Week 9--History and Genealogy Resources

1. Ancestry Library - I found two different records about myself; (1) my name, birth date, phone number and an incorrect address in the U.S. Public Records Index, Volume I. Volume II was also there with the same information. I did find where I had signed for my (2) marriage license in Phoenix, AZ.
2. I searched for my paternal grandfather and found him listed in the 1930 United States Federal Census as living in Lawrence County, S.D. (you could view the map) This page also listed where you could find it on microfilm. The original data had come from The National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. He was age 55 at the time, his birthplace was Finland, he was married to Annie Koskela, whom also was born in Finland (something I either did not know or had forgotten), he was head of household and immigrated to the U.S. in 1892. On another page, which was the actual record page, his wife and 8 children were listed showing their estimated birth year and birthplace. I found a death certificate for one son who died at an early age while I was searching for my grandfather's death certificate. I know more had died early on but was not sure of the names. I also found some type of military registration. Last year I printed off his immigration papers but did not run across it this time. The magnifier came in handy so there is no reason to struggle to see.
3. I also did not see the "Photos and Maps" tab as shown in the paperwork but did get to a place under that heading and typed in South Dakota. Under 11 headings it all stated there are no data collections that are specific to South Dakota.
4. HeritageQuest - PERSI - State : South Dakota, County : Lawrence, Keywords : Finnish. I first chose cemeteries but got 0 results so I went back and selected all and got one hit which was an article in the Bits and Pieces (Newcastle Wyo. 1966 Vol.2 Issue 8) about the Finnish Church at Lead, 1889. This was a Church Record. The publisher of the article was Mabel E. Brown in Newcastle, Wy. I could get a copy by completing the request form and contacting the Allen County Public Library Foundation in Fort Wayne, IN. You can request up to 6 articles at a time. It costs $7.50 for each letter, pre-paid plus $.20 per page copied billed to me and allow 6 to 8 weeks to receive it. They will not accept requests by phone, fax or e-mail.
I chose the letter S to look through the Publications and got 2426 results. You can change the page image, have a white or black background, download or print and zoom up to 400%. I looked into one titled : S.D. Butcher's pioneer history of Custer County and short sketches of early days in Nebraska. The publisher was unknown but was it published in Broken Bow, NE in 1901, had 406 pages and a very lengthy table of contents. A real history buff could escape for many days in this one site.
5. Sanborn Maps. I chose Lead, S.D. for May 1923-1948. I checked the Street Index but could not find the street I lived on so I chose to see if  Lead High School (built in 1940) was in the same place and yes it is. I found it on sheet 6. If you zoom in 300% you can see some of the materials used in the building like steel trusses, lath and plaster ceilings  Some of the larger rooms were labeled such as the boys and girls gyms and the machine shop. When looking through the town you can see the width of the water pipes running under the streets. I also noticed a couple of churches are still where they were back then. I wasn't as smooth using the moving magnifer, about made myself dizzy, but if you used the site a lot I'm sure it would become a great tool. Do you think the insurance company who laid out the maps ever considered they would become so valuable to the history of so many towns?
We have patrons who use the ancestry resource for hours at a time. Some are retired folks volunteering in the parks over the summer so we see much more activity at that time. We have a separate computer just for use of the databases through the State and do not restrict the time and so far the people who use it share it quite well.
These sites are more relaxing to me as the history is just fascinating and each discovery could be a wonderful surprise.