Godfrey Library- An INVALUABLE tool!

[fudge stripe cookays]

I posted this in the Lounge thread, but I'm reposting it here for everyone.

One of my genealogy cousins told me about this site, and I've found a bazillion great pieces of information here.

www.godfrey.org

It's a research library up in Connecticut. You call the phone number on their Website, tell them you want to be a Godfrey scholar, and they can give you your access codes right over the phone so you can begin searching that day!

It's about $38 a year, but WELL worth it! You have searchable access to statewide censuses for just about every year (not 1890, obviously, and not 1880), but most of the others. 1930 is being added a little at a time. And you can manipulate searches many different ways to look for people, which helps a LOT! Especially if you know first name, but the last name is constantly misspelled...that sort of thing. I discovered my great great grandfather enumerated TWICE in the 1860 census in Boone County, Illinois. Because of the quick referencing I was able to do, I discovered it by accident. I would never have found this flipping through the stuff in a library.

The census feature is absolutely invaluable. Instead of sweating it out in the library over a bazillion separate films, you can sit at home watching Law and Order, and expand your tree exponentially within a few hours.

They also have searchable obituary lists, old newspapers from the 1800s, a searchable newspaper database that covers TONS of places, and many other features I couldn't begin to name. PERSI being one of the best. I found a bunch of obituaries for my Boockmeier family, including a story about one of my great uncles dropping dead on the street in Milwaukee, and no one knowing what happened to him until months later. I had always wondered about him, since I had no family info about him.

Try it out. It's already paid for itself multiple times over for me.

:hi:
FSC

[Cooley Hurd]

1. That's a lot cheaper than ancestry.com!

Sounds like a great resource - I'll check it out!:hi:

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. No kidding!

And the bastards keep buying up all the free resources.

There are no words to describe how much I hate them.

FSC

[brook]

4. Gee, I thought I was the only one.

:)

I joined for a year - damned expensive for what little I got out of it. I hate that they didn't have indexes to the census records that I needed. Even though I had dates, Newark had over 100 precincts and I never did find what I was looking for.

The good news is that I got a copy of my greatgrandmother's death certificate today. Found the info on a free site!I am so jazzed. That part of my family is made up of many stonewalls - so this is a breakthrough. Try looking through NYC for "Smith" in the 1800's. Ugh!

[fudge stripe cookays]

6. I feel for ya Brook.

I myself am a Smith, and I know the agony you're feeling.

Were you ever able to find what you needed in the censuses post Ancestry?

Let me know who you need to find in what year and their information, and I can try to do some wildcard searches for you. It REALLY does help!

I'm leaving on a research trip next Thursday (2nd) and will be back on the 19th.

FSC :hi:

[brook]

7. You're sweet...

to offer help -but then you're a Smith! :)

The biggest brick in the wall is my ggrandfather Samuel J. Smith. I don't find him after the 1880 census and think he must have died soon after that was taken. I know my grandpa and his brother were quite young. Sam was born in Ireland (we don't know where in Ireland) and after his death, 'family lore' has it that my ggrandmother took the two boys to Ireland - there was some issue over an inheritance. Whatever it was, they chose to return to NY. (Haven't had any luck with passenger lists so far) By age 12, my grandfather went to work as a runner at the Stock Exchange.

By 1888 my ggrandmother had remarried and given birth to a daughter. Nine years later, both she and the new husband were dead.

Meanwhile, you've inspired me to get organized...my files are a mess!
So thank you, again. Have a great trip. I'll be anxious to hear about it.

[fudge stripe cookays]

8. Well, let me know if you need anything searched.

I'll do what I can. :-)

My great grandfather Smith had 9 brothers and sisters, and I've managed to find decendants from all the branches except 1 (and another where they didn't have any children).

One was a lady named Anne Smith, who married a graduate of Beloit College. I contacted the college and went from there. Ended up contacting one of the dioceses where he ended up, and they put me in touch with his great granddaughter who'd contacted them years before.

Also, a brother named Charley Smith who "moved to Canada and died there." :eyes: But believe it or not, I've managed to find two of his descendants too!

It can be done!

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[nykiera]

3. This sounds like the "Heritage Quest" that I access

through the Columbus Heritage library. Theirs is free to Ohio residents. (My mother is an Ohio resident.)

http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Eohgenweb/freecensus.html

[fudge stripe cookays]

5. It includes Heritage Quest, but also

has PERSI for censuses and such, newspaper archives, obituary archives, and a bunch of other sources. I couldn't even begin to name them all.

And they're constantly adding to their database.

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[Montauk6]

9. Does it just cover Connecticut families?

My father-in-law's people are from the NY and Ontario regions; while everyone else (incl. my mother-in-law) is spread out in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

[fudge stripe cookays]

10. Which feature?

All the states are represented in the census. There are only a few years that aren't there. 1880, 1850, and they don't have all of 1930 loaded yet.

For the newspapers, they have various titles from various cities. They add more all the time. And each state has different databases of stuff- some have birth and death indices, that sort of thing. But some have none. I need more on Wisconsin and North Dakota, which unfortunately, they don't have much of.

Ontario Canada? Have you tried the Canadian archives for census info? They have them online now. You have to kind of figure out what county they might have been in because they're not indexed, but the 1911 censuses for Canada are online, as are several of their others here:

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/022-500-e.html

WWI draft cards for Canada: http://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/02010602_e.html

[Montauk6]

11. I signed up, got the card, but somehow it's not really helping me.

Maybe I just haven't figured out how to "work it."

[fudge stripe cookays]

12. It takes a little while to get the hang of all the stuff.

Use your number to get in at the front page.

In the main screen where it lists all your options, go down to the link below all the JAN NEW RESOURCES, FEB NEW RESOURCES links where it says:

Godfrey Scholar Online Resources.

In there, you have the HeritageQuest Census Records (which are invaluable because of how wide-open you can make the searches).

Also, the NEWSPAPER ARCHIVE ELITE is amazing. I still wish they'd add some more of the papers I need, but I've gotten a lot out of that. And the obituary search.

I hope you find some more! Just keep exploring.
fsc

[CBHagman]

13. Did you see this?

http://www.godfrey.org/heritage_quest_up.htm

"As you may know, Godfrey Memorial Library is unable to provide access to the Heritage Quest material. This decision was made by Heritage Quest, not Godfrey Memorial Library. They would not extend the contract at any price.

"Current Scholars that have a barcode beginning with 2079 will be able to access the Heritage Quest material through G.M.L. until their renewal date in 2006 or December 31, 2006 which ever comes first. Those recent subscribers who have a barcode beginning with 3079 will not be able to access the Heritage Quest material through Godfrey.

"Both portals will have exactly the same content with the exception that Heritage Quest will not be available on the 3079 portal. The ProQuest newspapers will continue to be available on both portals.

"On behalf of our valued Scholars we have taken it upon ourselves to assemble a list of libraries across the country that provide remote or home access to Heritage Quest online with a local public library card. This list will be updated periodically. If you would like a list of libraries in your state, please contact us by e-mail or by telephone, and we will be happy to provide that list to you."