May 2020

Genealogy Gems:

News from the Allen County Public Library at Fort Wayne No. 195, May 31, 2020

In this issue:

The Power of Story Remains

Family Bible Record Locations

Census Substitutes & State Census Records

Technology Tip of the Month: Special Edits Tab in Adobe Elements 2018

PERSI Gems--Shaken

History Tidbits: Bathing Costumes, A Brief History of Bathing Suits

Library Catalog Insider--Facets

Genealogy Center Virtual 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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The Power of Story Remains by Curt B. Witcher

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Not for a number of generations has a health event truly affected every corner of the country, and indeed the world, in such dramatic and terrible ways. We have lost so many, and the end is not yet in sight. We have been asked to do dramatic and dreadful things that will impact our lives for decades to come. We are experiencing events and consequences well beyond any do-you-rememberwhen events in recent memory. As the Great Depression of the twentieth century affected many of our parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents for their lifetimes, so, too will our children be living, and telling, the effects of this year’s events for the rest of their lives. As we are living through stay-at-home orders and hunker-down directives, and living very different lives than we were just a few months ago, some sunshine amidst so much gloom and doom may be the increased opportunities to engage in family history activities. From organizing photographs and documents we have gathered over the years to recording living memory, many have seized this opportunity to preserve their sanity by focusing on their personal histories. How awesome is that? In such a real way, these activities are a part of our stories. Recording and telling our stories remains so powerful, so life changing, both for us and for our families and descendants. We continue to hear the phrase “the new normal” so frequently that I fear it now may be just noise. However, if the new normal has any meaning left for any of us, I hope we find that meaning in some positive things. I hope the new normal for us means that as our areas of the country begin to reopen, we don’t go back to our old ways of neglecting our family stories, but rather, make the new normal a commitment to devote even more time to the discovery and preservation of our family stories. I hope the new normal means that we continue deploying newly discovered and newly deployed technologies to stay in better touch with our family members everywhere--near and far. I hope the new normal means that we record even more of the living memory we carry in our heads and that resides in the heads of family members. All the things that helped us survive quarantine can continue to greatly assist us with our family stories. It is more important than many may think that all of us record our COVID-19 experiences. Our grandchildren’s grandchildren whom we will never meet will benefit greatly from learning about this crisis in our own words--our own thoughts, feelings, and experiences in our own words. If you have started recording those experiences, please continue to do so. If you haven’t started, now would be a great time to do so. And if your time at home has unearthed some photographs and letters that you want to see preserved, sharing them with the Genealogy Center is a good way as well as to make them available to interested researchers and family historians. We have a great June (and into July!) line-up of virtual programs for you. We invite you to continue engaging in these free learning experiences. A special note: On the last three Thursdays in June as well as the second and third Thursdays in July, Kay Spears will be offering a series called “Adventures with Adobe Photoshop Elements.” Each of the five Thursdays will focus on a different aspect of this useful program. A list of these virtual programs is further on in this newsletter. They are a lot of fun, and together we learn a lot as well. Stay safe, stay engaged in your family history activities, and stay committed to recording and sharing your stories.

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Family Bible Record Locations by Sara Allen

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When official state or local government vital records are not available, family historians are advised to seek other sources of birth, marriage, and death information, such as the events recorded in a family Bible. Many genealogists do not have possession of a family Bible and do not know where to look to find such an item. This article will highlight some sources for Bible records that have been copied and published or deposited in a repository. The PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) is a general index to genealogical periodicals created and updated by The Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library. You can search PERSI on FindMyPast at: https://search.findmypast.com/search/periodical-source-index. If a transcription or copy of a family Bible record was published in a genealogical serial publication, chances are there will be an entry in PERSI for this Bible. The most efficient way to find Bible records in PERSI is to enter the surname desired in the “Who” search box and then enter the word Bible in the “What Else” search box. You could enter further keywords to narrow it down more, but you may miss relevant entries by doing so. Once you find an entry you want to view, contact The Genealogy Center (Genealogy@ACPL.Info) to learn how to obtain copies. The Daughters of the Revolution (DAR) has spent years collecting family Bible transcriptions. They have begun indexing their family Bible collection on their website at: https://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search/?Tab_ID=12. Note that the index is inprogress, so is not a complete index of all Bible records in their collection at this time. You can search the index by Name keywords, Name exact phrase, or Name begins with. Once you locate a Bible record of interest, you can try to locate a copy in a library near you, or order a photocopy from the DAR for a small fee, see: https://www.dar.org/library/services/search-services The Genealogy Center has various Bible record transcriptions in our collections, including in print, on microtext, and online. A search of our online catalog at https://acpl-cms.wise.oclc.org/wiseapps/catalog/ for the surname and the word Bible may come up with a good hit for you. Limit the search by Branch on the left side of the screen and choose Genealogy Branch. Once you have a list of items to view, visit us in person or contact us to learn procedures to access these resources. And, as always, if you have any problems or questions about our holdings or using our catalog, please contact us so that we can help! The Genealogy Center also accepts scans or photocopies of family data from your family Bible. We will transcribe them and post them on our website at: https://www.genealogycenter.info/bibles/ Please consider donating page scans of family data from any available Bibles to be preserved online for future genealogists to use! Thank you. There are many other repositories that could hold a copy of your family Bible in their collection. Families donate Bibles to such organizations as local libraries, local genealogical or historical societies, state libraries, state archives, or state historical societies. You can go to the websites of these organizations and search their catalog holdings for Bible records. Keeping in mind that not all library holdings have been added to library catalogs, you might also want to query local organizations by email, phone, or mail to find out more about their Bible holdings. To find Bible records that have been cataloged in library collections worldwide, be sure to search WorldCat at www.worldcat.org. Don’t forget that some family Bibles end up in antique stores and on ebay.com. Take a look and see what you might find!

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Census Substitutes & State Census Records by Delia Cothrun Bourne

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One of the first places a researcher will often look for an ancestor is in a federal census report. The later years of the census can provide so much information, but even the pre-1850 schedules can offer clues about where a family was living or a possible father’s name. Although experienced researchers will know how to use name variations and other techniques to locate a person or family, even they can be vexed when the family is just are not there or when the census records were lost or destroyed, such as the 1890 census. Researchers need to locate something to use instead as a substitute record. A useful guide is William Dollarhide’s “Census Substitutes & State Census Records: Substitute Name Lists for 50 States and States Censuses for 38 States,” second edition (Orting, Washington: Family Roots Publishing, 2016), 973 D65ca. The set is divided into three volumes that include Eastern States, Central States, and Western States and National. A map at the front of each volume defines the sections: Eastern includes New England, Mid-Atlantic, Old South and Old Southwest. The latter, for example, extends to Mississippi. Central includes Central Southern, the Old Northwest, and the Central Plains. The Western volume includes all states to the west of a line from Montana southward to New Mexico, and also includes U.S. maps and nationwide lists. In each volume, the states are grouped into those sections. Each geographical section starts with an historical timeline for the area, followed by a section on each state with some general statements about that state’s censuses and other various enumerations and lists. A listing of the state digital archives leads the discussion of sources, followed by databases at Ancestry, Family Search, and other online sources. Periodical sources, books, and microfilm complete the list. The foreword and introductions that appear in each volume discuss the conception and organization of this set. Included is the fascinating tale of the 1925 New York State Census, which was marred by scandal when the Secretary of State installed friends and relatives in non-working paid positions. She was found guilty of misappropriating state funds, and the affair ended the state census process in New York. The introductions also include charts showing the years when census substitutes are available by state and the availability of federal census schedules for each. The various lists and enumerations are valuable as research alternatives when the federal census is missing or incomplete. The information Dollarhide provides on the various state census enumerations provides a pathway through potential brick walls and definitely should be examined by every thorough genealogist.

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Technology Tip of the Month: Special Edits Tab in Adobe Elements 2018 by Kay Spears

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So, we continue our journey through the Special Edits tool. We are going to skip over the Frame Creator. For a Guided Tour tool, I found it unyielding. The steps were not adequately explained, and the final step, which was optional, had us going into the Expert Tab. My opinion, if you are going to end up in the Expert Tab, you might as well begin there. We will look at Frames when I review a few tools in Expert. Next effect is the Orton Effect. My first impression of this effect is that we are blurring the image, but we shall see. The description for this effect says: “Create a soft dreamy feel for your photo.” Sounds like blur to me. On the dialog palette is a button that says: Click on the Add Orton Effect and three slider bars. The slider bars are Blur, Noise, and Brightness. This is an easy tool; I suggest you play with it. It does not seem to matter whether you click on the button first or adjust the slider bars. Next effect is Perfect Portrait. This one should be interesting. The word perfect is a little intimidating. Let’s see what it does. There are many options in this tool. I suggest you go through each one, and this time you will find this is a great learning tool. Every tool in this Effect is available in the Expert Tab, but there you have to figure out which tool does what function. When you practice with this Effect, remember that you don’t have to use each one. Also remember that each button you click has tool options available. I found the Spot Healing Tool and Increase Contrast to be the most valuable. I had the most fun with the Eye-brightening and the Slim Down functions. I will repeat again, if you really want to learn how to restore or retouch portraits, this is a great learning effect. Next is the Recompose Effect. I found this tool interesting. Look closely at the little icon they provide for you to understand what this effect is trying to do. The example they give is a landscape with three trees standing and a large space between two of the trees. By using this effect you can move the trees together without having too much distortion. Once I found the really small handles on the sides and corners I was able to maneuver my image. There are also some buttons, including Protect, Remove, and two Erasures. Clicking on the “Protect” will change your cursor to a brush, and you may mask/paint an area you don’t want to move. Clicking on the Remove will once again change your cursor to a brush. You may mask/paint an area you want to remove. Once you start moving the handles of the image, the selected area will be removed from the image. The Protect and Remove both have erasures to correct any area you didn’t want painted. There is a brush size slider underneath these buttons. Because I experimented a lot with this tool, I did manage to have some distortion. Once again, I think this Effect was interesting; I was especially fond of the Remove button. Last for this article: Restore Old Photo effect. This is similar to the Perfect Portrait effect, except it has more tools. All the cloning tools are here: Spot Healing, Healing Brush, and Clone Stamp. The other tools are the Blur Tool, Dust Remover, Auto Levels, Auto Contrast, Auto Color Correction, Convert to B&W, and Sharpen. I will insert a little word of warning here. In my experience, I have learned to be cautious with Auto Color Correction and the Sharpen tool. The Auto Color has a tendency to blur images, and the Sharpen tool can make you edges pixelated. So use those two tools with a light touch. Let’s see how the others do. The Spot Healing Brush blends layers, so that’s always a nice clone…however, sometimes it picks the wrong pixels to clone. In Windows the Healing Brush and the Clone require that you hold the ALT key down, then click and transfer the pixels to the area you want covered. I am not sure the key used for Mac users. Usually it is the CMD key, but that changes depending on what you’re doing. The Blur tool and the Dust Remover tool both seem to blur the image. Except for the Auto Contrast, the Auto Levels, and the Auto Color Correction only appear to change to image once. I was able to click multiple times with the Auto Contrast, and my image darkened with each click. When I used the Convert to B&W on my sepia toned image I got a dark grayscale. I was also able to do multiple clicks on the Sharpen tool, but once again, watch how sharp you make you image. For those of you who are struggling with restoring photographs, this effect is very helpful. Eventually you’ll become so proficient with the tools, you will be able to do it all on your own. To sum up this article, I covered five effects this time. I found two of them very useful: the Perfect Portrait and the Restore Old Photos. I thought the Recompose Effect was interesting and something that may or may not be of use. The Orton Effect was ok, but it was just a blur effect. I was not fond of the Frame Effect; I thought it was too complicated to be in the Guided Tab section of Elements. Next we will be looking at the last three Special Effects in the Guided Tab of Adobe Photoshop Elements.

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PERSI Gems--Shaken by Adam Barrone and Mike Hudson

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The present pandemic has shaken our world and our model of service in the Genealogy Center. We strive to get you the resources and research guidance you need remotely, so we encourage you to contact the Genealogy Center (genealogy@acpl.info) with your questions. We hope you will also take advantage of the many online materials and programs we offer at www.genealogycenter.org. While our building is closed to the public, our work here continues. We persist in our efforts to index useful articles in our vast periodical collection and to fulfill article copy requests we receive from researchers. The Periodical Source Index (PERSI) remains available for searching online. Shake up your research with a PERSI search here: http://search.findmypast.com/search/periodical-source-index Your search may reveal citations like these: Anne Madlicott aka Medicott-Frances Law marriage, hand shook so much she left her mark, 1816, Eng. Huddersfield & District (Eng.) Family History Society Journal, v.25n.4, Jul. 2012 Circus fever, can't shake it, 1948 Heritage Tales (City Of San Bernardino Historical & Pioneer Society, CA), 2003 Earthquake in 1886 shook sinners Johnston County (NC) Genealogical Society Newsletter, v.16n.3, Sep. 1990 Great Shake, 1811, New Madrid effects in IL Terr. Footprints in Marion County (IL), v.14n.3, Win. 1990 Nelson Richhart attempted to shake hands with a sign, 1892, Warsaw, IN Thaddeus (Kosciusko County Historical Society, IN), v.77n.2, Spr. 2005 Panthygatric dance shakes up the Indiana Daily Student, 1906 Monroe County (IN) Historian, n.1, Feb. 2007 Reporter who shook New York City, Manuel Dedios Texas Historian (Texas State Historical Association), v.54n.3, Feb. 1994 Shake, bake and serve Military (MHR Publisher Corp.), v.11n.2, Jul. 1994 Shakes aka malaria in Nebraska note, 19th C., contd. Nebraska History, v.14n.3, Jul. 1933 Shaking basket ceremony Bruce County (Ont.) Historical Society Yearbook, 1981 Shaking the family tree, fraudulent genealogies American Spirit (D.A.R.), v.135n.8, Nov. 2001 Titanic disaster shook the World, documentary evidence sources, 1907-1912 Family Tree Magazine (Eng.), v.28n.7, Apr. 2012 US Armed Forces Retirement Home shaken by earthquake, 2011 Ex-Pow Bulletin, v.68n.9-10, Sep. 2011

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History Tidbits: Bathing Costumes, A Brief History of Bathing Suits by Allison DePrey Singleton

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During the quarantine, many posts to social media focused on not being able to wear bathing suits due to overconsumption of snacks. People also discussed the fact that exercise was less possible due to the temporary closure of gyms. This time seems like the perfect one to cover a bit of the revealing history of bathing suits. Bathing suits have an interesting history that begins with “birthday suits.” Bathing in the nude was normal and common from the Classical Ages to the Middle Ages, when social norms began encouraging coverage in some cases. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries modest bathing costumes were necessary for women and encouraged for men. In the nineteenth century, bathing in the nude for men was typically unheard of unless it occurred in a private location such as a pond on their own land. In the eighteenth century women wore floor-length gowns with weights in the bottom made out of thick material such as wool, while men needed only to wear a pair of underwear and a vest. By the nineteenth century the female bathing costumes became two-piece with a long sleeved, knee-length top and ankle-length drawers or pants. As the century progressed the tops and drawers became shorter. Due to the amount of fabric and the fabric type, the bathing suits could weigh up to 25 pounds. The women would then still have on stockings and a hat of some sort. Even as the swimwear shortened, the costumes still had a great deal of fabric to assist in maintaining decency while wet. One must remember that bare skin, including female ankles and knees, was unthinkable for most people during the Victorian era. The twentieth century saw the most changes in bathing suits. The beginning of the century brought about more form fitting costumes at first inspired by Annette Kellerman, who brought one-piece form fitting bathing suits to America from Australia as a professional swimmer. During the 1920s and 1930s bathing suits began getting smaller and their use changed. Coco Chanel influenced the fashion industry by popularizing suntans. The milky white complexions became passé when Coco Chanel stepped off a yacht in 1923 sporting a tan. By the 1930s men’s swimsuits became less modest by being bare-chested. As time marched on, swimsuits became more revealing when bikinis were introduced after World War II. Fabric inventions assisted with fit and comfort while the swimsuits became smaller. There are ebbs and flows over how modest or revealing swimsuits became, with contributing factors such as societal norms, location, culture, and religion. Today you can purchase a swimsuit that barely covers anything and a swimsuit that covers from neck to ankle. It is now up to the individual to determine how they wish to cover for swimming, unlike previous years where one could be arrested for indecency. Next time you don a swimsuit, pause and think about what your ancestors would have worn to swim. Sources and Further Reading: Alac, Patrik. The Bikini: a Cultural History. Parkstone Press, 2002. Byrde, Penelope. “‘That Frightful Unbecoming Dress’ Clothes for Spa Bathing at Bath.” Costume 21, no. 1 (January 1987): 44–56. https://doi.org/10.1179/cos.1987.21.1.44. Gibson, Emily, and Barbara Firth. The Original Million Dollar Mermaid: the Annette Kellerman Story. Allen & Unwin, 2006. Kennedy, Sarah. The Swimsuit: a History of Twentieth-Century Fashions. Carlton Books, 2010. https://archive.org/details/swimsuithistoryo0000kenn. Kidwell, Claudia Brush. Womens Bathing and Swimming Costume in the United States. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1968. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37586/37586-h/37586-h.htm. Murphy, Deirdre. “‘Stylish Yet Perfectly Modest’: Womens Bathing Dress in England, 1850–1900.” Costume 38, no. 1 (January 2004): 63–71. https://doi.org/10.1179/cos.2004.38.1.63. Preer, Jean. “Esquire v. Walker.” Prologue Magazine. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1990/spring/esquire-v-walker-3.html. Schmidt, Christine. The Swimsuit: Fashion from Poolside to Catwalk. Bloomsbury Academic, 2013. Taylor, Beth. “Annette Kellerman: Australia's Fearless Mermaid.” NFSA. National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, August 17, 2018. https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/online-exhibition/annette-kellerman-australias-fearless-mermaid.

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Library Catalog Insider--Facets by Kasia Young

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Welcome to June! This month we will dive into the very practical tool that is part of our new discovery system-- FACETS (referred to as FILTERS in our catalog). Understanding filters and how they work will help you get the most functionality out of the library catalog. Simply put, filters are “categories of results” and are displayed under “I only want” on the left-hand side of the results list. Filter categories available in our catalog are as follows: BRANCH, MATERIAL TYPE, AUTHOR, AUDIENCE, CONTENTS, SUBJECT, GENRE, SERIES, LANGUAGE, YEAR OF PUBLICATION and LEXILE MEASURE. For the purpose of searching the Genealogy Center’s holdings, we will limit the use of filters to: BRANCH, MATERIAL TYPE, and SUBJECT. By combining all three filters we are able to create a more focused search, which will make discovery much easier and effective. To select a filter, simply click on it; to deselect, click on the red X that appears next to it. To access our new catalog go to www.acpl.info. The catalog search box is located right on the top of the page, indicated by the fuchsia FIND button. The first thing you want to do after you perform your search is select GENEALOGY as a BRANCH. This is to ensure that you are only seeing results of items that belong to The Genealogy Center. Next step is to choose MATERIAL TYPE, either BOOK or ELECTRONIC RESOURCES. The final and very helpful step is to select the SUBJECT. The SUBJECT filters available will vary depending on your search. For example, a simple search “Fort Wayne history” yields 348 results in the library system. By selecting GENEALOGY as a branch, the result list drops down to 245. By choosing BOOK as a MATERIAL TYPE, the list shrinks down to 197 available items. Now for the fun part: SUBJECT filters! Only the top 4 most common results will display; to see all filters, select “More…” at the bottom of the list. In this specific search, we are able to choose from 15 subjects: Church records and registers, Indians of North America, African Americans, Lutheran Church, American newspapers, Bible records, Church history, etc. Select ones that best fit your search criteria, for example: Church records and registers and Catholics, yields 1 result. We suggest you take this freshly acquired knowledge to practice now. As always, let us know if you have any questions. We are always happy to help! Until the next time.

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Genealogy Center Virtual Programs

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June 2, 2020, 2:30P, “Understanding Gravestone Symbols,” with Cathy Wallace June 4, 2020, 6:30P, “Y-DNA Basics and Q & A on any DNA Topics” with Sara Allen June 9, 2020, 2:30P, “Pity the Poor Orphan: Children’s Homes in America” with Delia Bourne June 11, 2020, 6:30P, “Adventures with Adobe Photoshop Elements—Black and White Enhancement, Contrast, and Brightness Correction” with Kay Spears June 16th at 2:30P, “Exploring the Indiana State Archives’ Online Resources” with Claire Horton June 18, 2020, 6:30P, “Adventures with Adobe Photoshop Elements—Color Photographs, and Some of Their Unique Challenges” with Kay Spears June 23, 2020, 2:30P, “Beyond Hatched, Matched, and Dispatched: Methods for Finding Our Families’ Stories" with Curt Witcher June 25, 2020, 6:30P, “Adventures with Adobe Photoshop Elements— Magical Clone Tools” with Kay Spears June 30, 2020, 2:30P, “Finding & Using State Census Records” with Delia Bourne July 2, 2020, 6:30P, “Virtual DNA in Genealogy Users Group Meeting--Q & A on any DNA Topics” with Sara Allen July 7, 2020, 2:30P, "Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors" with John Beatty July 9, 2020, 6:30P, “Adventures with Adobe Photoshop Elements— Taking Photographs Apart & Putting Them Together” with Kay Spears July 14, 2020, 2:30P, “Our Ancestor’s Immigration Records" with Melissa Tennant July 16, 2020, 6:30P, “Adventures with Adobe Photoshop Elements— Fun Things You Can Do with Photoshop” with Kay Spears

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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%20Web ster%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 $70. 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@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@acpl.lib.in.us with "unsubscribe e-zine" in the subject line. Curt B. Witcher and John D. Beatty, CG, co-editors