Indiana Historical Society visit

Yesterday, I dropped in at the Indiana Historical Society to see the library on the second floor of their building.  After signing in and locking my belongings in a locker, I asked at the desk for some pointers on researching my Bavarian ancestor, George Buchter.  He lived in Indianapolis from the 1860s until 1879.  I am still working on determining his year of immigration to the United States, but I thought I'd try to learn a little more about his life in Indiana and Indianapolis.

Two More Genealogy Road Trips

I've been feeling a bit guilty because I haven't made any major breakthroughs with immigration research in my family tree.  Several of my lines are once again at brick walls, so instead of dwelling on this, I've been focusing on exploring local genealogy collections.  Last week, I visited the Columbus Family History Center, and today I dropped in at the Edinburgh Public Library. Both have great resources and unique collections.

Three Indiana libraries

Within the past week, I visited the Allen County Public Library, the Fayette County Public Library, and the Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library.  The first two visits were for my own genealogy research purposes and the last visit was to participate in the Hendricks County probate papers work session.

Find A Grave = Find Your Ancestors

Ever since I visited Crown Hill Cemetery in September, I have been wanting to discover new information about my ancestors who are buried there.  I also want to share the information about their birthplaces and specific birth and death dates. 

I have been aware of the usefulness of the website Find A Grave for a while, and I know that some of the library volunteers at the Johnson County Museum add photos and contribute information to the records.  After learning from them about the process of getting memorial records transferred to them, I thought that I should give it a try. 

Clues hiding within arms' reach

Do not assume anything when you are researching your ancestors.  I know that I have been told this at the many genealogy workshops I've attended over the years, but did I heed this advice? Not exactly.

I have been volunteering in the genealogy library of the Johnson County Museum of History for almost one year.  I have enjoyed helping library researchers find documents and information about their Johnson County ancestors.

Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis

IMPORTANT UPDATE (8/11/2024): The Genealogical Society of Marion County, https://genealogyindy.org/ has microfilm copies of some Crown Hill lot books and Crown Hill day books. Please contact them for visitors' hours and how to access these records. 

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IMPORTANT UPDATE (11/3/2017): The Genealogical Society of Marion County is no longer located at Crown Hill Cemetery; they have a new location at Memorial Park Cemetery, https://genealogyindy.org/ The burial permits, lot books, and day books that I accessed remain at Crown Hill. Please contact the Crown Hill Cemetery Office, Indianapolis, Indiana.

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The Genealogical Society of Marion County has a research library in the Waiting Station building at Crown Hill Cemetery.  I visited the cemetery to photograph tombstones a few years ago, and I knew of other family members who were buried without markers in a plot there.  The online burial locator is useful: http://www.crownhill.org/locate/. 

Genealogy for Night Owls

I had an opportunity to attend an event, Genealogy for Night Owls, at the Indiana State Library on August 15th.  My plan was to try out some databases, to look up some obituaries during the open research time, and to learn more about preserving documents and photographs.