Finding and Using County Histories & Mugbooks

For the origins of these books and more info, see
http://ancestories1.blogspot.com/2012/08/tuesdays-tip-county-histories-and.html


Importance of LOCATION

• geography: terrain, adjacent to
• gotta see historical maps!
• history: groups, early settlers, changes in jurisdictions/boundaries

First: find out that books exist
Second: find where/how you can read it

Not all are online! 

1. US GenWeb

• A county's content pages may not be the same as their "archives" site

• <Search> on a site may or may not search the entire site

               2.  Worldcat …   & then use Inter Library Loan through the South Whittier Library

• [but many of the county histories are reference books and will not travel]

               3.  Also try:

• libraries: state, county, towns, groups/churches

• regional?

• historical society?

• genealogy society?

• not all are (effectively) online

Once you find a book, remember:
If you only search the index of a county history, you have missed a lot!

• title pages -- yes, there may be more than one in a single book
• forematter
• table of contents
• multiple indexes with info or separate prefaces OR even a separate book!
• history of a region or area of the county --  may not be fully integrated, but may have categories to a timeline/discussion
• do NOT limit your search by stated years

Not Proof…just clues!

• read locale history thoroughly
• read entries for neighbors and family -- often more data there!
• evaluate carefully
• use info to find primary sources
• triangulate data from independent sources

LACo Library resource:  HeritageQuest
      -- a library tool available through the Los Angeles County library system
      --[step-by-step instructions in the Workshop webpages]



4 Additional Online Options  --  at the library or at home

• Google Books  --  http://books.google.com
• HathiTrust Digital Library  --  http://www.hathitrust.org
• FamilySearch  --  https://familysearch.org  …  <Search> … <Books> … and you land here  [you can find books here, but depending on the copyright agreement, you may have to go to a local Family Search Center and use their computers] //  some of these load very slowly at home
• Internet Archive  --  https://archive.org

Nothing like holding a book in your hands…

• Los Angeles Public Library -- downtown; basement; catalog online but not in WorldCat 
• Southern California Genealogy Society -- Burbank; large collection; online catalog
• Huntington Beach Public Library  --  good collection; mostly in WorldCat
• and others from WorldCat...