Who We Are
INTRODUCTION
This renowned collection includes more than 350,000 printed
volumes and 513,000 items of microfilm and microfiche. Patrons
of the department also have access to major online databases
at:
As a cooperating partner with the Family History Library in
Salt Lake City, the department can provide access to more than
2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical and historical
records for a small handling fee per roll of film requested.
The Genealogy Center is also active in several initiatives to make
significant public domain portions of its collection available online,
including contributions to Footnote.com and:
- Digitized family histories at Family History Archive
(our ACPL library catalog entries also link to the digital versions)
- Information from books and other materials from Allen County,
Indiana and beyond, including a growing Military Heritage section,
at the GenealogyCenter.Info website
Due to the collection's size and continuous growth, the information
in the following holdings summary will necessarily be brief and
representative in nature.
WHEN YOU VISIT
Be sure to use the library’s online catalog to prepare for your
trip. It will assist in orienting you to the scope of our collection
and help you to plan your actual research time in the department.
[If you have bookmarked this page, be sure to check the library’s
main web page <www.ACPL.Lib.in.us> for any important news and
announcements regarding hours or closures.] Librarians experienced
in genealogical research are always on duty to answer your questions.
Please notify us in advance if you plan to bring a group. Open hours
are:
Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Friday-Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
(Closed on Sundays, Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day)
Visitor
and Convention Bureau
GENEALOGY CENTER ENDOWMENT
The Allen County community and its library have invested consequential
resources to build and maintain this stellar research collection.
Ensuring the future growth and viability of the collection requires
cooperative partnerships and wide-ranging support. We welcome
contributions to the l Genealogy Center Endowment Fund. Contributors
to this fund demonstrate in a tangible way their support for
the Genealogy Center, ensuring its tradition of
excellence for the benefit of future family historians everywhere.
Please inquire for more details.
THE RESOURCES OF THE GENEALOGY CENTER OF THE
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Family Histories
More than 50,000 volumes of compiled genealogies represent work already
done on American and European families, and range from brief typescripts
to well documented multi-volume works. Nearly 5000 genealogies on
microfiche and numerous family newsletters complement this collection.
Census Records
FEDERAL:
- All population schedules 1790-1930
- All available statewide indexes & soundexes
- All extant mortality schedules 1850-1880
- All extant schedules of Civil War Union veterans and widows
1890
- Agricultural and Manufacturing schedules for Indiana 1850-1880
STATE & TERRITORIAL (coverage varies by year):
- CA 1852
- CO 1885
- FL 1885
- IL 1825,30,35,45,55,65
- IA 1836,38,44,46,47,49,51,52,53,54,56, 59,60,81,85,88,89,91,92,95
- KS 1865
- MI 1827,30,34,45,50,54,64,70,74,80,84,94
- MN 1857,65,75,85,95,1905
- MS 1792,1805,08,10,13,16,18,20,22-25,30,
33,37,40,41,45,50,53,60,66
- MO 1876
- NE 1885
- NJ 1855,65,75
- NM 1885
- NY 1815,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55,60,65,
70,75,80,92,1905,1915,1925
- OR 1842,45,49,50,53,54,55,56,57,58,59
- RI 1865
(with index),75,85
- WA 1856,57,58,60,71,73,74,75,77,78,79,
80,81,83,84,85,87,89,91,92,98
- WI 1836-42,46,47,55,75,95,1905
City Directories
The department has a depository collection of nearly 50,000 R.L. Polk
directories dated 1964 to the present, with significant earlier runs
for some cities. The department also holds many directories for smaller
cities and rural areas produced by other publishers, as well as a
standing order for all city directories currently being micropublished
by Research Publications of America. U.S. cities:
- 1785-1860 microfiche (240 cities)
- 1861-1901 microfilm (79 cities)
- 1902-1935 microfilm (54 cities)
- 1936-1960 microfilm (ca. 640 cities)
- 1964-present (Polk directories)
Passengers Lists
Most National Archives passenger lists and indexes on microfilm are
available in the department, as are most major printed sources for
immigration records.
The Five Major Ports of Entry:
- Baltimore:
- Lists 1820-1909 - Quarterly abstracts of lists 1820-69 - Soundex
indexes 1820-97, 1833-66, 1897-1952
- Boston:
- Lists 1820-1943 & Index 1848-91
- New Orleans:
- Lists 1820-1902 - Quarterly abstracts of lists 1820-75 - Indexes
pre-1900, 1900-52
- New York:
- Lists 1820-1940 - Indexes 1820-46, 1897-1902 - Soundex index
1902-43
- Philadelphia:
- Lists 1800-1945 & Index 1800-1906 - Soundex index 1883-1948
- Lists and/or indexes for 68 minor ports 1820-1954
Other Ports of Entry:
- Index to misc. Atlantic and Gulf coast ports 1820-74
- Index to AL, FL, GA and SC lists 1890-1924
- Soundex to Canadian border entries, St. Albans, VT district,
1895-1924 and 1924-52; with partial manifests 1924-49
- Index of Passengers Arriving at Detroit, MI, 1906-1954
- Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Galveston, TX, 1896-1951
- Filby's Passenger and Immigration Lists Index.
- Famine Immigrants: Lists of Irish Immigrants arriving at...New
York 1846-1851.
- German Immigrants...from Bremen to New York 1847-1867.
- Germans to America 1840-1897. (in progress)
Military Records
Holdings include most microfilmed National Archives service and pension
records covering every conflict from the Revolutionary War through
the Philippine Insurrection. Civil War regimental histories on microfiche,
and significant microfilmed Confederate records from state archives
are also included. The excellent collection of related printed references
contains adjutant generals' reports, lineage society publications,
soldiers' diaries, and more than 1000 regimental histories. The military
collection is now expanding into data on 20th and 21st century conflicts
with additions of unit histories for WWI and WWII, and casualty lists
for the Korean War, Vietnam War and Persian Gulf area engagements.
REVOLUTIONARY WAR (1775-83)
- General Index
& Compiled Service Records of Soldiers in the American Army
- Pension and
Bounty Land Warrant Applications
- Bounty Land
Warrants - Ohio Military District
- Virginia
Half Pay and related Pension Applications
- Revolutionary
War Rolls (Commanding Officers' Reports) 1775-83
- Index to
Records of Soldiers in CT units
- Index & Service Records of Naval Personnel
- Misc. Numbered
Records in the War Dept. Collection 1775-1790s with Index
- Central Treasury
Records, Military Affairs 1775-89
- American
Loyalist Claims, Series I and II
- British Troops,
orders, returns, accounts, etc. 1776-81
Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers 1784-1811
Index Register of U.S. Army Enlistments 1798-1914
WAR OF 1812 (1812-15)
- Index to
Compiled Service Records
- Index to
Pension Applications
- Military
Bounty Land Warrants
- Seamen's
Protective Certificate Applications, Port of Philadelphia 1812-15
- War of 1812
Papers
INDIAN WARS AND DISTURBANCES
- Index to
Compiled Service Records 1815-58
- Records of
Veterans Administration, Old War, 1815-1926, & Indian Wars, 1892-1926
MEXICAN WAR (1846-48)
- Index to
Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers
- Record of
Veterans Administration, 1887-1926
CIVIL WAR (1861-65) UNION
- Indexes to Compiled Service Records for all states
- Compiled Service Records for KY, MD, NC, TN, WV and the U. S.
Colored Troops
- Compiled Service Records Showing Service of Military Units of
Volunteer Union Organizations
- Pension File Index
CONFEDERATE
- Consolidated Index to Confederate Records
- Indexes to Compiled Service Records for all states
- Compiled Service Records for AL, TX, VA.
- Register of soldiers who died in the North
- Amnesty Papers (Pardon Applications)
- Pension Records and Biographical Questionnaires from several
states including AR, GA, LA, MO, SC, TN, VA
- Service records of soldiers and officers in units raised directly
by the Confederacy
- Service Records of AL Soldiers with index
- Records of Naval and Marine Personnel
- War Dept. Records of Confederate Prisoners
- Confederate Military Manuscripts
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR (1898)
- General Index
to Compiled Service Records 1898
PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION (1899-1902)
- Index to
Compiled Service Records 1899-1901
WORLD WAR I
- Draft Registration Cards
- Growing collection of unit and divisional histories.
KOREAN WAR (1950-53) AND VIETNAM WAR
- Korean Conflict
Casualty File, 1950-57
- Combat Area
Casualties, Southeast Asia, 1957-86
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial Directory of Names
U.S. Local Records
Nearly 200,000 printed volumes are testimony to the department's efforts
to comprehensively collect U.S. genealogy and local history publications.
All the standard reference works are here, including The American
Genealogical-Biographical Index and the National Union Catalog
of Manuscript Collections. County and town histories, vital,
cemetery, church, court, land, probate and naturalization records
can all be accessed through department catalogs. Standard statewide
references and finding aids for eastern states are on the browsing
shelves for patrons' convenience. Significant collections of microfilmed
local records, such as the North Carolina Core Collection, are available
for: CT, IL, IN, KY, MA, NY, NC, OH, PA, SC, TN, VT and WV. Smaller
microfilmed collections are available for other states. Additional
microtext sources which complement the outstanding print collection
include the Genealogy & Local History Series on microfiche, and microfilmed
county histories for CA, IL, IN, MI, NY, OH, PA and WI.
Miscellaneous U.S. Records
Several important
manuscript collections and reprint series of regional or national
scope are contained in the department's microtext holdings. These
include:
- Library
of Congress Land Ownership Maps
- Sanborn
Fire Insurance Maps for Indiana
- Draper Manuscript
Collection & Shane Papers
- Robert R.
Livingston Papers (NY)
- American
Home Missionary Society Papers 1816-1894
- American
Missionary Association Manuscripts 1839-1882
- Boston Transcript
"Notes and Queries" columns
- Colonial
newspapers from MD, PA and VA
Native American Records
Please consult the department's Bibliography of Sources for Native
American Family History which details print and microtext holdings
by state and by tribe. Important microtext records include:
- All Indian
census schedules 1885-1944
- Applications
& Enrollment cards of the Five Civilized Tribes 1896-1914
- Indian Claims
Commission Decisions
- American
Indian periodicals
- Indian Pioneer
History Collection and Index
- Records
of the Cherokee Agency in TN 1801-35
African-American Records
Please consult African American Genealogy: A Bibliography and
Guide to Sources (Fort Wayne, IN: Round Tower Books, 2000) which
details print and microtext holdings by state. Important microtext
records include:
- All federal
census slave schedules 1850 and 1860
- Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations from the Revolution
through the Civil War
- Freedmen's
Bureau (1865-70) and Freedmen's Savings & Trust Co. (1865-74)
Records
- Pennsylvania
Abolition Society Papers
- Slavery in Ante-Bellum Southern Industries
- State Slavery
Statutes
Canadian Records
The department houses a significant collection of Canadiana, especially
for the eastern provinces. Print sources include county and town histories,
cemetery records, and almost all available published French Canadian
parish registers and marriage repertoires. Please consult the French
Canadian & Acadian Genealogy pathfinder for further details. Genealogical
society publications including the Index to the 1871 Census of Ontario
are also held. Complementary microtext holdings include:
- All published or microfilmed censuses 1666-1891
- Halifax, N.S. Passenger Lists 1881-99
- Quebec, P.Q. Passenger Lists 1865-1900
- Loiselle Marriage Index (1640-1963) and Supplement
- Quebec Non-Catholic Registers (1760-1941) and Index
- Drouin Collection, original church registers and notarial documents
from Quebec, 1600s-1940s on 2,366 microfilm
- Ontario Archives Land Record Index
- Ontario Surrogate Court Records Index 1793-1858
- Biographical Scrapbooks, Toronto Newspapers, 1911-67
- Prince Edward Island Master Name Index
British Isles
This part of the collection contains more than 15,000 printed volumes
including county histories, monumental inscriptions, heraldic references,
early parish registers and most English county record society publications.
Major records series on microfiche are included, as the following
partial list indicates. For further details consult the department's
Irish Genealogy and British Genealogy pathfinders.
ENGLAND:
- Victoria
County History series (print)
- London city
directories 1667-1823 (microfilm)
SCOTLAND:
- Old Parochial
Register Index (OPR) 1538-1854
IRELAND:
- Griffith's Valuation & Tithe Applotment Books
- 19th Century Census Fragments
- Ordnance Survey Maps of Ireland (6 inch series)
- Surname Index for the 1796 Spinning Wheel Lists
- Biographical Notices of Cork and Kerry 1756-1827
- Index to Biographical Notices in the Newspapers of Limerick,
Ennis, Clonmel & Waterford 1758-1821
- Manuscript Sources for the History of Irish Civilization
and 1st Supplement
- Sources for the History of Irish Civilization, Articles
in Irish Periodicals
Germany
The print collection contains important research guides, maps, emigration
records and compiled genealogies for the nobility and middle class
including Deutsches Geschlecterbuch and Siebmacher's Grossem Allgemeinem
Wappenbuch. An important source on microfilm is the Hamburg Direct
Passenger Lists and Index 1850-1901, which often provides place of
origin data for emigrants. The International Genealogical Index
(I.G.I.) is the major source of German vital records held in
the department, while the Family History Library Catalog
will help patrons identify records available elsewhere. Consult the
department's German Genealogy pathfinder for details.
Other Countries
Printed sources for other countries are limited mainly to guidebooks
and references on European nobility and heraldry. The I.G.I.
is the department's major source of vital records for countries outside
of the U.S. and Canada. Consult the Family History Library Catalog
for records available elsewhere.
Periodicals
The department holds one of the largest English-language genealogy
and local history periodical collection in the world with more than
5100 current subscriptions and nearly 10,000 total titles. Individual
articles may be accessed through a variety of indexes including the
PERiodical Source Index (PERSI), compiled by department staff.
To search the Genealogy Department Periodicals list click
here.
Online Databases
Important online genealogical sources are available in the department
and include the Social Security Death Index, PhoneDisc, some marriage
records, and the LDS FamilySearch system.
Audio-Cassettes and Videos
More than one dozen instructional videos are available for in-house
patron use. More than 1400 taped lectures on genealogical research
methodology delivered at national and regional conferences are available
for patrons to check out.
Complementary Collections at the Allen County Public Library
The Genealogy Department's holdings are enhanced by the library's
other significant collections of biographical sources, government
documents, legal references, Native American first hand accounts and
early American travel and exploration accounts. |
Who We Are
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