Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 1 Are Your Ancestors in the? Cynthia M. Van Ness, MLS Research Library 2 How to visit us, formerly 25 Nottingham Court North of Rt. 198 off Elmwood Ave. Free parking plus a bike rack Take the #20 Elmwood bus route, exit at Nottingham The Library is in the white marble temple on the main floor 3 Us at a Glance 4 Us at a Glance Founded in 1862 and collecting ever since! 20,000 books 200,000 photographs 2,000 manuscript collections 7,000 postcards 10,000 maps, drawings, posters, prints, stored off-site 6,000+ microfilms of newspapers and other materials Extensive Vertical/Pamphlet File Clippings & articles file 1
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 5 About the Research Library Open Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1-5 pm No appointments necessary Professional librarians are on duty during all public service hours Please note: the entire Museum is closed on Mondays 6 Admission Free to Museum members $7.00 for all others Because the Library doesn t have children s books, children s furniture, or children s activities, we urge you to bring kids to museum exhibits and events instead of the Library. 7 A Few Rules Everyone must sign in with full name & address We now have a tablet computer for digital sign-in 8 A Few Rules Purses, backpacks, briefcases, etc., are kept behind the desk during your visit Library materials may not be borrowed or removed from room We supply cotton gloves for handling photographs Staff does all photocopying, size & condition permitting We are a closed-stack library, meaning that most pictures, books & manuscripts are shelved in staff-only areas. Retrieval takes only minutes. 2
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 9 Camera Use Policy You may take pictures of museum buildings, grounds, exhibits, programs, and library scenery. Please add them to our Flickr group! www.flickr.com/groups/bechs/ You may not take pictures of library books, photos, maps, documents, collections, etc., or bring in your own scanner. We now have tablet computers for limited picturetaking. Please check with staff. 10 Please turn off cell phones and step outside of the library to make phone calls 11 No Food or Drink 12 Pencils only. We have lots. 3
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 13 Technology on Site Public computer with searchable online catalog, FRANK Free WiFi, laptops welcome! Two microfilm reader-printers, $.25/page Two microfilm readers Two Samsung Note tablets for limited picture-taking Photocopies made by staff when size & condition permit, $.25 each 14 Our Most Popular Tool 15 What We Have for Genealogy Part One: Basic Sources Part Two: Unique Sources Part Three: Online Sources Part Four: What We Don t Have 16 Part One: Basic Sources City directories Censuses Church records Cemetery records Newspapers & obituaries Military service records 4
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 17 City Directories Great beginner starting place! Buffalo: 1828 to 2001, with a few gaps Years 1882-1932 are on microfilm, with a few gaps Copies may be made only from film versions Like a phone book 18 City Directories Last name, first name, address, occupation or employer Women usually omitted until the 1920s Minors are not listed 1869 19 1942 City Directories Special section starting in 1929: Addresses, usually on pink or green pages in the back 20 Suburban Directories Erie County & Suburban: 1927, 1929, 1931, 1949, 1959-2001 Almost no rural or town directories were published before the suburban era of the 1950s 5
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 21 Federal Censuses on Microfilm Erie County: 1790-1880, 1900-1930 22 Federal Censuses on Microfilm The backbone of American genealogy Arranged geographically, so you need to know the town or ward where the family lived. We have ward maps for the city of Buffalo Starting in 1850, gives name, age, sex, race, occupation of everyone in the household 23 Ward Maps Complete collection of Buffalo ward maps to expedite census searching 24 Our Federal Census Indexes 1790-1850: All of New York State 1850: Black Rock 1860: Erie County & Upstate NY 1890: NY State Union Veterans 6
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 25 Our Federal Census Indexes These indexes list names in alphabetical order, so you can find a family or individual in the index before tackling film The index will tell you the census film & page number where the individual or family is enumerated 26 Our NY State Censuses on Microfilm We have Erie County: 1855, 1865, 1875, 1892, 1905, 1915, 1925 State censuses are not as informative as federal ones 27 Our NY State Census Indexes 1855: Erie County towns outside of Buffalo No other NYS censuses have been indexed in book or print form Now online at FamilySearch.org 28 Our Church Records on Microfilm Many are Roman Catholic or Episcopal Include baptisms, marriages, deaths a vital records substitute! Sometimes in Latin, German, Polish, etc. Not always indexed Most of these films are also owned by the LDS Family History Library We have no way of knowing which film might include your ancestor Our list is online here: http://tinyurl.com/bechs003 7
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 29 Our Cemetery Records on Film Mostly small rural cemeteries Most of these films are also owned by the LDS Family History Library There is no master index of burials in Erie County s 200 or so cemeteries, so we have no way of knowing which film your ancestor might be on Our list is online here: http://tinyurl.com/bechs003 30 Our Newspaper Collection Buffalo s first paper, The Buffalo Gazette, on microfilm starting in 1811. Multiple daily, religious, and ethnic newspapers ever since Nearly all are from the City of Buffalo Our list of newspaper films is online here: http://tinyurl.com/bechs002 31 Our Newspaper Index A card file identifying some of the people, places, things & events covered by the Buffalo Evening News and the Courier- Express in the 20 th century 32 Our Obituary Index Card file to obituaries in Buffalo newspapers, 1811-2001, about 99,000 names! Includes mainly obituaries, omits most death notices Does not list everyone who ever lived or died in Buffalo or Erie County 8
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 33 Published Obituary Index Our index, years 1811-1884, is published in book form Available at many libraries across the US 34 Our Military Service Records Index to War of 1812 Williamsville Hospital patients Gives name, rank, unit, date, medical condition, fate 35 Our Military Service Records Index of Erie County Civil War Enlistees Gives name, age, enlistment date, unit, rank, battles 36 Our Military Service Records Index of soldiers from Erie County who served in World War II Gives name, rank, parents, fate 9
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 37 Our Military Service Records Index of soldiers from Erie County who served in Korean War Gives name, rank, parents, fate 38 Part Two: Unique Sources Letters, diaries Organizational records Business records Photographs Papers of prominent residents & collectors 39 Some of our Letters & Diaries Search keyword Diaries in FRANK, our online catalog, and you will get about 120 hits, including familiar Buffalo names like Rumsey, Emslie, Fillmore, etc. http://tinyurl.com/frank-catalog 40 Some of Our Organizational Records For example Buffalo Orphan Asylum, 1836-1939 Press Cycling Club, 1890-1957 Buffalo Republican League, 1884-1896 10
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 41 Our Business Records For example Larkin Company These collections rarely contain personnel files A list is online at: www.worldcat.org/profiles/bechs/ lists/ 42 Our Photographs About 200,000 in about 100 distinct collections Most date from 1870-1980 Popular with house researchers We scan only for publication or exhibition A detailed guide is online at: http://tinyurl.com/bechs014 43 Some of Our Personal Papers For example Letters received by Millard Fillmore Grover Cleveland Papers Peter B. Porter papers 44 Part Three: Online Sources FRANK NewYorkHeritage.org New York State Newspaper Project Google Books WorldCat.org Delicious.com 11
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 45 FRANK Find Resources And New Knowledge. A free online catalog of our book & manuscript collections. Does not include images. http://tinyurl.com/frankcatalog 46 NYHeritage.org Digital collections from us & our peer institutions across the state War of 1812 documents Crystal Beach photos Buffalo address books And a lot more 47 Google Books Millions of searchable books http://books.google.com 48 Google Books Search for your name in quotes, as in Smith Family Add your ancestral city, like Smith family Buffalo Search for record types, like church records, city directories + name of city 12
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 49 New York State Newspaper Project Lists all surviving Erie County newspapers on microfilm and who owns them http://tinyurl.com/p6tfkp 50 WorldCat.org One free database of 1 billion offline items in thousands of libraries around the world Books, periodicals, newspapers, videos, films, sound recordings, archival collections, letters, diaries, etc. Helps you decide whether an out-of-town research trip is worthwhile 51 Delicious.com/BufHistory Over 1,100 useful links that we ve collected & sorted by category or tag Tags include Cemetery Records, Census Records, Military, etc. 52 Part Four: What We Don t Have Official vital records (birth, marriage, death certificates) Passenger lists Naturalization records School or college attendance records Deeds or property transactions Employment or personnel records Police or crime records 13
Are Your Ancestors in the? Online at share.net/buffalohistory/presentations 53 What We Cannot Do We are not qualified to draw genealogical conclusions or do your family tree for you We cannot provide open-ended research on a list of names or fill in gaps on your genealogy charts We cannot appraise or establish the value of your books or other collectibles 54 Contact us The End Email: Phone: (716) 873-9644 x 306 For best phone results, call Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1-5 pm 14