Kathleen,
I ditto what you had to say and Kudo's to you for expressing an idea
which all should hold as a rule of thumb.
When record groups are indexed, all can benefit, including especially
the genealogical societies. I have seen this theory tested and proven
successful on several occasions.
A really great on-line example of this is the Miami Valley Genealogical
Index, which spans several Ohio counties. Though not all inclusive of
all records and all indexes of the counties in the Miami Valley, I
thought I had struck gold when I stumbled upon this index years ago. It
provided me with many clues and avenues to search for my families who
were in the index. Just as you said, it was easy to write and ask for a
record that was known to exist. For those of you who have family living
in Jay County, chances are they might have been in the Miami Valley,
just over to the east in the state of Ohio.
Check out that index at:
http://www.tdn-net.com/genealogy/mvgi/mvgi-idx.htm
Thanks to all who contribute to the societies, the Jay County site and
to this list, you all are wonderful, helpful folks.
Charlene Kolterman
Norfolk, Nebraska
Desc of David TEETERS and Anna HART
Desc of James A. McDOWELL and Nancy MONEY
-----Original Message-----
From: Kathleen Farrell [mailto:kjfarrell@cybertrails.com]
Sent: Friday, June 27, 2003 3:47 PM
To: INJAY-L(a)rootsweb.com
Subject: [INJAY] Genealogical Society Records
My two cents worth. I'd be happy if some of the indexes were on line.
It's tough ordering a book or cd or whatever that sounds really, really
promising only to find out it has absolutely nothing to do with my
ancestor. Some of these indexes only give surnames which is not enough.
Many of us don't have bottomless pockets and it would be nice to know
our ancestor was listed in a society's collection before we invested our
hard earned cash. Many, many times I have found who I'm looking for on
an on-line index and sent off to whomever for a copy of the original.
And, yes, some of my stuff has come from Jay County Genealogical
Society. Just as many, many times I've been disappointed when I send for
a pig in a poke so to speak. I agree with Rex, societies need our
backing and I use them quite a bit. We'd all be nowhere without their
collections. Unfortunately, few of us live anywhere within a thousand
miles of where our ancestors lived. I search indexes extensively and I
haven't been disappointed when I send off for record copies. Also,
indexes often show relatives that you had no idea were even in a
particular location. Oh, boy, more records! I realize it takes time to
index anything. But it sure is a lot easier than writing to a society
and saying my ancestors lived there, what have you got on them. With an
index you KNOW what they have and don't have. I thought I had died and
gone to heaven when I found a county who had all their cemeteries
indexed. They made a pile of money from me for that one and got my
endless gratitude. It seems life would be easier for all parties
involved with on-line indexes.
Kathy Farrell
Payson, Az
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