Another Resource to Locate Revolutionary War Service Members

This weekend, as we have been honoring our military heroes, both present and past, we thought we might introduce you to a little-known resource you may find useful in tracking down ancestors who served in the American Revolution or a military operation in that time period. If you have worked with early federal censuses, you know that the first fifty years of the census listed only heads of household, and enumerators used tally marks in columns to indicate age and gender of household members. It wasn’t until 1850 that the census began to list names of individual members of each family. However, an exception was made in 1840.

Conference Wrap-up, Digital Recordings, and Three New Publications

The challenges of holding our 50th annual—and first hybrid—Family History Conference on Saturday, 14 May 2022 were enormous, but thanks to the non-stop efforts of many people, it was a huge success. It was not without some glitches, however, but all were overcome in the end. Kudos to StLGS vice-president of programs, Kay Weber, who spent countless hours emailing, calling, and organizing while setting up the speakers and topics, and to StLGS president, Karen Goode, who oversaw the Zoom team, coordinated the kitchen, and sorted the dozens of miscellaneous bits and pieces of the day. Kay and Karen’s conference planning team met regularly so that registration, signage, the syllabus and handouts, the sales area, technology, and all the other areas that needed coverage were, indeed, covered.

Update on St. Louis County Library Plans

As you no doubt know by now, the time is rapidly approaching for what has served as the Headquarters branch of St. Louis County Library to close and for the History and Genealogy (H&G) Department to move into temporary quarters until the new Ladue branch building is completed. As much as we are looking forward to having a brand new facility with updated technology for genealogists and room for H&G to continue to grow, we are also facing at least a year in which we will not have access to all of the genealogy materials we have previously had at our disposal. The H&G staff will be relocating to space at the Daniel Boone branch (see below). Although they are trying to keep a selection of St. Louis-based materials on hand, most of the large collection will be boxed and kept in storage until the new genealogy center is ready.

How Can a Presidential Library Help With Your Genealogical Research?

Even if your family had nothing at all to do with any of the United States presidents, there may be material in a presidential library that will help you “put the meat on the family skeleton.” As your family lived through events like World War II or the Civil Rights Movement, what happened to them as individuals was part of the larger history of our country that is being saved and explained in these institutions. Ready to learn about presidential libraries? You can learn about them and so much more at the StLGS Family History Conference coming up next weekend, Saturday, 14 May 2022. Read on for details!

Surprises Wait in Courthouse Records!

Our ancestors interacted with government officials on a regular basis at their county courthouses. Not just for recording births, marriages, and deaths, the courthouse was also for paying taxes, settling disputes, filing wills and probates, and obtaining business licenses and a wide variety of permits. The county courthouse was the center of the legal life of the community, and many of them still contain thousands of unique documents that can help us with our research.