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Photo Source: Library of Congress
enhancement via PowerSketch for iPhone

Please join me on June 23, 2012 for a session on newspaper research for genealogy. My talk is sponsored by the Omaha Public Library.

Click here to register

Description: Newspapers provide an excellent source of information about your ancestors and living relatives. While not always accurate, newspapers provide clues and information that help tell the story of how your ancestors lived. Participants will learn about research strategies and the use of resources including microfilm, archives, free and fee-based online sites.

The talk is free and open to the public.

Saturday, June 23, 2012
11:00 a.m.
W. Dale Clark Main Library
215 South 15th St, Omaha, Nebraska

Ancestry.com: U.S. City Directories, 1821 - 1989

Source: Ancestry.com

Over the last several weeks, I've been so busy browsing and indexing 1940 Census records and doing volunteer work (is that an oxymoron?) for the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society (LLCGS), that I haven't checked in at Ancestry.com.


During a bout of insomnia the other night, I was checking out the Ancestry.com app on my new iPhone (yes, I finally got with it and now wonder why I dragged my feet about upgrading). By following the shaking leaves and some hints, I discovered a much expanded database of U. S. City Directories covering the period 1821 - 1989.


For me, the beta version of this database and image set is a goldmine of information that may end up distracting me from indexing for a few days. My focus has been Nebraska city directories which are available for the following cities: Beatrice, Columbus, Fremont, Hastings, Kearney, Lexington, Lincoln, Norfolk, North Platte, Omaha, Scottsbluff and York.


The Omaha directories go back as far as 1866 and go through 1959. Of course, not every year is there, nor is every directory complete. But, there's enough of a selection that if your ancestors lived in Omaha, the odds of locating them are quite good.


Lincoln's directories range from 1883 to 1960. I've located my grandparents in several directories from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. I found my Dad living with his parents in 1947, having returned from World War II and now in the work force. I found Mom living in Lincoln in 1947 as a young single working woman. I checked out her two best friends from Greenwood and, as I expected, the trio of girls were roommates living at 1936 D Street. This was shortly before my parents were married in 1947. Dad recalled the girls living in a third floor apartment as that's where Mom lived when she and Dad began dating.

Patricia Kelly
Kenneth Petersen
circa 1946-47

This photograph of my parents was probably taken outside of Mom's apartment building. The tower in the background is First Plymouth Church, which is located at 20th and D Streets in Lincoln.


I also discovered my grandmother, Sina Bellinger, living with her brother Clifford and their parents, John and Emma, in Lincoln in 1910. Sina's brother, Harry Bellinger, was trackable in the Omaha City Directories for several years, when he was a fireman for the railroad, then later when he became a railroad engineer.


The Fitzgerald kin make several appearances in the Lincoln directories. John Fitzgerald's entry almost reads like a resume, with a long list of all of his businesses and affiliations. One of his sons, William Paul Fitzgerald, lived in Denver during the 1940s and 1950s. I was able to locate several entries for him as well. I'm still missing evidence of his death, but the city directories helped me move his life forward several more years.

I'm still on the hunt for Margaret Kelly Langdon, the sister of my great grandfather, Daniel Kelly. I've tracked her to about 1918 in Kansas City, when she was living with one of their brothers. I'm hopeful that a couple entries I've discovered for her will end up being a match.

Regarding the database, it is very easy to search and end up with some pretty accurate results. You can search the entire database or narrow it by location. I've discovered that many of the street addresses have been transcribed incorrectly in the database. In nearly all of the examples I've found, the first digit of the street address is missing. However, the images are clear and it's easy to make a correction to the transcribed index.

Search Ancestry'com's City Directories database - I'd love to hear what gems you find!

The link to this post is: http://longlostrelatives-smp.blogspot.com/2012/04/ancestrycom-us-city-directories-1821.html

Nebraska genealogy events in the coming week

Omaha - The Greater Omaha Genealogical Society will feature a class on courthouse research and clues to help finding names you are looking for. This will be held at 9:15 a.m., Saturday, May 15, 2010 at the Mormon Trail Center, 3215 State Street, Omaha.

Lincoln - On Sunday, May 16, 2010, Ed Zimmer, historic preservation planner for the city of Lincoln, will lead a stroll through beautiful Wyuka cemetery. The tour begins at 2:00 p.m. at the Rudge Chapel near the main gate. The cemetery is located at 3600 O St in Lincoln.

Omaha - The Greater Omaha Genealogical Society will have its monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at the Crown Point Retirement Center, 2820 S. 80th St., Omaha.

Lincoln - Thursday's (May 20, 2010) Brown Bag Lecture at the Nebraska History Museum, 131 Centennial Mall North, in Lincoln, will be on Taking Care of Your Family's Heirloom Photographs.

For more upcoming Nebraska genealogy events, check out the calendar of events.

If you have an event to add to the calendar, email the details to me: sooznebr@gmail.com

Follow Friday: A Day in the Life of Downtown Omaha

This week, I have not one, but two, recommendations for Follow Friday:

The Nebraska State Historical Society's blog is one that I enjoy following. A recent post, A Day in the Life of Downtown Omaha, features a typical street scene of historic Omaha. Even before I read the caption, I recognized the Brandeis building.

What I really enjoy about the post is how they have cropped some elements from the main photograph to isolate some images of every day life in 1934. People are motoring about, interacting with one another - all these vignettes that one might not see just by glancing at the original photograph. It's given me a new perspective on viewing those historic photographs.

Follow Friday: The Graveyards of Omaha

I'd like to take this opportunity to recommend a very interesting and comprehensive web site, The Graveyards of Omaha, which is the creation of Marta Dawes. Marta's dedication to documenting Omaha's first cemetery is evidenced by more than 5,800 photos she has taken at Prospect Hill Cemetery. Prospect Hill allows no new burials.

Marta's husband, Steve Dawes, and I became online buddies several years ago as part of a discussion forum. I felt I got acquainted with the couple just by browsing through Marta's graveyard site and the television and movie section of their site steveandmarta.com. About five years ago, I was in Omaha for the Paul McCartney concert and about to have dinner at one of the downtown hotels near the arena. I'd just been seated and in walked Steve and Marta! We had never met in person, but I recognized them from the photos on their web site. "Hey Steve!" I said, and he immediately knew who I was, too. They were also going to the concert. We shared a nice conversation over dinner and it was as though I'd known them all along.

I hope you'll find Marta's Graveyards of Omaha as fascinating as I do.

Looking for genealogy records in Omaha?

Are you looking for birth, death and marriage records from Omaha, Nebraska? The Greater Omaha Genealogical Society has a records index search available online.

Click here for obituaries

Click here for marriages

Click here for births