Seek Genealogies at Mormon Library
Question: How can I find any published genealogies on my families? If such exist I would like to obtain copies.
Answer: First, go to the nearest Latter-day Saints (Mormon) Branch Genealogy Library and ask for its surname microfiche. Look for the surnames you are researching and order (from Salt Lake City’s library) any films that might pertain to your lines. Many genealogies are available on microfilm from Salt Lake City’s vast collection.
Go to your local public library and ask your librarian to help you locate sources that will show published family histories and genealogies. Look for manuscript collections as well as books.
Write to University Microfilm International, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106 (phone (800) 531-0600) and request a current list of its family histories. This is a particularly good source if you discover there was a book published years ago that is now out-of-print and you would like a copy.
International Bookfinders, Box 1, Pacific Palisades, Calif. 90272 will help you locate rare books.
Higginson Genealogical Books, 14 Derby Square, Salem, Mass. 01970 and Goodspeed’s Book Shop, 7 Beacon St., Boston, Mass. 02108 carry many family histories. Write for their current catalogues. Goodspeed’s charges about $5 for its catalogue.
Q: I am looking for more information about mother’s family who were Swedes from Finland. Grandfather was born in Jakobstad, Finland. Do you know of any sources?
A: There are several sources. First check the chapters on Sweden and Finland in Angus Baxter’s “In Search of Your European Roots.” You can probably find a copy of this book in a local library.
The Swedish-speaking Finns often lived in areas settled by Finnish-born persons, especially in the states of Washington, Minnesota, Michigan, New York and Massachusetts.
At the time of the 1900 census, almost 47% of the nearly 63,000 Finns in the United States lived in Michigan and Minnesota and an additional 15% lived in Massachusetts and New York. Most of the rest lived in Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Write to Finnish-American Historical Society, Box 5522, Portland, Ore. 97208 to learn about additional sources.
Search the LDS (Mormon) Branch Genealogy Library near you for Swedish and Finnish records.
For maps pertaining to these countries, write to Genealogy Unlimited, 789 Buffalo Grove Road, Buffalo Grove, Ill. 60090, and request information about availability of maps of Finland.
Q: My ancestor, James Tobin, was born in 1797 in Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland, and his children were born there in the early 1800s. This family was Catholic. Do I have enough information to do research in Ireland?
A: Write to the newspaper in Waterford County first and see if you can obtain some more information. Its address is Munster Express, Waterford, County Waterford, Republic of Ireland. Queries to the smaller Irish newspapers often result in success for researchers.
A letter to the parish priest at Lismore, Waterford, County Waterford would be in order to see if he will locate marriage records. However, some records have been microfilmed and are available at the Genealogical Office, National Library, Kildare Street in Dublin. Consult Volume I of Margaret Dickson Falley’s “Irish and Scotch-Irish Ancestral Research” for more details.