Featured Archives – Access Genealogy

Collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society

The Collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society is a 15 publication series documenting the state’s history through various primary sources, including manuscripts, letters, and public records. It collates valuable narratives that were previously difficult to access, providing insight into events, individuals, and communities in New Hampshire. Each volume offers focused topics and historical analyses, and most volumes contain individual indexes.

Massachusetts Bay Records 1628-1686

The “Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England” is a five-volume collection that documents the proceedings of the Massachusetts Bay Company and its early colonial government from 1628 to 1686. The first two volumes cover events leading to the 1630 charter transfer and subsequent General Court records. Later volumes encompass significant government activities until the provincial charter of 1692. The records have been carefully transcribed from fragile manuscripts to preserve original spelling and include supplemental indexes for key historical figures.

Online Connecticut Newspapers by Town

Connecticut has a rich newspaper history, with over 2,000 distinct publications since 1755, beginning with the Connecticut Gazette. While they serve genealogists through vital announcements, newspapers also document local events, legal matters, and business updates. A comprehensive list of 258 historical and current newspapers is available online, organized by town and publication date. Some papers, like the Norwich Bulletin, are especially valuable for family history research. For towns without digitized newspapers, exploring nearby options is advised.

Connecticut Bible Records

The Connecticut State Library hosts an impressive index of approximately 25,000 transcribed entries from family Bibles and records, encompassing the 1600s to the early 1900s. Researchers can find linked volumes that detail multiple family members, with each entry noting the original source and ownership. The records are accessible online and users are encouraged to utilize the available index for navigation. Please note that Volumes 24-27 remain unindexed, and these are transcriptions rather than original document images, which remain housed in Hartford.

Iowa County History and Genealogy Books Online

These are free books online where you can research your Iowa ancestry. This list contains county and local history, genealogical and biographical books, as well as atlases and farm plats.

Will County Illinois School Records

The Fountaindale Public Library of Bolingbrook, Illinois has digitized school records, freely accessible online here. These records include administrative, teacher’s daily registers, and school enrollment cards.

Missouri Atlases and Plat Books

198 online plat books and atlases organized by county and ordered by date for the State of Missouri. At the bottom of the page are two items that can help you use these documents in your genealogy research. The first is a blog post Plat Books Revealed: Mapping Generations of History and the second a video where Ben Clark explains what plat maps are used for, how to navigate them, and pulls out a few interesting stories from them.

Access Wise County Virginia Genealogy

Access Wise County Virginia genealogy using this page. This guide provides you with information on available online ancestry records including birth, court, death, land, and marriage, as well as the history of the Wise County VA and the biography and genealogy of her people.

Access Meade County Kentucky Genealogy

Access Meade County Kentucky genealogy using this page. This guide provides you with information on available online ancestry records including birth, court, death, land, and marriage, etc., as well as the history of the Meade County KY and the biography and genealogy of her people. This is the most complete and accurate listing of online records for Meade County Kentucky.

Plainfield New Jersey Police Department Records, 1890-1948

Daily Blotter Police Headquarters vol 10

The Plainfield, New Jersey Police Department records, spanning from 1890 to 1948, offer a unique window into the past, providing genealogists and historians alike with a bounty of information. These records, housed at the Plainfield Public Library, encompass a wide array of documents including arrest records, city court records, daily blotters, detective records, permit records, summons recordings, and general police logs. Despite the seemingly mundane nature of these documents, they are anything but. Each page, each entry, tells a story, contributing to the larger narrative of our shared history.

Pennsylvania Digital Archives

These 45 genealogy databases comprise part of the Pennsylvania Digital Archives from the state government. We’ve only included those databases and documents which are most relevant to genealogists. All of them are free for you to use.

Hampshire County MA Inferior Court of Common Pleas Records, 1677-1837

Hampshire County MA General Sessions and Common Pleas

These twenty-six folio volumes of records come from the Inferior Court of Common Pleas of Hampshire County MA which were held at Springfield and Northampton Massachusetts. These courts handled civil and minor criminal matter and the majority of volumes appear to be unindexed. Regardless, these records will prove to genealogists with ties to Hampshire County Massachusetts. The physical copies of these volumes are held at the Amherst Library at the University of Massachusetts. They have made them freely available in PDF format for download.

Moretown Vermont Annual Reports 1910-1957

These Moretown, Vermont town reports, published annually, serve as comprehensive repositories of crucial information about Moretown, Vermont. Their contents can differ, depending on the year of publication, largely due to evolving legal stipulations on what they must include. Starting in 1927, these reports provide vital statistical data for a particular year, such as records of births, deaths, and marriages. Note that the records may traverse across two different pages. Included in all reports are the financial details of the town and these often include payments made to individuals who performed services, such as teaching, janitorial, construction, road work, etc. Many of the Moretown’s families find themselves listed within these pages.

Huntington Vermont Annual Reports 1904-1967

These Huntington, Vermont town reports, published annually, serve as comprehensive repositories of crucial information about Huntington, Vermont. Their contents can differ, depending on the year of publication, largely due to evolving legal stipulations on what they must include. Starting in 1927, these reports provide vital statistical data for a particular year, such as records of births, deaths, and marriages. Note that the records may traverse across two different pages. Included in all reports are the financial details of the town and these often include payments made to individuals who performed services, such as teaching, janitorial, construction, road work, etc. Many of the Huntington’s families find themselves listed within these pages.

Hoagland High School Yearbooks 1937-1968

The Hoagland High School yearbooks were published as the Ship’s log, starting with 1937 and continuing until the school was consolidated with the Monroeville High School and the new Heritage High School was created to principally serve the children of Hoagland, Monroeville, and Poe. This was during the year 1968. If the title and year is linked, then the yearbook is currently online for free reading and download.

Woodrow Wilson High School Yearbooks, 1921-2001

1924 Woodrow Wilson High School Yearbook, The President

The yearbooks of Wilson High School in Portsmouth, Virginia, were first called ‘The Student’, but were traditionally titled ‘The President’ since 1924. However, in 1994, this custom ceased, and since then, the yearbooks have been published under an array of different titles, updated annually. This free online collection is incomplete. Hopefully, additional volumes will eventually be scanned and added. These yearbooks were loaned by the Portsmouth Public Library to be scanned by the Library of Virginia.

Frederick College Yearbooks 1959-1968

Frederick College, previously situated in Portsmouth, Virginia, was a private co-educational college that ceased operations. Established with the support of the Fred W. Beazley Foundation (now known as the Beazley Foundation), the college originated in 1958 as a two-year institution located on the premises of a former munitions depot. In 1961, it transitioned into a four-year college. Various years have been digitized by both the Portsmouth Public Library in cooperation with The Library of Virginia, and the Allen County Public Library. Yet a complete collection still does not exist online, as we are missing scans for the years of 61 and 62.

Somerville High School Yearbooks 1892-2016

The Radiator which began publishing in the 1891-1892 school year, was initially published by the Somerville Latin and English High School on the third Wednesday of every month during the school year. It’s initial publications during those early years were more literary in style and it wasn’t until 1917 when the publication took on the appearance of a traditional yearbook in the form of The Revocanda with publication of The Radiator taking place separately. One year later, the name of the yearbook was changed to match that of the journal, The Radiator. Even in those early years consists in part with lists of students and class photographs. All of these yearbooks are free to search, read, and/or download.

Calumet District Telephone Directories

1923 Calumet District Telephone Directory

The Merrillville Branch of the Lake County Public Library has digitized and made available online several telephone directories for the Calumet District, covering the years 1909-1960. These directories, previously accessible only on microfilm, include communities in Indiana and Illinois such as Dyer, East Chicago, Griffith, and Hammond. Additionally, there are records for East Chicago from 1926-1931, also published by the Reuben H. Donnelley Corporation. These resources are now free to search, read, and download.

Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrants

This article helps you access the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrants for free. Following two simple steps, one to search, and the other to browse the actual microfilms, you can quickly find your ancestors Revolutionary War pension record, or Bounty-Land record and download the images. During 1800-1900 the United States issued more than 80,000 pensions and bounty-land-warrants to soldiers of the Revolutionary War, their spouse, or their children. Was your ancestor one of them?