Dane County, Wisconsin Online Historical Directories - Update

The Dane County, Wisconsin Online Historical Directories page has been updated with 30 new links, mostly from the Stoughton Public Library's digital collections.  Madison is the county seat.

Minor updates and corrections were also applied to the following pages:

• Edmonton, Alberta, Canada - corrected one link; added four more from Peel's Prairie Provinces
• Salem County, New Jersey - created a workaround for a Distant Cousin link (see below)
• Kent County, Michigan - added two links from Hathi Trust Digital Library
• Santa Clara County, California - created a workaround for a Distant Cousin link (see below)
• Los Angeles County, California - fixed an incorrect link

Thanks to all who report broken links or new resources.  I am making a concerted effort to apply these to the website in a more expedited manner.

Please note the following issues; I appreciate your patience as we work around them:

1. Some links to city directories at Ancestry - A couple of years ago, I started converting the links to Ancestry on my website over to affiliate links.  This means I would get a few cents every time someone clicked on those affiliate links.  I had not converted every Ancestry link, as it does take a long time to do.  Recently, Ancestry contracted with a different affiliate program.  I've applied to the new program and my application is pending.  Meanwhile, old affiliate links don't work.  This doesn't mean the city directories are no longer at Ancestry.  If you get an error on a link to a city directory at Ancestry, you will need to go directly to Ancestry and look for the city directory in their databases yourself until I am able to update the links.  They are this database: U.S. City Directories, 1822 - 1995.  Note: this only affects a small percentage of the Ancestry links on my website; most are still good because I never converted them over to an affiliate link.
2. Links to city directories at the Distant Cousins site - This site is no longer online, so when you click on a city directory from the site, you'll get an odd error message.  MyHeritage bought this collection, and it is now available on their website.  MyHeritage is a subscription genealogy website, so you will need to purchase one to view those directories.  One workaround is to use the WayBack Machine at the Internet Archive.  These are "snapshots" of websites that the Internet Archive took of webpages around the internet.  When a website gets taken down, many times those "snapshots" are available in the WayBack Machine.  I have linked some of the Distant Cousin links to the WayBack Machine and have noted when I have done so.  It will take me some time to fix all these links; meanwhile you can either enter the addresses into the WayBack Machine or use a MyHeritage subscription. 

Muskegon County, Michigan Online Historical Directories - New Page!

I've just added a new page to the Online Historical Directories site: the Muskegon County, Michigan page!  There are 61 links to 50 unique directories spanning 1877 to 1960 at one subscription and four free sites.

This is another of  my ancestral locations.  Do you also have ancestors from Muskegon County?

Kent County, Michigan Online Historical Directories Page - Major Update!

I have just updated the Kent County, Michigan Online Historical Directories page.  There are a now a total of 144 links to 98 distinct directories, spanning the years 1865 to 1960, located at six free-to-access and two subscription websites!

This was done just in time for the National Genealogical Society's 2018 annual conference, hosted by the Western Michigan Genealogical Society in Grand Rapids.

On a personal note, this update was done with lots of sentiment, seeing as I have six consecutive generations of ancestors who lived in Kent County!

New Facebook Group: Historical City Directories

I've just created a new Facebook group, Historical City Directories, for those genealogists and historians who are interested in learning about and sharing resources for historical city (and other types of) directories.  It is a closed group, and I encourage you to join. You must have a Facebook account, of course, and you will be asked a question before being admitted to the group. This will help cut down on spammers.

The reason for the creation of the group is to give more interaction for those following my Online Historical Directories site than this blog allows.  It's a great way to learn about and share resources, both off line and online.  I haven't had time to post my Follow Friday articles on this blog, and this medium allows me to do so instantaneously, without a lot of wordsmithing or linkcrafting.

This blog will continue to be the place where I post updates for the site (and yes, I realize they are a long time coming!). I look forward to "meeting" you over there!

Online Historical Directories One of Family Tree Magazine's 101 Best Websites!

I'm thrilled and honored to announce that Family Tree Magazine has selected the Online Historical Directories site as one of its 101 Best Websites for 2016! The Online Historical Directories site was listed with four other sites in the "Best Cemetery and Directory Sites for Genealogy in 2016" category.

To view all 101 Best Websites for 2016, which will be featured in the September 2016 issue of Family Tree Magazine, visit http://www.familytreemagazine.com/article/101-best-websites-2016.

Friday Finds in Directories: 21 August 2015

Recently, I found the following articles regarding historical directories:

• 8 More Vital Record Alternatives by Lindsay Fulton at Vita Brevis - yes, you guessed it: one of the alternatives in city directories. Lindsay gives an excellent example.
• This Underused Resource May Have the Family History Details You’ve Been Looking For by the author at the Family History Daily blog - Good tips, and I don't just recommend it because it mentions the Online Historical Directories Website!
• Who Do You Think You Are? Recap: Following the Clues with Ginnifer Goodwin by the team at the Ancestry.com blog - here's how city directories were used to find Ginnifer Goodwin's great-grandmother
• Tuesday's Tip-–Street Guide included in City Directories-Have you used this handy resource? by Diane Gould Hall at Michigan Family Trails - there's more to the city directories than just the listing of names

For pages on my site related to the above articles, visit Shelby County, Tennesee Online Historical Directories and Wayne County, Michigan Online Historical Directories. Both pages are currently incomplete, so you'll also want to check out my Resources page to find more.

Friday Finds in Directories: 10 July 2015

Recently, I found the following articles regarding historical directories:

• The Whole Family In the Directory by Michael John Neill at Genealogy Tip of the Day - a great tip for researching city directories
• City Directory Don'ts by Donna Potter Phillips at the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog - a great list of "don'ts" published in a St. Louis, Missouri city directory

For pages on my site related to the above articles, visit Illinois Online Historical Directories and City of St. Louis, Missouri Online Historical Directories.