Conway, NH 03818-2100
Phone: 603-447-5552
Wednesday 10:00-8:00 pm
Thursday 10:00-8:00 pm
Friday 10:00-5:00 pm
Saturday 10:00-5:00 pm
(also by appointment)
Contact the History Curator
Monday:
10:00-1:00 pm & 3:00-8:00 pm
Tues/Wed/Thurs:
10:00-1:00 pm
2nd Sat of each month:
10:00-1:00 pm
Conway Public Library (CPL) - Henney History Room (HHR)
Genealogical Research Sources Guide
3/21/2011
There are a truly enormous number of Internet genealogy-related websites. Those we have found particularly useful are included in the list below, and many of these sites have links to others. This information is provided as an aid to genealogical research. The Conway Public Library and the Henney History Room do not endorse the websites listed. Some are free, some charge for services. Please evaluate each resource for yourself before relying on it for assistance.
The Conway Public Library owns hard copies of many town and county histories, the regimental histories, the Sullivan Papers, New Hampshire Provincial, Town, and State Papers (with a digital index on CD), Saco Valley Settlements and Families, and other materials that are not included in the list below. Most are housed in the Henney History Room. Some sources shown below are specifically for Carroll County and Conway data. Similar sources are found in most other communities, as well.
We express great appreciation to the Meredith Public Library, Erin Apostolos, Director, and to their Genealogy Club for many of the internet references shown here.
Please let us know of other sites you find useful and about good experiences and/or problems you encounter with those we have listed.
Note that the group, “Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness” (See http://www.raogk.org/) provides volunteer services for those seeking assistance. Members of this group only accept payment for actual expenses, not their time. Check it out!
A. Vital Statistics Generally:
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Data |
Location |
Comments |
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Conway |
Births (1880-present), marriages(1880-1979), and deaths(1880-present) are recorded here. |
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Conway area |
Cemetery data typically contain birth and death dates. Albany, Conway, Eaton, and Brownfield, ME data is found here. |
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Conway area |
Town Reports found in most Town Halls |
Town Reports and Records for the Towns of Conway, Eaton, Albany, Madison, and Fryeburg, Maine. Town reports contain vital statistics, i.e., births, death, and marriages. |
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Various Conway area towns |
Hard copies of vital statistics data in the HHR |
Data from the late 19th Century to ca. 1989 for Albany, Bartlett, Brookfield, Brownfield, Conway, Eaton, Effingham., Freedom, Hiram, Jackson, Madison, Milton, Moultonboro, Ossipee, Sandwich, Tamworth, Tuftonboro, Wakefield, and Wolfeboro. |
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New Hampshire |
NH Department of State, Division of Vital Records Administration, 71 South Fruit Street, Concord, NH 03301. |
Access to records is restricted to those who have a "direct and tangible interest". Birth records more than 100 years old, and deaths, marriage and divorce records more than 50 years old are considered to have unrestricted access. Individuals may search these "genealogical" records by visiting the "Genealogical Research Center". Alternatively, a written request may be made to their offices and they would research their records for a fee. |
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The United States |
Find birth, death, marriage, divorce and historic vital records from one easy-to-use search interface! Free 7-day trial, $39.95/year thereafter |
B. Births:
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Data |
Location |
Comments |
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Birth Certificates |
Conway Town Hall 1634 East Main Street, Center Conway |
They have originals back to 1850, but records less than 100 years old are available only to blood relatives. |
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Birth Records-New Hampshire |
Enter a first and/or last name to search New Hampshire birth records. Additional information on how to obtain New Hampshire birth certificates is available. |
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Census Data – United States |
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Calculate birth date from age at time of census. |
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Census data by state |
Data organized by state and county. However, there are no known NH state census records. Includes early census data for some towns plus related information |
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Census data - Local |
Conway Public Library (CPL) Henney History Room (HHR) Microfilm cabinet |
Census data for Strafford/Carroll County, NH, Oxford County, ME and a few other locations, 1800 – 1920 |
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Birth Parent Search |
Message postings and responses regarding adoptions |
C. Marriages:
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Data |
Location |
Comments |
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Marriage Certificates |
Conway Town Hall 1634 East Main Street, Center Conway |
They have originals, but records less than 100 years old are available only to blood relatives. |
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Marriages & Deaths |
HHR Microfilm Cabinet |
Lists of Conway Marriages and Deaths, 1926-1947 |
D. Divorces:
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Data |
Location |
Comments |
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Divorce records |
For Carroll County, Probate Court Administration Building, 96 Water Village Road, Ossipee, NH 03864 |
Records are kept in the county in which the divorce took place. The State has records available online since 1990. To view the information you must know the date of the divorce and the names of the parties involved. |
E. Deaths:
|
Data |
Location |
Comments |
|
Deaths – Conway area |
HHR Microfilm Cabinet |
Lists of Conway Marriages and Deaths, 1926-1947 |
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Death Certificates – Conway area |
Conway Town Hall, 1634 East Main Street, Center Conway |
They have originals, but records less than 100 years old are available only to blood relatives. |
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Death records-New Hampshire |
“This website was created to provide genealogists with access to the New Hampshire death records from a single place. Additional information on how to obtain New Hampshire death certificates is available.” |
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Death Certificates-New Hampshire |
“The Division of Vital Records Administration (DVRA) issues certified copies of births, deaths, marriages and divorces certificates to qualified individuals and agencies that provide a "direct and tangible" interest in obtaining a record.” If you search for records here, this takes you to the same site as listed immediately above. A fee is required to see data after a 7 day period. |
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Obituaries – Conway area |
Conway Daily Sun, North Conway Reporter on microfilm; Conway Daily Sun and NH Sunday News/Union Leader online |
Microfilm of the North Conway Reporter is available from 1895 through 1991. Early obituaries were hit or miss. We have no obituaries prior to 1895. The CPL subscribes to on-line obituaries published in the Conway Daily Sun. The CPL also subscribes to the NH Sunday News/Union Leader from January 1989 - current issue. |
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Fryeburg, Me |
Cemetery listings, including name, birth date, date of death, cemetery name, lot#, and comments |
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Obituaries – New Hampshire |
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Obituaries from NH newspapers plus other useful links |
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Death Indexes - US |
On-line searchable death indexes in U.S. |
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Graveyards |
Find a Grave has information on famous and not so famous graves |
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Graveyards - NH |
NH Old Graveyard Association site |
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Death Indexes - US |
Search the Social Security Death Index |
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Cemetery data |
A collection of photographs and historical information of colonial cemeteries and gravestones of New England in southern Maine, southern New Hampshire and northeast Massachusetts, along with local New England, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont history, genealogy of early ancestors who settled the area, and early New England artisans. |
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Death Indexes |
New York City’s death records and indices |
F. Wills
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Data |
Location |
Comments |
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Original wills - Carroll County |
Registry of Probate, Carroll County Courthouse, Ossipee, NH |
Access using a name index at the Probate Court |
G. Family Histories: The HHR has a copy catalogued as 929.1 Ind HR
|
Data |
Location |
Comments |
|
Family information |
HHR |
Bound copies of some family histories are on the shelves; “vertical files” contain a great deal of miscellaneous data, organized by family surname. |
|
Family Genealogies |
HHR |
Index to Genealogies in New Hampshire Town Histories, by William Copeley (929.1 Ind HR; “New Hampshire Genealogy: A Perspective”, in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. 130 (Oct 1976), pp. 244-58. |
|
Family Histories |
Google Books has a vast array of publications available free in full text online. Try entering a name within quotation marks in the search box and then click on “Search Books.” You might also add another bit of information – such as the state or a town associated with the person before you click. |
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Family Histories |
The New Hampshire State Library houses approximately 2400 titles of published family histories for New Hampshire and New England. This collection is enhanced by the unique name index to early (roughly 1640 to 1830/40) town records on microfilm (sometimes referred to as the "Sargent" Name Index). These histories are not available online |
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Family information |
The Ancestry Plus database. Free access is available from the CPL; individuals can purchase subscriptions for use elsewhere. Available data includes U.S. census information, passenger & immigration lists indices, a biography and genealogy master index, military, court, church, social security death indices, and more. |
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Family information |
The Heritage Quest Online database, which requires a password for access. (Talk to a CPL Librarian.) This contains census, family records, local histories, much great primary source material. |
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Family information |
The Ancestry.com Wiki – contains The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy , the Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources , other Ancestry.com content , plus content added by users. |
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Biographies |
Biographies of prominent persons |
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Biographies |
Biographies of Conway persons |
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Kennett High School graduates |
Kennett High School graduates |
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Family trees |
RootsWeb is a part of Ancestry.com. Search from here and also link to many other related sites. |
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Family histories |
The Newspaper Archive’s tools for researching family history |
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Family histories |
Many family histories |
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Family Histories |
OneGreatFamily is a way to find work that has already been done in your genealogy because they search the work submitted by others. OneGreatDFamily claims to be the world's largest collaborative online family tree. |
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Family Histories |
“Archives.com gives you access to over 1.3 billion digital records and is adding approximately 50,000 new records to our Collections every day! Data sources are checked for quality & accuracy.” |
H. Miscellaneous genealogy-related websites:
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Location |
Comments |
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“Researching Your Family at the New Hampshire State Archives (NhAr)” – a metasite with information about resources available of interest to those doing New Hampshire genealogical research |
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Massachusetts Vital Records 1600-1849 |
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Family Tree’s metasite list of 101 best websites for genealogical research, as of 7/27/2010 |
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This is a metasite with links to a huge number of other sites. |
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A metasite with large collection of genealogy search engines and contents items |
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The Internet Public Library has a host of links to online genealogy-related websites. |
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The NH Genealogy & History site has a wide variety of information links. See especially, “Research” on the main menu. |
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This site offers a selection of both free and fee-based databases |
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Cyndi’s huge and diverse list of genealogical websites |
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Steven Morse has created alternate ways of accessing some genealogy websites. In addition, he has some of his own databases and programs to facilitate doing genealogical research. Very helpful! Note especially immigration data. |
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The Daughters of the American Revolution website now makes available to the public without charge a great deal of helpful genealogical information. At one point in your search, you can select a name and find both that person’s ancestors and descendents simultaneously. |
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Over 66 million historical images digitized. Footnote helps you find and share historic documents. Partnerships with The National Archives, the Library of Congress and other institutions. |
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NH State Library Genealogy Information Resources |
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A list of NH county clerks and other useful links |
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The Bartlett Historical Society’s website, Including information about Bartlett history and associated persons |
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Oxford County, Maine GenWeb Project |
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The Fryeburg Historical Society’s website list of their genealogy materials |
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Northeast Kingdom (VT) genealogy, including obituaries |
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Directory of Genealogy Libraries in the US |
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Genealogy Bank is the largest newspaper archive for family history research. It’s not free, but it “provides information on millions of American families from 1690–today … from over 4,500 newspapers.” Genealogy Bank is part of NewsBank and is available through some libraries. |
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WeRelate - Massachuestts |
Massachusetts Online Vital Records Research Guide |
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Massachusetts vital records and other data, largely 19th century |
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Maine archives, including deeds to and from the State of Maine, maps from the Land Office, vital statistics, federal census records from Maine up to 1920, county court records dating back to the 1600's, and military records through World War I |
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NH Division of Archives and Records Management website – lists of records maintained, including original town records (1650-1820), New Hampshire State Paper originals, probate and land records, deeds, and land surveyor records. |
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The Division of Vital Records Administration has web-based software that anyone can use to look at Vital Records statistical information, though not at data regarding individuals. |
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Genealogy Today’s NH-related resources (There are pages for each state) |
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Genealogy Spot’s links to NH-related resources |
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The Italian Genealogy Group’s website, largely New York City-oriented |
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Database of information on Civil War soldiers |
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A wide array of links to immigration, census, vital statistics, foreign alphabets, DNA, and other data |
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An educational project of The Battery Conservancy. This free site offers access to an extraordinary database of information on 12 million immigrants from 1820 through 1892, the year Ellis Island opened. Over 100 million Americans can trace their ancestors to this early immigration period. |
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The American Family Immigration History Center® (AFIHC) makes the 25 million 1892-1954 immigrant arrival records in the Ellis Island Archives available to everyone. |
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The National Archives (NARA) site for genealogists and family historians |
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Thousands of family histories |
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The rootsweb homepage, The oldest and largest free genealogy site. Here you can Search hundreds of thousands of Family Trees. |
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Free family history, family tree, and genealogy data - Records and Resources from around the world, sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (“The Mormons”) |
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Family Tree Magazine - Free downloadable forms, gravestone information, help for genealogists. |
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Roots Television™ is by and for avid genealogists and family history lovers |
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The New Hampshire USGenWeb Project Archives, an Ancestry.com community – free online data for genealogical research provided by volunteers transcribing public domain records or other non-copyrighted primary sources. |
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WorldCat’s genealogy pages aid in finding historic newspapers, church histories, wills, manuscripts, maps, and other documents. |
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A site for building your family tree online - free |
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The New England Historic Genealogy website. It is the oldest and probably the most respected nonprofit genealogical organization in the country. Info on how NEHGS can help you explore a wealth of resources and research tools. |
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Enjoyable podcasts about genealogical matters |
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WeRelate is a free public-service wiki for genealogy, the world's largest genealogy wiki with pages for over 2,000,000 people and families.. |
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The world's largest online newspaper archive. Featuring billions of articles from historical newspapers around the U.S. and the world. Fee-based. |
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A huge collection of data – literally, hundreds of databases. Fee-based. |
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The Northeast regional office of the National Archives & Records Administration in Waltham, MA. Many resources, including extensive naturalization records. (Search the site for “naturalization.” |
I. Canadian Sources:
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Location |
Comments |
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CensusFinder - Canada |
Canadian census data |
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Library and Archives Canada’s guide to genealogical research |
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Census links to various other data sources |
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Many links for family history, genealogy search tools, heraldry, coats of arms and pedigrees of royal houses |
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Nova Scotia archives |
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Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics |
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Canadian Military records |
J. UK-related Sources:
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Location |
Comments |
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UK National Archives - a vast collection of records and guides on family and military history. |
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Millions of UK family history records |
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This site provides 1386 links to web sites that offer on-line transcriptions of UK births, marriages, deaths and censuses. A wide range of other indexes and transcriptions are also available for most counties; these may include parish records, wills, monumental inscriptions etc. |
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Military genealogy |
K. Ireland-related Sources:
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Location |
Comments |
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“Griffith’s Valuation” – Irish properties between 1848and 1864; This can be used as an excellent census substitute for the years after the Great Famine as censuses prior to 1901 were destroyed. |
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The “Irish Roots Café” – genealogy books for each Irish county; note the podcast |
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The Irish Family History Foundation - Online Genealogy Databases for Ireland – births, marriages, deaths, census records. Griffith’s Valuation |
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Irish Libraries Website - Another source of “Griffith’s Valuation” data |
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Wicklow County census records |
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Various information sources for County Derry/Londonderry |
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County Derry/Londonderry genealogical information |
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County Donegal genealogical information |
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Northern Ireland records |
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The National Archives holds a wide variety of records, many of which are relevant to Irish genealogy and local history. |
L. Other Countries:
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Location |
Comments |
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Free genealogy databases, records, and resources for tracing a family tree in Europe |
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Aids to genealogical research in Australia |
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New South Wales, Australia State records |
M. Ancestry Tracing Using DNA:
While it can't provide you with your entire family tree or tell you who your ancestors are, DNA testing can: Determine if two people are related, determine if two people descend from the same ancestor, find out if you are related to others with the same surname, prove or disprove your family tree research, provide clues about your ethnic origin.
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Location |
Comments |
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Useful information about DNA testing as a part of genealogical research |
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The Wikipedia article on DNA genealogical research |
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Ancestry.com’s DNA pages |
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Find out where your ancestors came from, discover your ethnic background, and trace the roots of your surname |
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DNA Tribes Genetic Ancestry Analysis measures your genetic connections to individual ethnic groups and major world regions. |
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Ancestral Origins measures the likelihood that your genetic information is linked with hundreds of global populations and fourteen anthropological regions, and plots the results on a very high resolution map. |
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Oxford Ancestors offers a variety of options for determining maternal and paternal DNA relationships. |
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Providing information and Services to Surname DNA Projects since 2004. |
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In order to allow people that have tested with the different companies to make their results available for comparison, Family Tree DNA is offering Ysearch as a free public service. |
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Cyndi’s List of dozens of DNA-related sites |
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“Together with the Y-DNA and the mtDNA tests, the Family Finder test will help you find family across all your lines.” |
N. Aids for Genealogical Researchers:
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Location |
Comments |
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The Encyclopedia of Genealogy, a free-content encyclopedia created by its readers. |
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A dictionary of genealogical terms |
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Information on finding a certified genealogist and on certification generally |
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NH Society of Genealogists |
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Common numbering systems for genealogists |
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Links to many genealogical societies |
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The American-Canadian Genealogical Society website, which includes some aids to research |
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The NH Historical Society website, which includes a catalog of their library collection |
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Many links to free genealogy forms and charts |
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Many genealogy forms |
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Info on printing large-scale genealogy documents. A fee is charged. |
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A useful resource in interpreting terms often found in genealogical resources |
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Amazon or other book sellers’ sites |
Genealogical Writing in the 21st Century: A Guide to Register Style and More, Henry B. Hoff (Editor), 2002 |
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Amazon or other book sellers’ sites |
Cite Your Sources: A Manual for Documenting Family Histories and Genealogical Records by Richard S. Lackey, Nov 1, 1985 – a bit dated, but still useful |
15 Greenwood Avenue
Conway, NH 03818 • 603-447-5552
info@conwaypubliclibrary.org