Frankie Meyer: Town century books can be good family research tool

Novice genealogists sometimes naively think they can find everything they need on the internet. Not so. Many helpful resources have not been digitized and are not available online. Town century books are an example. They can be used to research families who lived in a town as well as nearby rural areas. Even though your ancestors may have lived on farms, they often had relatives who lived in nearby towns.

Century books are usually written by large committees. The books describe the early years of the town, the schools, churches, hospitals, industries and civic groups. They also include a section on early families. Special sections about early teachers, doctors and members of the military are often included. The books are also treasuries of maps and photographs. ×

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