The WPA listing of births, deaths and marriages in Miami County, Indiana
(and many other counties in Indiana as well) were originally typed lists.
Then they were microfilmed. I bought the microfilms some years ago, but
they are tedious to go through. However, they are on line at Family Tree
Maker - for a price. The URL is:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com
I don't even remember how much it is per year to subscribe so you can
access the records, but for me it has been worth it. I checked and they DO
have birth, death and marriage records for Shelby County - of course, in 2
different places! Family Tree Maker drives me crazy sometimes, but it is
the best single source for vital records in Indiana on line.
Let me know who you want looked up and I am happy to do so. I pay for
my subscription - might as well use it! As long as you know which county
you need it's not too bad to do lookups - even with the spelling variations.
The cemetery book is the only one I own. I bought it because my
great-grandparents were buried in Enterprise Cemetery in Perry Township.
That's the sole reason I bought the book. Are they in the book??? Of
course not! (I'm convinced my own relatives lived in black holes and never
left any traces of their whereabouts.)
The best source for cemetary books is the Peru Library. They have so
many of them it makes my head swim! Unfortunately, most of us don't live in
Peru! What I would give to be able to take a week and just go live in that
library. They have this one small room that is CRAMMED with every
conceivable type of record - cemetery books, death index books and marriage
index books (for deaths and marriages after 1920 which is the deadline for
the WPA listings). Of course, it is nostalgic for moi, because it's the
same library I visited almost every week as a child. Too bad I was more
interested in the Bobbsey Twins back then instead of genealogy.
For cemetery listings, you might also try the Miami County webpage under
the USGenWeb Project. URL:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~inmiami
Debby Beheler does a WONDERFUL job managing it and is always adding new
stuff. There are quite a few cemetery transcriptions there in the -
obviously - cemetary section. And for anyone who doesn't think the Miami
County website is GREAT - visit another county website in Indiana - Hamilton
County comes immediately to mind - and it will make you appreciate what
Debby does for us.
As to your last question - can I be reached off line? That depends on
your age and if you're happily married. :-)
Nancy
List Manager