Genealogy

Genealogy at Morrisson-Reeves Library is located in Richmond, Indiana in Wayne County, IndianaAntique Photo Album

Morrisson-Reeves Library has a genealogy collection in Information Services in the lower level of the library. Please visit to learn more about materials and resources we offer.

Search the library’s online catalog for print materials about genealogy.

 

Online Genealogy Research Information

In doing online genealogy research, it may be difficult to verify the accuracy of information you find. The responsibility is yours, but even so, hopefully you will find a lead or contact that may be of genuine help to you. Remember to confirm records or information that is shared or offered to you.

The following sites were selected because they offer free access to some or all information that they provide and/or maintain potentially useful links to numerous additional sites. Please be aware that many of the sites you will find on the Web are commercial and, as such, also offer services, memberships, and access to additional information for a fee. Occasionally materials cannot be acquired immediately or directly; it may be necessary to attempt to obtain some materials through Inter-library Loan. MRL staff at the Information Service Desk and the Main Desk can assist you with this.

Because of the volume of material at your disposal on the web, it isn’t practical or possible to list and describe everything available. Therefore, as you become more skilled and knowledgeable about web searching, you will need to explore beyond the list of web sites presented below.

Genealogy Materials at Morrisson-Reeves Library (MRL)

If you are new to genealogy, or are looking for new approaches, Morrisson-Reeves Library has a selection of books that may help. MRL offers Richmond High School yearbooks, Richmond City Directories, county histories, family histories, maps, and cemetery information. MRL offers books about how to do genealogy as well.

Online Genealogy Resources

 

Ancestry Library (formerly AncestryPlus)
Only available in the library. This genealogy service provides full access to Ancestry.com, which features census records dating back to 1790, immigration records, the Social Security Death Index, military records, birth and marriage records and more.

 

Family Search
A unique way to see your ancestor’s descendants.

 

HeritageQuest Online
HeritageQuest Online combines digital, searchable images of U.S. federal census records with the digitized version of the popular ProQuest Genealogy & Local History collection and other valuable content.

 

Indiana Art Magazine LogoIndiana Magazine of History
Published continuously since 1905, the Indiana Magazine of History is one of the nation’s oldest historical journals. Since 1913, the IMH has been edited and published quarterly at Indiana University, Bloomington. Today, the IMH features peer-reviewed historical articles, research notes, annotated primary documents, reviews, and critical essays that contribute to public understanding of midwestern and Indiana history.

 

Hoosier State Chronicles
Hoosier State Chronicles is operated by the Indiana State Library and funded by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act. We seek to provide free, online access to high quality digital images of Indiana’s historic newspapers by digitizing our collection, and assisting other organizations in making their collections digitally available.

 

 

Indiana History Online
Indiana History Online provides a core of primary source documents for the study of Indiana history, packaged with an engaging user interface that provides students and researchers multiple ways of accessing the content. With state and regional histories, travel guides, biographies, speeches and more, the collection provides a range of primary documents.

 

Indiana Memory
Indiana Memory is a collaborative effort to provide access to the wealth of primary sources in Indiana libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions. It is a gateway to Indiana’s history and culture found in digitized books, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, maps, and other media. As a portal to the collections, Indiana Memory assists individuals to locate materials relevant to their interests and to better appreciate the connections between those materials.


Newspaper Index
Compiled by MRL staff. This index covers articles of local interest, including obituaries, from the local newspapers dating back to 1822. With more than 329,000 entries and expanding daily, this is one of our library’s most valuable resources! This index may be accessed at your convenience from home via our online catalog or at the library.

 
 

Wayne County Civil War Database
Compiled by MRL staff from the Directory and Soldiers’ Register of Wayne County, Indiana. This is a searchable index of the military service for Wayne County individuals who enlisted during the Civil War.
waynet.orgWaynet.org
A variety of local resources for genealogy research and local history.

 

Regional Resources

Wayne County Genealogy Information from the clerk’s office

Wayne County Genealogical Society

Waynet.org Cemetery Links – Wayne County, Indiana & nearby cemetery websites

Waynet.org Genealogy Links – Valuable list of resources from Wayne County, Indiana and other useful sites.

 

Indiana Archives and Record Administration
The Indiana Archives and Records Administration assists State and local governments in the cost-effective, efficient and secure management of governmental records, by providing services throughout the life cycle of records, including creation, use, storage, and disposition.

Indiana Legacy
Indiana Legacy combines existing Indiana Stare Library databases with the Vital INformaiton Exchange (VINE), a collaborative statewide database composed of Indiana local history and vital records from Indiana libraries, historical societies, genealogy societies, and related organizations. The database is searchable by county, event, or through a general surname search of all records. These records are available to the public at no charge and include records such as: birth, marriage, death, divorce, obituaries, court records, newspapers, scrapbook, yearbooks, military records, and many other record types.

Indiana Memory
Indiana Memory is a collaborative effort to provide access to the wealth of primary sources in Indiana libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions. It is a gateway to Indiana’s history and culture found in digitized books, manuscripts, photographs, newspapers, maps, and other media.

Regional Library Sites

Newspapers

Richmond, Indiana Newspaper Index
Morrisson-Reeves Library has microfilm dating from the early 1800s to current date for the Richmond Newspaper.

Richmond, Indiana Newspaper Name Changes Through the Years
Basic Version | Detailed Version

Hoosier State Chronicles
Hoosier State Chronicles is operated by the Indiana State Library and provides free, online access to high quality digital images of Indiana’s historic newspapers.

Chronicling America
The Library of Congress is providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages. This is an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with descriptive information and select digitization of historic pages.

National Archives and Records Administration 
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation’s record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government. Find primary resources, America’s founding documents, military service records, immigration records, photos and more. Holdings have been collected since 1775.

NARA Genealogy Page

NARA Ethnic Heritage Records

DAR Library Catalog On-Line
Since its founding in 1896, the DAR Library has grown into a specialized collection of American genealogical and historical manuscripts and publications, as well as powerful on-site databases. The DAR Library collection contains over 225,000 books, 10,000 research files, thousands of manuscript items, and special collections of African American, Native American, and women’s history, genealogy and culture. Nearly 40,000 family histories and genealogies comprise a major portion of the book collection, many of which are unique or available in only a few libraries in the country. The DAR Library is free and open to the public.

Bureau of Land Management-Eastern States, General Land Office
This site provide live access to Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States, including image access to more than five million Federal land title records issued between 1788 and the present. This site has images of survey plats and field notes, land status records, and control document index records. Due to organization of documents in the GLO collection, this site does not currently contain every Federal title record issued for the Public Land States.

Index List Information:

Library of Congress’ Local History and Reading Room
In their own words: “The Library of Congress has one of the world’s premier collections of U.S. and foreign genealogical and local historical publications. The Library’s genealogy collection began as early as 1815 when Thomas Jefferson’s library was purchased.” It contains over 50,000+ genealogies and 100,000 local histories.  The collection contains books, manuscripts and vertical files.  In addition to digital collections there are lists and indexes only about this print collection. If there is a need to visit the collection for access to desired materials.  Follow the visitor’s instruction posted under the heading of “Before you begin.”

Kentucky Vital Records Index 
Note: this is a new web address for this site. Because of the increased popularity of this location and the resulting traffic, please read and become familiar with the site instructions before you begin, so that you will get the most out of each search. This database contains indexes to: Kentucky Death Records (1911-1992), Kentucky Divorces (1973-1993), and Kentucky Marriages (1973-1993).

Ohio Death Certificate Index
At this site, you can perform a limited search of a list of the death records held by the Ohio Vital Records Office covering the years 1913-37.

For Indiana birth, death and marriage and other vital records, please see Indiana Legacy under Regional Resources.

Volunteer Supported Sites That Offer Information, Open Forum, and Contact Opportunities For Free:

The U.S. GenWeb Project
The USGenWeb Project is a group of volunteers working together and having fun providing free online genealogy help and information for every U.S. state and county. Our national site provides links to state sites, which, in turn, provide gateways to the counties. We also sponsor important Special Projects, gathering useful data you can access for free.

USGenWeb was established in 1996 by a group of genealogists who shared a desire to create online centers for genealogical research. Thousands of web sites have been created and are maintained by volunteers. Some of the offerings  to see in these diverse and creative sites include query boards, listings of local sources for records, county and state histories, online genealogy books, research tips, maps, and links to helpful internet resources. You’ll even find transcribed records online, accessible for free from the comfort of your home. Our Special Projects, such as the nationally recognized Tombstone Project, assist in the effort to gather these record transcriptions. The USGenWeb Archives are a major repository of data.

Indiana GenWeb
Use this address if you wish to go directly to the Indiana GenWeb site.

World GenWeb
For those that are interested in researching their emigrant ancestors, this site “has the objective of placing genealogical information for every country in the world, and every region within each, online.” Just like the U.S. GenWeb Project, many sites are well developed and are being expanded. 

Footpaths Across Ohio
This is an independent site for individuals that need to do Ohio related genealogy research. There are numerous links and in particular a link to The Ohio Network of American History Research Centers.

Commercial Sites That Offer Free Information or Services:

Gen Forum 
This site provides online forums for dozens of “General Topic” areas (i.e.: Civil War, Obituaries, American Revolution, American Indian, Quaker, Cemetery, Adoption, Emigration, and more…), surnames, regions, and most importantly provides opportunities to answer or post genealogy queries. It has sponsors and some ad banners, but is still a free site that supports the exchange of information.

RootsWeb.com
RootsWeb is a free genealogy community that uses online forums, mailing lists, and other resources to help people research their family history.

FamilySearch  
This site, is provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, it has been in operation since 1999 and offers free but limited access to several of their databases, and links to other useful sites.

Web Link Providers:

The primary service provided by the following Web sites is in offering links to other sites and services.

Helm’s Genealogy Toolbox
Helm’s Genealogy Toolbox is the oldest comprehensive genealogy and local history index, first appearing in 1994. The links on this site point to other resources available on the World Wide Web to assist your research.

Address and Phone Information:

The following information comes from telephone directories and does not include unlisted information.

WhitePages

AtoZdatabases
With a MRL library card you can look up people with this online resource. Choose the ‘Find a Person’ tab. Please contact Morrisson-Reeves Library Information Services with questions.

En Espanol

Last Updated: February 2019

Book A LibrianOne-On-One Training Session

  • research an assignment
  • find business or government information
  • search for an ancestor
  • get technology help
  • demonstration of how to use online resources

The Book a Librarian service allows you to reserve a 30 minute session with Information Services staff.

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY!
Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Sessions are 30 minutes.

Book your appointment at the Information Services Desk.
Appointments must be made in advance. Please call 765-966-8291 or email us at refdept@mrlinfo.org

We do not provide data entry, fill out online applications, shop, or book trips online. We do not set up software for personal devices.