a stroll, inquire about those who are present in the gathering, activities that have been shared over the years, and those who are no longer with you. Be far less concerned about having the perfect conversation and more about just having the conversation. Be in the moment so you can listen well and ask good follow-up questions or make observations that spur further recollections and sharing.
To ensure our stories are preserved we should engage in something else intentionally. We should share them in as many ways, on as many occasions, and with as many individuals as possible. For reunions, a follow-up group email is a vehicle for sharing; for family vacations, using social media is a good sharing medium. Sharing stories and images not only helps preserve them, it has the added benefit of enticing others you’ve been with to share as well.
Be intentional in creating and harvesting stories, and sharing those in ways that help ensure that they will last for generations and benefit many. Make it a storytelling summer!
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German Ortsippenbuchs
by John D. Beatty, CG
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A useful type of secondary source for researching German families is the Ortsippenbuch, sometimes also called the Ortsfamilienbuch. These German words are best translated as “town lineage book” and “town family book.” For many communities across the former German empire, historians and genealogists have extracted births, marriages, and deaths of residents from church records and compiled them into printed books, usually under an alphabetical arrangement. Knowing the ancestral town of interest, a researcher can sometimes find a volume where all the data from hard-to-read church records are extracted and arranged for convenient use. Another format is the so-called “house book,” organized by address, which lists the owners over time who have lived at a particular house number. The majority of Ortsippenbuchs have been compiled for the western parts of Germany. Fewer volumes exist for states the east, such as East and West Prussia, Posen, Pomerania, and Brandenburg, where many church registers are either lost or their German populations were displaced after World War II.
Researchers should also bear in mind that since these are secondary sources, they can be subject to errors and omissions. If church records exist, it is always a good idea to examine digital versions of the handwritten records if available to make certain an ancestor was not missed. I have seen one volume for an ancestral town in Rheinland-Pfalz that missed my early 18th century ancestor, so I was glad to have examined the handwritten records on FamilySearch.
The Genealogy Center has begun collecting Ortsippenbuchs from German book vendors as part of a larger effort to expand our offerings for continental Europe. We have added hundreds of these books to our shelves in the last year. Search our online catalog under the German town to see if we have one for your place of interest.
Our collection is still a work in progress. These volumes have been published in Germany for many decades, and many older ones have become quite scarce and hard to purchase. We are actively working to expand our collection. The St. Louis County Public Library, which has been collecting German volumes longer than we have, has amassed a vast collection, and its catalog is definitely worth checking. https://www.slcl.org/research-learn/genealogy. Moreover, there is also an online portal of digitized Ortsippenbuchs compiled by genealogy.net that should also be searched: https://www.online-ofb.de/. Finally, FamilySearch has an excellent online guide to these sources that contains other links to bibliographic lists for specific German states. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Germany_Town_Genealogies_and_Parish_Register_Inventories_on_the_Internet
With websites such as Ancestry, FamilySearch, Archion (archion.de), Matricula Online (https://data.matricula-online.eu/en/) and Metryki Genbaza (https://metryki.genbaza.pl/), researchers now have a variety of places to go online in search of German ancestral records. Even so, they can still encounter challenges from lost or destroyed records or having ancestors from places where records have not been digitized or extracted. Ortsippenbuchs are another tool in the genealogists’ research arsenal. Be sure to check these various links to see if a volume exists for your ancestral town.
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Beginning Steps to Jewish-American Genealogical Research
by Sara Allen
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Tracing Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors can be challenging. In this short article we will lay out some beginning principles for Jewish genealogical research, starting with emigration to the United States. Many of these steps will be similar for tracing non-Jewish immigrants, but some are specific only to Jewish families.
Your first step is to locate the entire immigrant family (mother, father, all children) in all the relevant United States records. This task includes finding census records, birth, marriage and death records, military draft registrations, obituaries, cemetery records (including tombstones), synagogue records, passenger lists, naturalization records, and more. One should note such types of information as exact birth dates; towns of origin in Europe; parent’s names of the immigrant; year of immigration; whether naturalized; and the given names and surnames that each family member used. It may useful to maintain a spreadsheet or document recording all the information you find about the family in the United States. Be prepared for discrepancies, since the records of recent immigrants can be plagued with spelling variations, differing dates, and conflicting locations for the same individual. Take these disparities into account when determining whether you have found the correct family back in the old country.
After gathering this information, you must next consider the problem of Jewish names. Many Jewish immigrants changed their first names and sometimes their surnames for various reasons in the years after emigration. One way to learn the original Hebrew given name used in Europe is to translate the Hebrew inscription on the immigrant’s tombstone. Typically, the inscription will identify the deceased’s Hebrew first name as well as that of his father. If you can’t translate the tombstone, check with the local synagogue or join the “Tracing the Tribe” Facebook group for Jewish genealogy, whose members will translate Hebrew tombstone inscriptions for you. For more information on Jewish naming conventions, consult the book, “Jewish Personal Names: Their Origin, Derivation, and Diminutive Forms” by Shmuel Gorr (Genealogy Center call number Gc 929.4 G68j).
If your ancestor came to this country in the twentieth century, his passenger arrival record should exist along with a naturalization record (at least for the males in the family). Both records can be key to finding the place of origin and the names of relatives in the old country. With Jewish ancestors, be sure to seek a passenger list under the different first names your ancestor used, including the Hebrew first name found on the tombstone or a variant of that name. The surname on the passenger list will probably be the one used in Europe, which may or may not be the same name found in later U.S. records. You should interview living family members about their knowledge of the family’s original names and towns of origin. This oral history may help you greatly in your quest.
Once you have identified the European town of origin, you can attempt to locate it on a modern map. It may be possible learn more about the current status of genealogical records for that village as well as determine where historic records might be located. Due to the complicated history of Eastern Europe, records for the same village could be found in three or more archives in different modern-day countries – such as archives in Moscow, Kiev, and Warsaw, because the village may have been under all three jurisdictions at different times. Should you have difficulty locating the village on a modern-day map, consult with a Jewish expert for assistance. The FamilySearch.org Research Wiki pages for each country can provide advice and links to starting points for research in that area of the world. (https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Main_Page).
One of the best places to learn about Jewish research and to search English-language indexes of foreign records is the JewishGen.org website. JewishGen requires a free registration to use. It offers a unified search function that searches the entire site, a place where you should typically start. Use the default search option, which will search very broadly by first and last name. You can also change the search parameters if needed. You also will want to search broadly in locations over the entirety of Eastern Europe if the family was Ashkenazi, since families tended to move often or were recorded in different jurisdictions. Once you find some possibilities, use advanced techniques to locate other known family members in the same village. Get the records translated into English so you have the exact contents of the original source, and then look at the clues that you assembled from U.S. records to determine if the family found overseas is the correct family.
Sometimes achieving the greatest success in your research will depend on your ability to attain more advanced research skills. If necessary, reach out to more experienced Jewish researchers for assistance and encouragement along the way. We recommend joining an active Jewish genealogical society for the camaraderie and continuing education opportunities. “Tracing the Tribe” Facebook group is helpful, and the JewishGen website has message boards and town coordinators that can advise. Beginners may also want to familiarize themselves with such guidebooks as “Getting Started in Jewish Genealogy” by Gary Mokotoff (Genealogy Center call number GC 929.102 J55MoL).
Editor’s notes:
[1] While named the Northeast Jewish Genealogy Society, this society headquartered in Fort Wayne, IN has offerings that benefit all interest in Jewish history and genealogy including engaging some of the top Jewish presenters in the world for virtual presentations. Explore them further at https://neindianajgs.org/
[2] The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies will be holding their 2025 conference in Fort Wayne, IN August 10 through 14. It is not too soon to reserve those dates on your calendar and set aside some registration funds for this amazing event.
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PERSI Gems: Sourcing PERSI's Source
by Adam Barrone and Mike Hudson
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In this column, we share citations of the thought-provoking, odd, cringe-worthy, and sometimes humorous topics of the articles we catalog. Through our indexing work for the Periodical Source Index, we churn through the periodicals at our disposal, seeking to shine a light on every bit of useful research material we find among the pages.
This week, a former research librarian, new to searching PERSI, offered an observation about our index and posed a question. Among our citations, she noticed the vast and incredible variety of rare, niche, and truly special source material we cite. She wondered how the Genealogy Center learns about and acquires such serial publications, ones written for small local audiences, those from groups that share super-specific interests, and those which might be held in fewer than half a dozen repositories in the world. In other words, how did we build the incredible serials collection on which PERSI is based?
Parts of the Genealogy Center collection predate the 1961 founding of the Genealogy Department itself. Throughout the first part of the 20th Century, the collection of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County benefited from the work of our local DAR chapter and from frugal library administrators with a good eye who traveled widely seeking second-hand historical gems. In later partnerships with other libraries, most notably the Newberry, we photocopied huge numbers of disintegrating volumes to preserve, acquire, and share the knowledge they held. Over decades, we developed and maintained contacts with thousands of societies, authors, publishers, and donors who supply the periodical issues we bind and shelve. Piles arrive daily. A stack of one month's incoming serials would rival the height of a genealogy librarian or a PERSI indexer. We are grateful to the taxpayers of Allen County who provide the core funding supporting our acquisition efforts.
Do you know about an available publication, old or new, which you think should be added to our collection? We welcome donations, leads, and purchase requests from our patrons. Email us at: Genealogy [at] ACPL.Info
As you search PERSI, you will find gems published by special people with fascinating interests in places far and near. Try a PERSI search here:
https://www.genealogycenter.info/persi/
Have you used any of these gems in our holdings?
The Canal Society of Indiana sends us their journals and newsletters including the Hoosier Packet and Tumble. Vital to Indiana's growth, canal transportation brought settlers and commerce to this region. Among much evidence, you'll find a story of an old man named Maiden. He drunk drove an oxen-drawn wagon laden with supplies for canal workers. Mr. Maiden met his end near Evansville in 1851.
Ex-CBI Roundup, founded in 1946 and published to 2009, was a reminiscing magazine for former members of U.S. units stationed in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. Many war veterans hesitated to share their experiences with their own families. Through this publication, though, veterans wrote in to share their memories with military comrades, ones they knew would understand. Our collection starts with volume 20 in 1965; we seek earlier issues.
Kanhistique, published in Ellsworth, Kansas, from 1975 to 2008, was a paper devoted to Kansas, its history, and its antiques. It's full of vintage photographs of pioneer scenes, Kansas people, and the stuff they collected.
Luxembourg Heritage Society of Southern Minnesota Newsletter, 2007+, comes from a society active today. This is an example of our many publications which preserve history of particular immigrant groups. One article details the life Peter Schmitz and his journey from Luxembourg to Chicago to New Ulm, Minnesota. It tells of Indian attacks, ad-hoc militias, government reparations, a diphtheria epidemic, and a funeral cortege of forty vehicles.
Solitude in Stone, published in East Lansing, Michigan, from 1994 to 2010, relishes in the eccentricities of decedents as revealed via a walk through a cemetery. Karl Simpson's stone forever declares him a "Great Father & Grumpy Old Fart". Another photo, a wide angle of a cemetery, includes a common road sign which gave the photographer pause: "Dead End".
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Preservation Tips: Preserving Family Photographs—19th Century Photographs
by Christina Clary
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The earliest forms of photographs were tintypes, ambrotypes, and daguerreotypes. These typically date from 1840 to 1900. Daguerreotypes were the first to be developed and were printed on silver-plated sheets of copper. Their popularity waned around 1860 as ambrotypes and tintypes gained popularity. Ambrotypes were printed on glass, while tintypes were made on sheets of lacquered iron. Tintypes were especially popular during the Civil War, as they were more durable than ambrotypes. Most soldiers’ portraits were tintypes.
Distinguishing between daguerreotypes and tintypes can be difficult. The easiest way to identify them is to turn the lights off and shine a light directly at the photograph. If the image stays the same, it is a tintype. If the image looks like a photographic negative, it is a daguerreotype. The metal edges of these photographs can tear through paper envelopes. Completely wrap each photograph in tissue before placing it in a paper envelope or an archival quality plastic sleeve. Ambrotypes will need extra padding to prevent the glass from breaking, so be sure to wrap them well. These, along with any glass plate negatives, are better stored in a four-flap paper enclosure that wraps around the item. Keep them in a cool, dry place. Heat and humidity can cause rust and flaking on tintypes and daguerreotypes.
In the latter half of the 19th century, there was a shift from metal supports to paper supports. Collodion, albumen, and gelatin photographs are the most common types you might find in your family collection. The primary difference between these types lies in the chemical processes used for their development. Collodion photographs required a quick process to complete before the plate dried. They are less common than albumen and gelatin photographs. Both collodion and albumen photographs can have either a glossy, smooth surface or a matte finish. All three types typically exhibit purplish-red and brown tones.
Albumen photographs were popular from 1860 to 1880. This process used egg whites mixed with chloride, which caused the distinctive yellow tone they have developed with age. Since albumen prints were made on very thin paper supports, they were typically mounted onto a larger, sturdier support. Many cabinet card portraits are albumen prints. These have the studio name printed on the front or back and a cardboard-like feel. In contrast, collodion and gelatin photographs do not yellow with age and retain their purplish-red tones. Gelatin photographs, which replaced albumen in popularity in the 1880s, remained popular until the 1910s. These may exhibit some image fading over time, while collodion photographs do not.
The care for these photographs is the same regardless of the type. They should not be exposed to light, heat, or humidity for extended periods of time. Gelatin is especially sensitive to humidity. Albumen and collodion tend to be more brittle and can crack. Be sure to have clean, dry hands when handling, and only hold the edges when possible. Photographs should be stored individually in archival envelopes or an archival quality plastic sleeve and laid flat in boxes.
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History Tidbits: “Wales Beyond Wales”—The Story of Welsh Patagonia
by Logan Knight
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The word Patagonia conjures up many different images: Pampas-style open grasslands, gauchos tending herds of cattle, and an outdoor clothing brand are some of the most vivid. Lying at the southern tip of South America, it is about as far from any settled place as you can get. For one man, that was precisely the point.
That man was Michael D. Jones, a Welsh minister and nationalist. Wales is a small rugged country to the west of England and has been joined to it since the 1500’s. Jones was a passionate believer in Welsh culture and language, which he saw as threatened by the overwhelming dominance of English. While spending a few years in Cincinnati, he had seen his parishioners rapidly assimilate into Americans, often ditching their native language and culture. Jones viewed this as a problem and began to dream of a Welsh colony located where the English and their language and culture had yet to penetrate.
The new country of Argentina also had a problem. After driving out the natives, it had claimed large territories including Patagonia, but its presence on the ground was scant. Argentina decided to offer European settlers free land if they would come and settle it. Jones put his shoulder to the wheel, and began raising money and organizing other Welsh nationalists and potential settlers. In 1862, a committee sent Sir Thomas Duncombe Love Jones-Parry and Lewis Jones to scout for land suitable for a Welsh colony in Argentina. The Argentine government offered land in the Chubut River Valley of Patagonia. Parry and Jones accepted, perhaps a bit too readily.
July 28th 1865 saw a group of 153 Welsh settlers land at a place they would name Port Madryn (now Puerto Madyrn), and so was born what is called Y Wladfa (pronounced Uh Wuhladva) “the colony”. The colonists had been told the Chubut River Valley (known as Afon Camwy in Welsh) was very much like that of Lowland Wales. In truth, it is hard to think of a place less like it. Patagonia has a dry, cold, and windy environment, quite unlike the well-watered green valleys of Wales. The settlers founded the town of Rawson (pronounced row-son), along the Chubut River, after moving all of their belongings in the one wheelbarrow they had brought with them.
Despair overtook the settlers. Most had been coal miners or other types of industrial workers, poor preparation for establishing a farming colony. They even requested that the British Government settle them on the Falkland Islands, which was denied. The colony was saved by two. The local Tehuelche (pronounced two-L-chay) people, took pity on them and taught them to hunt and survive in the harsh environment. One of the female colonists, a Rachel Jenkins, suggested building irrigation canals to open up the area for farming.
These events allowed the Welsh to prosper in their new land. A number of other settlers followed, although only about 2,300 Welsh ever came to Patagonia. Wheat farms and even a railway sprung up. Welsh religion, buildings, cuisine and other markers of “Welshness” would graft onto the Chubut River Valley
While later groups of European immigrants would swamp the Welsh in the area (particularly Italians), Welsh Patagonians remain. A small number even continue to speak Welsh. Communities with names like Trewlew, Dolavon, Esquel, Trevelin, and Gaiman still dot the landscape. During the Falklands War of 1982, a choirmaster from Puerto Madryn was conscripted by the Argentine military junta, captured by the British military, and shocked members of the Welsh Guards by speaking to them in their native language. Today, there are a great deal of cultural ties between the Welsh Patagonians and the mother country, honoring Michael Jones’s dream of a “Wales Beyond Wales.”
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Genealogy Center’s June 2024 Programs
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Join us for another month of free, virtual and in-person programs!
June 4, 2024, 2:30 p.m. ET “Arizona Genealogy 101” with Yahm Levin and Wendi Goen - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10727539
June 6, 2024, 6:30 p.m. ET “*IN-PERSON* DNA & Genealogy Interest Group” - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10718974
June 11, 2024, 2:30 p.m. ET “From Sign-Up to StoriedBook™” with Heather Haunert - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10718168
June 13, 2024, 6:30 p.m. ET “Bluegrass Roots: Genealogical Records of the Kentucky State Archives” with Rusty Heckaman - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10718671
June 15, 2024, 1 p.m. ET “Research Tools & Tips: A Hands-on Workshop at the ACPL Genealogy Center” with Dr. Al Brothers and African American Genealogical Society of Fort Wayne Board Members.” This is a live, in-person program in the ACPL Genealogy Center.
June 18, 2024, 2:30 pm ET “Unraveling Ancestry in Alsace” with Kate McKenzie - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10840980
June 20, 2024, 6:30 p.m. ET “Building Bridges through Time: Genealogy 'Virtual Legacies' for Generations to Come with Lisa and Kevin Desforges - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10909146
June 25, 2024, 2:30 p.m. ET “FamilySearch Sleuthing” with Laura Street Chaplin - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10719419
June 27, 2024, 6:30 p.m. ET “Following the Money: Finding Your Family’s Story Using the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Records” with Elizabeth Hodges - https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10840725
Please register in advance for these engaging programs.
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June 2024 Program Call-Out
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+++African American Genealogical Society of Fort Wayne+++
June 15, 2024, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET “Research Tools & Tips: A Hands-on Workshop at the ACPL Genealogy Center” with Dr. Al Brothers and African American Genealogical Society of Fort Wayne Board Members.” From 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. there will be a special session on “How to Create a Research Strategy” in the Discovery Center of the Genealogy Center. This is a live, in-person program in the ACPL Genealogy Center where you can get personalized assistance on your specific family history research.
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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 sspearswells [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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