Serving two essential educational purposes, Finding Indiana Ancestors: A Guide to Historical Research provides a general overview of genealogical research while focusing on Indiana-specific sources. The book is a collection of articles of journalists and archivists, librarians, genealogists, and historians in the state’s major historical and genealogical organizations. This guide will help researchers learn how to get started, where to go for the next piece of information, how to interpret the data, and how to incorporate each new fact into the stories of Indiana’s ancestors.
The Indiana Historical Society began compiling this comprehensive guide in 2000, contracting archivists, librarians, journalists, genealogists, and historians in the state’s major historical and genealogical organizations to write about their areas of expertise. The resulting essays appeared first in the Society’s family history journal, The Hoosier Genealogist. In this book, they come together to form a complete guide for historical research in Indiana. The book is divided into six parts. Parts 1–3 focus on getting started, working with family stories and pictures, documenting sources in libraries and archives, and understanding different record groups. Parts 4 and 5 explain researching with maps and researching different ethnic groups. Part 6 discusses manuscript and artifact research, nineteenth-century medicinal and industrial history, and data verification. A sample family group sheet and a sample pedigree chart appear in appendixes. Six model chapters show how to turn data into full-fledged stories. Finding Indiana Ancestors: A Guide to Historical Research will help students, scholars, and family history researchers delve deeply into historical sources. Readers will learn where to go for the next piece of information, how to interpret the data, and how to incorporate each new fact into the stories of our ancestors—the people of Indiana. [taken in parts from the Preface]
Contents
Frontispiece: Why They Emigrate, cartoon by Thos. Worth
Preface by M. Teresa Baer
Part 1: Getting Started
Research Overview
- Beginning and Organizing Your Family History by Betty L. Warren
- Internet Research by Amy Johnson Crow
Family Stories
- Oral History by Barbara Truesdell
- Family Reunions by William DuBois Jr.
Photographs
- Photographs and Family History by Elaine G. Rosa
- Labeling and Preserving Family Photographs by Carolyn M. Brady
- Dating Photographs of Women Using Clothing Styles by Laurann Gilbertson
Model 1: Dramatize Your Family Stories by Placing Them in Historical Context by Randy K. Mills
Part 2: Identifying Resources
Statewide Libraries and Archives
- Genealogy Division, Indiana Sate Library by Randy Bixby
- Indiana Division, Indiana State Library by Andrea Bean Hough
- Manuscript Section, Indiana State Library by Elizabeth Wilkinson
- Indiana State Archives by Alan January
- Indiana Historical Society Library by Suzanne Hahn
Nationwide Libraries and Archives
- Historical Genealogy Department, Allen County (Indiana) Public Library by Curt B. Witcher
- National Archives–Great Lakes Region, Chicago by Martin Tuohy
- Family History Library System, Genealogical Society of Utah compiled by Amanda C. Jones
Statewide Organizations
- Indiana Historical Society
- Indiana Genealogical Society by Linda Herrick Swisher
- Society of Indiana Pioneers by Leigh E. Morris
Model 2: African American Pioneers and Their Descendants in Harrison County by Judith Q. McMullen
Part 3: Researching Records
Civil and Church Records
- Census Records by Curt B. Witcher
- Indiana’s Statewide Cemetery Registry by Jeannie Regan-Dinius
- County Commissioner Records by Chris McHenry
- Church Records by Timothy Mohon
Court Records
- Courthouse Records by Patricia K. Johnson
- Inventories of County Archives by Patricia Shires Orr
- Naturalization Records by M. Teresa Baer
- Land Records by Tanya D. Marsh
Military Records
- Military Records in Federal and State repositories by Douglas E. Clanin
- Civil War Records by Amy Johnson Crow
- Civil War Records in Indiana by Stephen E. Towne
Model 3: For the Record: Was William Park Herron Wounded at Chickamauga? by Ernie Moore
Part 4: Researching with Maps
Map Books
- Tourist Pocket Maps by Judith Q. McMullen
- Gazetteers by Leigh Darbee
- County boundary Changes by Leigh Darbee
- County Atlases by Leigh Darbee
Theme Maps
- Thematic Maps by Leigh Darbee
- Indiana’s Pioneer Periods compiled by Judith Q. McMullen
- 1879 Political Map of Indiana by Judith Q. McMullen
Transportation Maps
- Mapping the Ohio River by Leigh Darbee
- Railroad Maps by Leigh Darbee
- Urban Transit by Leigh Darbee
- Automobile Maps by Leigh Darbee
- Highway Map by Leigh Darbee
Specialty Maps
- Bird’s-Eye Views by Leigh Darbee
- Fire Insurance Maps by Leigh Darbee
Model 4: Traugott Bromme’s Travel Account of Indiana in 1848 translated and introduced by Richard L. Bland
Part 5: Researching Ethnic Groups
German Americans
- German American Heritage Organizations in Indiana by James R. Feit, Giles R. Hoyt, Gregory Hunter Mobley, and Ruth Reichmann
African Americans
- African American Research: A Bibliography by Wilma L. Moore
Native Americans
- Native American Research by M. Teresa Baer
Model 5: Inclusion and Exclusion: Indiana’s Chinese Community by Dan Carpenter
Part 6: Providing Context and Accuracy
Manuscripts
- Vawter Diary, 1869-1879 by Geogre R. Hanlin
Artifacts
- Benjamin Harrison Flag Quilt by Raymond M. Featherstone Jr.
Medicine
- Diseases and Treatments in the Nineteenth Century by Pamela J. Heath
Industries
- Coal Mining in Indiana by Judith Q. McMullen
- Indiana Cotton Mills, 1850-1954 by M. Teresa Baer and Leigh Darbee
Verification
- Analyzing the Accuracy of Research Material by Richard A. Enochs
Model 6: World War I Letters to the Sammy Girls of Henry County by M. Teresa Baer
Appendix A: Family History Group Sheet
Appendix B: Pedigree Chart
Contributors: Authors
Contributors: Editors
Index
This book is for those just starting their family history, and for those interested in Indiana specific research. Order a copy of Finding Indiana Ancestors: A Guide to Historical Research today, from Family Roots Publishing; Item #: IHS001, Price: $29.35.