Monday, July 18, 2011

Sometimes you can't get it online

I'm an amateur genealogist, working on my family history.  I've been trying to track down a couple of elusive relatives and determine if they are indeed mother and daughter.  I've looked for a birth certificate or birth registry entry on free websites like FamilySearch.org and the Clerk of Cook County (Illinois; the daughter's birthplace) website, and on paid sites like Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest, but I haven't had any luck.

I have been able to narrow down the year in which the daughter was born, and I checked the catalog of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  What I'm looking for, the "Registers of births outside of the city [Chicago], 1878-1894," is only available on microfilm.  Luckily, I can have that reel of microfilm sent to my local FamilySearch Center at a nominal cost, and I can look at it there.

So what is my point in telling you this story?  Sometimes the information you need is not available online, and you have to e-mail, call, or go to the library to get it.  Come see us or contact us at the Dick Smith Library - we're glad to help you!

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