Ancestry Magazine

When it comes to getting back to basics, published family histories are among the most basic for family history research. Unfortunately, published family histories represent the proverbial good news/bad news dilemma. The good news is that a well-done family history is loaded with excellent clues that can help you piece together your own family’s history. The bad news is that published family histories can be difficult to locate and even difficult to use once you locate them.

Published Family Histories
Published family histories are sometimes referred to as genealogies. They represent a compilation of a family historian’s research, in which all the family information gathered is compiled into a publishable volume. For many family historians and genealogists, publishing a complete history of their family is their ultimate goal. And many of these family historians then sell their work to the general public, to other family members, or perhaps donate it to a local library. A good family history–one that is well-researched, well-documented, and contains information relevant to a number of families–can achieve widespread distribution.

At different times in t he past century and a half, there have been periods during which there was a burst of interest in family history. During these times, many family histories have been published. One example of such a time period was the twenty-five year span from the end of the nineteenth-century to the beginning of World War I. Fortunately for researchers, histories published at that time provide information that might otherwise have been lost forever, as many of the authors had access to eighteenth and even seventeenth-century records that we don’t have access to today.

Another example of a time during which many histories were published was the decade of the 1970s, corresponding with the U.S. bicentennial celebration. During this period, family history research became a hobby for many people. People of immigrant ancestry wanted to learn more about who they were and where they came from. As a result, histories done during that time contain useful information about many of the immigrant families that entered the United States at the turn of the twentieth century.

Where to Find Family Histories
The first challenge to using these resources is locating them; finding a family history that will be helpful in your research can be very difficult. There are several places you can look to locate family histories, both published and unpublished. We want to recommend the following four possibilities:

1. The first place to look for a family history is the local public library in the community where the family may have resided. Remember that many communities also have local genealogical society libraries and/or libraries dedicated to a particular ethnic group. In many cases, a family member may have already done a considerable amount of research and may have donated his or her work to one of these local libraries. In fact, it is possible that the work can only be found in one library. A visit to the library and a peek into its card catalog (the entry should be list ed alphabetically under the family name) would reveal any such sources.

Unfortunately, this option might not be practical if you live far from the library. If you have online access, use your favorite search engine to locate the Web address for that local library. If it has a Web presence, determine if the card catalog is available online.

If you are not online, write to the library and request information on the holdings of its published family histories. Remember that locating such a family history almost certainly means a visit to the library. In most circumstances, genealogy books of any type are not allowed to leave the library. They are not available even through interlibrary loan.

2. One of the best collections of published family histories is located in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. If a trip to Utah is impractical, you can easily utilize the Family History Library from home with the Internet. Visit the FamilySearch Web site at FamilySearch.org and follow the prompts on the screen to locate the library catalog. Here you can do a search by family name. You will be given a listing of all family histories in the collection containing information on families of that surname, even those whose primary emphasis is on a different family.

You can also visit any one of 1,500 Family History Centers located throughout the world. These Centers have computers that utilize the trademarked FamilySearch software, which is an index tool of the materials available through the Family History Library. Many of the family histories at the Library are available on microfilm. If the family history you need is available this way, a copy of it can be sent to your local Family History Center for a nominal fee, where you will be able to read the contents using a microfilm reader.

3. The third option open to you is to utilize the vast resources of the Library of Congress. The l ibrary has a copy of virtually every published family history available. While it might not be practical to make a trip to this library, you should check to see if there are any family histories relevant to your research available there. Once you know of the existence of a genealogy, you may be able to locate that genealogy at a more convenient library. A visit to the reference section of your own local library is the best place to begin. Ask your reference librarian if the library has any guides to the published genealogies in the Library of Congress. Many of these general guides not only list the family histories but also the libraries where they can be found. Since the Library of Congress has family histories numbering in the tens of thousands, the odds that you will locate at least one useful to you are in your favor.

4. The final method available to you in your search for published family histories is at Ancestry.com. On the home page, click on the Search tab and then Search by Record Type. On the following screen you will see the subcategory Reference and Finding Aids on the left of the screen. By clicking on this link you have access to one of the premium databases at Ancestry.com, the Genealogical Library Master Catalog. Here you can type in the family name you are seeking. The search results will list all family histories containing that surname found in the database. The list will also name a library that has that particular family history.

Using Published Family Histories
Once you have your hands on a family history relevant to your research, you may not be able to write fast enough. The following tips will help you use these family histories most effectively as sources of genealogical data.

1. Determine how the book is organized. Scan the book to get a feel for how the author put the book together. Most family histories use some type of descendancy numbering system. The author wil l have selected a key individual and then detailed as many descendants of that person as possible. Usually in the preface or introduction, the author will explain how the material is organized. If the numbering system doesn’t make sense, read the author’s explanation. Here are the basic types of numbering systems you might encounter: