Get results and stay organized with your search for your ancestors with these resources from the Indiana Room.
Genealogy
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Christine F.
Databases
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Census and voter lists, birth, marriage, and death indexes; military records; immigration and travel; newspapers and other publications. Search and review over hundreds of articles dealing with articles that often stymie genealogists, e.g. African American research, women’s maiden names, and adoption. This database is only available when you are visiting the library.
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Provides convenient access to US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served. Original records at Fold3 help you discover and share stories about these everyday heroes, forgotten soldiers, and the families that supported them. Combine records found on the site with what you have in your own albums and shoeboxes to create an online memorial for someone who served. Enjoy browsing through city directories of major cities (pre-1923), naturalization records, and other documents using their advanced technology for digital imaging and searching.
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Census records, full text books, Revolutionary War era pension and bounty land warrant applications, Freedman’s Bank account records for individual African Americans who were establishing credit after the Civil War and Reconstruction Era (1865 – 1874). Search also the US Serial Set, which contains petitions, memorials, and private relief requests of the US Congress. Make sure to check out PERSI, which is the mother ship of articles from tons of periodicals, including the small, local genealogical societies from the regions where your ancestors lived.
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A boat load of articles from tons of periodicals, including the small, local genealogical societies from the regions where your ancestors lived. Often overlooked and tucked in the database Heritage Quest, these gems sharpen your skills about clues to what region and times your ancestors came from. PERSI is maintained by the Allen County Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
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FamilySearch has posted the Indiana portion of the 1940 census index! This index as well as the corresponding images of the census pages are free, part of the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project.
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Includes more than 12,700 male juvenile names, inmate numbers, dates admitted, and more from 1867 - 1937. Provided by the Indiana State Digital Archives.
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Although the Indiana Genealogical Society provides access to a large collection of searchable databases (over 800) for members only, some are available for free and are updating the site all the time.
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The Genealogy Collection at the Indiana State Library has developed over time to become of the largest and most respected collections of family history information in the Midwest. The collection includes over 40,000 printed items (family histories, indexes to records, how-to books, cemetery transcriptions, family history magazines, etc.) as well as microfilmed federal census records, Indiana county records, passenger lists, and military pension information. The collection includes hundreds of CDs with family history information. The emphasis of the collection is on Indiana and bordering states, as well as eastern and southern states. The Indiana State Library's Genealogy Collection joined the Indiana Digital Archives as one of the only two honorees from the State of Indiana who won the Family Tree Magazine's designation of Best Website of 2011.
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Includes nearly 20,000 names of women committed to the Indiana Women's Prison from 1873 - 1969. Provided by Indiana State Digital Archives.
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The 1930 U.S. Federal Census is available via our subscription databases, in print here at the Indiana Room, and in this Excel spreadsheet. When searching for an individual or a family group, consider consulting a variety of indexes as transcriptions were published over the years by a several volunteers. Often, locally produced indexes can be of higher quality because the indexers are likely from the region and more prone to recognize the names.
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Covers 1818 - 1900. Compiled by the Monroe County History Center's Genealogy Library. This in-progress index contains names found in pre-1900 Monroe County church records, including those found in member registers, as well as birth, baptism, marriage, and death or burial information. Indexing was done from microfilm, scanned images of pages, and hard copies of records. Contact the History Center for more information: 812-332-2517.
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Provided free by the Indiana Genealogical Society and compiled by local genealogist Randi Richardson.
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Search for local soldiers who served in the Civil War. Index (Excel) from the transcribed rosters of regiments contained in the Report to the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana, 1861-1865, vols. 1-8.
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These are the report summaries of deaths as recorded by the Monroe County Coroner's Office. This index (PDF) was created by Indiana Room Volunteer Mita Glass and published in 2002. See also the Monroe County, Indiana, Coroners Inquest, 1888-1973, as published by the Monroe County History Center.
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The Monroe County History Center holds all known original Monroe County Court Records to approximately 1950. This index comprises the earliest county court records from 1818 to c. 1875 held at the History Center.
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Browse this digital collection to examine what Bloomington and Monroe County were like before, during, and after the Civil War (1855 - 1875). With only one surviving issue of the local newspaper from the era and many personal narratives either lost or scattered, this collection brings together an assortment of original materials that remain for all to share and study online. To learn more about the project, including a partners, profiles, and a timeline for Monroe County for this era, go to At War & At Home's Landing Page .
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A photographic collection of the limestone industry. Also includes company correspondences and scrapbooks. The seed collection came from the Matthews Brothers Stone Company, but other archives were added by the following: The Bybee Stone Company, The Bloomington Limestone Corp., Indiana Limestone Quarrymen's Association's Architect's File, The Ellettsville Journal, Victor Oolitic Stone Company, Independent Limestone Company, and the Albert McIlveen Portfolio. For more information about the project, including a timeline and profiles, go to Indiana Bedrock's landing page.
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Destroyed in a fire in 1901, this newspaper was revived in 1908 by Ralph B. Carter, a local telephone exchange pioneer. Under Carter, The Smithville News covered local business, limestone, railroad news, and happenings—society news, church events, obituaries, the occasional criminal mischief, and gossip about who was courting whom—in Smithville, Harrodsburg, Sanders, Fairfax and Clear Creek. Marketed as politically independent, the newspaper took editorial “digs” at some hot-button Progressive Era issues such as prohibition, teacher pay, fair business practices, transportation, and rural mail service. Covers time period of 1897 - 1915. Learn more about the project.
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An index to containing over 170 names provided by the Monroe County History Center.
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Compiled by the Monroe County History Center, this list will help you find individual files located at their Genealogy Library.
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Search this PDF file by surname in our collection of books and vertical files, which were donated to our library by genealogists. Our volunteers have merged these indexes to create this finding aid. A good practice is to consult county biographies and histories, which may be available full text via Google Books or through Heritage Quest.
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Browse our index (Excel) to local history by subjects. These documents were submitted by the community in the 1970s and microfilmed by our staff.
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Formerly referred to as the Vertical Clippings File (c.1968 - 2011), this tool - here in Excel format - covers subjects about area people, industries, organizations, government, schools, buildings, crimes and criminals, and events. Includes the vertical clippings files from the Monroe County History Center and other collections.
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Here is an alphabetical listing of land entries as they appeared in the Vincennes District Office. Compiled by our County Genealogist Randi Richardson for the Monroe County History Center.
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This Excel spreadsheet will show our microfilm collection that includes early records for deeds, county commissioners, marriages, estate, quit claim, soldiers discharge papers, and more.
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Browse this PDF file to see the Indiana Room's collection of area newspapers on microfilm dating back to 1824 with some interruptions.
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Covers death and funeral notices and obituaries appearing in most of the Bloomington newspapers; includes those present and past residents of Monroe and surrounding counties: Lawrence, Greene, Owen, Morgan, Brown. When coverage from Bloomington papers wasn’t sufficient, other papers were consulted.
Don’t find your ancestor listed? Try utilizing the Social Security Death Index, which is a database of deaths reported to the Social Security Administration in connection with death benefit claims. Another option is to search through the Monroe County’s Rootsweb listserv archives, which includes full text obituaries as well as other gems that are generously contributed by area genealogists and local historians.
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Published by the Monroe County History Center, this list might help you identify how far back your family has been in our county.
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Search this Excel file by the names of the individuals who were interviewed or by the subjects they spoke about during their discussions about their lives. These stories were told to Indiana Room staff and volunteers as part of the Indiana University Oral History Project in the 1970s.
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The Monroe County History Center's Genealogy Library maintains this surname index of our probate records for Monroe County, dating from approximately 1818 to 1880.
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Shortly after the web was available to genealogists, they started sharing their notes online. Rootsweb was one of the first free portals that enabled researchers to network and find leads. Search the listserv archives for postings from local researchers who have developed the site after years of dedicated service. A great place to find obituaries and transcripts of early newspaper articles.
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This enumeration was transcribed from a book by Indiana Room Volunteer Mita Wilsey Glass. The fragile book, now in the queue for digitization for late 2012, is unavailable to the public at this time. It contains the following headings: Names of parents or guardians, names of child, birthday month and year, age, birthplace, whether male or female, number of school district, number of congressional district and range of congressional township, street number and name (for students living in the city), signature of parent or guardian (some of these entries appear to be written by the enumerator), signature of the enumerator. The lists were mostly written in alphabetical order, suggesting that the enumerators made cards and alphabetized them, which also accounts for the parents' signatures being of the same handwriting. Also available as in PDF.
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Compiled by Ruth M. Slevin on an unspecified date believed to be sometime before 1923. The book consists of will abstracts that include: name of the will maker; date the will was written and proved; names of spouse and other heirs when noted; names of the executor and witnesses, and book and page number. The abstracts were recorded in alphabetical order by the surname of the will maker. No other indexing was provided. In order to enhance the use of the book, an every-name index was compiled by Randi Richardson in 2012. It is available online from the Indiana Genealogical Society via their members-only database. A hard copy is also available at the Monroe County History Center.
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The Indiana Room has yearbooks for Monroe County middle and high schools. We also have Indiana University Yearbooks. This index is valuable in that is allows you to search some schools for the names of faculty, staff, and students. Keep in mind that some yearbooks have been digitized and uploaded to the web by some genealogy subscription databases, e.g. Ancestry Library Edition, which is only available when you visit the library.
Web Resources
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This list will help you to start thinking of possible sources of information to bust through any brick walls you may encounter with your family research.
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Information on over 22 million immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island from 1892 to 1924.
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Print and use this blank form to organize your pedigree.
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Print and complete this form to keep track of your progress.
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A categorized and cross-referenced index to genealogical resources on the Internet. One of the oldest and most credible sites for genealogists, this site has a wealth of leads.
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Created by the National Park Service which contains basic facts about servicemen who served on both sides during the Civil War.
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Website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, their records span billions of names across hundreds of collections—including birth, marriage, death, probate, land, military, IGI extracted, and more.
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The online catalog of the National Archives and Records Administration's nationwide holdings in the Washington, DC area, Regional Archives and Presidential Libraries.
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Indiana Society Sons of the American Revolution Patriot Graves Registry. Search by County.
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The Internet's oldest and largest genealogy community. Hosts the RootsWeb Surname List, ROOTS-L mailing list, thousands of message boards and independent Web sites. Be sure to check out the search features for the archives of local history and genealogical groups.
Journals & Magazines
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This popular, glossy “how to” periodicals provide rich articles for the beginner and advanced genealogist, dedicating specific issues to timely topics, e.g. how to research on a budget, understanding DNA testing, and software product reviews. Provide up to date discussions of trends in the industry, too. Back issues can be checked out.
