Using County Histories for Historical Research

[lupaglupa]

A typical illustration source: Wikimedia Commons

Researchers looking for family and military history should consider looking for county histories, many of which are available online in a full, digitized format. Publication of these histories became popular in the late 19th century and they often contain valuable information. County histories were typically sold by subscription and to woo customers publishers included portraits and biographies of notable families. Some have illustrations of prominent local homes as well. The volumes written in the decades after the Civil War usually contain information on companies raised in the county, along with lists of soldiers. Some have excerpts from local newspapers and unit histories as well.

A page of Civil War illustrations Source: Internet Archive

Finding a county history for the area you are interested in can sometimes be as easy as making a Google search. Many of these histories are located at the Internet Archive or HathiTrust. The Library of Congress has digitized a number of county histories and, where the Library of Congress hasn't themselves digitized the text, often has a link to the location where these items can be viewed. Many are available through state archive websites.

While reading these histories can be fun, they often can be searched which makes finding references to family names easier. Michigan has a website that enables searchers to look for keywords in their entire collection of county histories. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/

 

[Championhilz]

In Mississippi, the county histories done by the WPA in the 1930's are a good source of information on Civil War units and the men who served in them. These histories have been digitized and can be downloaded from the Mississippi Library Commission website: https://www.mlc.lib.ms.us/mlc-services/online-resources/wpa-county-files/

 

[R. Porter]

Ancestry has lots of county histories as well as other histories available which can be searched by key words. Also, if you search eBay you can find CD's that bundle histories of local, county, state, and regions together so that you can have the entire contents of dozens of books in searchable form for less than $15.00 (unless the price has jumped since last time I looked.)

 

[Lampasas Bill]

I know from experience that the Missouri county histories are loaded with useful information. Lots about local conditions during the war.

 

[DixieRifles]

I recently discovered the Shelby County(TN) Register of Deeds has an Archive site. It includes the Provost Marshall Records for prisoners of war who were confined at Irving Block Prison. The list includes Name, Regiment and Residence and date they were confined.
If you are searching for records of a specific regiment, it is legible enough to browse down the column of regiments.

 

[DBT]

I've never really read county histories before so this thread is a good tip for me. For grins, I googled Pope County IL and found one of the popular histories written in 1900 and largely covering the time of the county founding in 1816 through the 1840's when I had many family lines present. While this history is very short on facts, it is quite long on shall we say ... color commentary.

This author named names and laid down markers. Here's just a few of the descriptions of these early pioneers, many of whom I recognize in my tree: rowdy, hooligan, renegade, marauder, drunkard, evil-minded, eccentric, peculiar, bad mannered, lazy, failure as a father, bully, intelligence slightly above mediocrity, counterfeiter and shady.

One ancestor was "said" to have been a pirate from the gulf because he was so secretive and would never talk about his past.

A story was also told about a freedman who settled just beyond the neighborhood of several 3x great grandparents in 1843. This got me thinking about a lawsuit one of these great grandparents filed to stop malicious slander about his new wife in that very same year. You see, the gossip was that his new wife (my 3x great grandmother) just gave birth to an out-of-wedlock child. A "coloured" child in the language of the lawsuit. Hmm. The suit was for $1000 ... when his entire net worth at the time of his death was only $100 so that gives me some sense of just how po'd he was. Yes, there was an out-of-wedlock birth but I know for sure it wasn't the freedman since the father turned out to be another scoundrel of a great grandfather from a different line of my tree. So two different 3x great grandfathers and a 3x great grandmother were the talk of the town about this poor child ... my 2x great grandfather.

It's interesting because the resident family historian on Ancestry.com always played up what good Baptist stock all these pioneers were. I guess this county history shows a slightly different perspective. What a hoot!

Dave

 

[lupaglupa]

My husband found a great story in one of these histories about his gr-gr-gr-grandmother fighting off a bear in the pioneer days.

 

[archieclement]

I know from experience that the Missouri county histories are loaded with useful information. Lots about local conditions during the war.

Missouri ones are excellent for genealogy, most were around 1880 and size of big cities phone books.

As far as ACW they seem to vary some, I suspect compilers sentiments, or how divided the community still was might influenced content.

 

[Dead Parrott]

Never used them for the ACW, but local township documents were amazingly enlightening in some Revolutionary War research in New Jersey.

 

[d.perry]

Also, if you search eBay you can find CD's that bundle histories of local, county, state, and regions together so that you can have the entire contents of dozens of books in searchable form for less than $15.00 (unless the price has jumped since last time I looked.)

I was looking into buying one of these CD's or thumb drives. Has anyone bought them and how was the quality? Which eBay seller did you buy from as I see several offer them. I realize most of the same information is available on https://archive.org/, but it doesn't allow printing the pages out that you need.

 

[lupaglupa]

I was looking into buying one of these CD's or thumb drives. Has anyone bought them and how was the quality? Which eBay seller did you buy from as I see several offer them. I realize most of the same information is available on https://archive.org/, but it doesn't allow printing the pages out that you need.

I have gotten them from the local library and not been too happy with them. I do better with stuff online, which I find easier to search.

You can print from archive.org. Most books have as save as .pdf option, in many cases by page or for the whole work. And I've used print screen to grab single pages with success too.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

It's interesting because the resident family historian on Ancestry.com always played up what good Baptist stock all these pioneers were. I guess this county history shows a slightly different perspective. What a hoot!

However mortified fellow family members may have been at the time, generations later I find the black sheep in the family to have by far the most interesting stories

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Researchers looking for family and military history should consider looking for county histories,

Some have excerpts from local newspapers and unit histories as well.

I totally agree.

From my personal experience, the local county histories have provided a wealth of information about the early company unit formations, original company records, ect.

Often my county records didn't match the official records (compiled a few months later), but they are still fun to read.
In my county, it seems 14 year old kids to 80 something year old Grandfathers enlisted at the same time.

A few weeks later, they were not on the local unit roster.

However mortified fellow family members may have been at the time, generations later I find the black sheep in the family to have by far the most interesting stories

That too !

While I'd heard a few "black sheep" stories, the county newspaper articles shed light on other family members that were rejected
from the units.

Yeah , we were a decent family ... but we seemed to have had more shady members than I had heard about.

 

[TallTallMan]

I've never lived where my family's from, so that won't help me much now, unless I get near a county history next time I'm in South Carolina...

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

I've never lived where my family's from, so that won't help me much now, unless I get near a county history next time I'm in South Carolina...

I'm willing to bet the info is online, and a trip to the local Court House is not required.

However, I've found facts in the local county and state files, that never made it into the national records.

Again, @lupaglupa is correct, local records are very much worth researching.

 

[Lusty Murfax]

Missouri ones are excellent for genealogy, most were around 1880 and size of big cities phone books.

As far as ACW they seem to vary some, I suspect compilers sentiments, or how divided the community still was might influenced content.

The Mo. County histories I've read seem to tread lightly regarding the CW/WBTS activities of the prominent citizens featured. I suspect emotions were still smoldering at the time the histories were published. Given the turmoil in Missouri, you might expect much more information. I found them a bit dry and lacking in detail, similar to the Provost Marshal papers in the Missouri State Archives.

 

[nc native]

County histories do contain potentially valuable information in some cases that can help genealogical researchers. Sometimes you can get lucky and discover a biography of an ancestor if he or she was one of the more noteworthy citizens of a particular county.