LibGuides: Genealogy Resources: Home

Ancestry Library Edition

Ancestry Library Edition
Ancestry Library Edition is a new genealogy research tool created for the library market and provides patrons instant access to a wide range of unique resources for genealogical and historical research. With more than 1.5 billion names in over 4,000 databases, Ancestry Library Edition includes records from the United States Census; military records; court, land and probate records; vital and church records; directories; passenger lists and more! These collections are continuously expanding, with new content added every business day.

Fold3

Fold3 by Ancestry
Fold3 provides convenient access to military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served. The records at Fold3 help you discover and share stories about these everyday heroes, forgotten soldiers, and the families that supported them. You can combine records found on the site with what you have in your own albums and shoeboxes to create an online memorial for someone who served.

This database also contains the "African American Archives" collection and provides over one million pages of original historical documents pertaining to the African American experience over several centuries, and is richly-detailed with narratives and quantitative data alike.

Newspapers

The Library provides access to several different newspaper resources in person and online.

Farmville Herald

The Greenwood Library has microfilm copies available in the Library of the Farmville Herald up to 2014. Virginia Chronicle also has editions of the Farmville Herald from 1899-1910 available online here.

The Library also offers the following book resource to assist with searches in the Farmville Herald.

The Farmville Herald index to births, deaths and marriages by Andersen, William F.
Call Number: F234.A12 A53 1999

Other newspaper resources are available through our Databases & Resources A-Z list. Just search for "Proquest Historical Newspapers"

Databases & Resources A-Z

Accessible Archives
Provides historical and genealogical primary documents, including Civil War collections, the New York Herald, the Charleston Mercury, and the Richmond Enquirer newspapers.
Richmond Daily Dispatch (Civil War) (November 1860-December 1865)
Provides full-text of the Daily Dispatch for the Civil War years in an on-going digitization project as well as a brief Civil War period history and chronology.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Historical and Current collection (1903 to present)
The Richmond TImes-Dispatch Historical and Current collection contains full-text access to articles, obituaries, editorials, announcements, real estate and other sections published in the Richmond-Times Dispatch from 1903 to present day.
Virginia Historical Newspapers
Access to over 70 Virginia newspapers from as early as 1750. Date ranges for each title vary.
Washington Post, 1877 – 1998 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
Known for its comprehensive political reporting, first-rate photo essays, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writing, and
unmatched investigative reporting, the historical Washington Post (1877-1993) is an unparalleled resource for today’s
budding journalists, political historians, and students of government.

Chronicling America
The Library of Congress has begun a massive project to digitize newspapers from across the country, search all of them, or select the paper you want to review. Different papers are available though different years, and most papers are available though the 1920s
Virginia Chronicle
The Library of Virginia is digitizing newspapers from across the state, search all of them, or browse though different papers.
Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative
The Library of Virginia houses local court records, state records, personal papers, business records, newspapers, special collections, books, journals, etc., that date back to the 1600's. Collectively, these records contain the names of millions of African Americans both enslaved and free. These names are access points to the individual stories of African Americans who lived in Virginia from the establishment of slavery in the 1600s until its demise in 1865. Taken as a whole, these individual stories help to shed light on the narrative of a people that has not been fully told.

Tips for searching Newspapers

Check to see if digital papers are available for the time and place you are searching.
Try browsing different papers during the timeframe of the event.
Use Quotation marks when searching an individual's name.
Try variations of a persons name. Like nicknames, commons spellings, middle initials, etc
Search for keywords associated with the event, rather then the specific person.
Use the information you know about an event, person, date or place to try different searches.
Be patient and try different searches, just make sure the papers are digitized for the place and time period you are looking for.

Family Search

Family Search
Greenwood Library is a Family Search Affiliate Library, which means you can access over 2 billion digitized records, including 400 million images that are currently not available through the public version. In order to access these resources you will have to use one of the desktop computers in the Greenwood Library. If you are a community patron, please come to the desk and ask for a community patron login.

Books

Books can help you find information about your family, a location or give you good research advice. These are just a few of Greenwood Libraries book resources on genealogy. Be sure to search the catalog and visit the library to see what books are available in our circulating and genealogy collections.

Search the catalog for more resources

The Family Tree Problem Solver by Marsha Hoffman Rising
Call Number: CS14 .R57 2005
ISBN: 9781558706859
Publication Date: 2005-01-02

Proven Methods for Scaling the Inevitable Brick Wall Complications arising from incomplete or missing records, census irregularities, individuals of the same name, and burned courthouses can stop even the most experienced genealogists dead in the tracks. Learn to break through those brick walls with The Family Tree Problem Solver, which dissects researcher's common problems in case studies with straightforward solutions. You will: Go straight to the answers you need without wading through theory or irrelevant record overviews Find explanations and case studies that will help you overcome your obstacles and move forward in your genealogy Learn what NOT to do to avoid hitting brick walls in the future. The Family Tree Problem Solver is the best and most accessible book on the market about breaking down brick walls. The mysteries of research before 1850, collateral relatives, and court and land records are thoroughly explored and applied to your research problems. And it's all brought to you by genealogy's most popular publications, Family Tree Books and Family Tree Magazine!
Black Genealogy by Charles L. Blockson; Ron Fry
Call Number: CS21 .B55
ISBN: 0130776858
Publication Date: 1977-05-01

-- A unique guide to searching for Black family historyBlack Genealogy is a valuable reference and an indispensable companion guide that will appeal to both the amateur genealogist and the historian in search of knowledge about Black family ancestry and themselves. Blockson clues the researcher to places, documents, and techniques used to uncover genealogical history. Though many Black family records are lost or incomplete, Blockson shows readers how to recover these lost treasures.
Genealogy by Mary T. McGlone
Call Number: CS47 .M338 1998
ISBN: 0875762131
Publication Date: 1997-12-01
Guide to Naturalization Records in the United States by Christina K. Schaefer
Call Number: CS49 .S28 1997
ISBN: 9780806315324
Publication Date: 2004-01-01

A premiere guide to accessing naturalization papers and records providing genealogists and researchers with the first practical, centralized means for locating this widely scattered paperwork. The resource systematically identifies repositories of naturalization records state by state (and also by county and city), indicates the types of records held (declarations of intentions, petitions, case files), their dates of coverage, the location of original and microfilm records, and pinpoints the whereabouts of federal court records in all National Archives facilities. Includes appendices of Native American records and a glossary of naturalization terms. Lacks an index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or

Genealogy Workshop Handout

Community Patron Genealogy Resource Instructions
A handout provided during our Finding Your Roots: Genealogy Workshops with instructions on accessing Greenwood Library's genealogy resources

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