Public and private organizations, such as societies and churches, often place their old records in archives or libraries for safekeeping. Many archives and libraries have also prepared aids to help researchers find records in their collections. The archives, libraries, and societies listed below have major collections of compiled genealogies or services helpful to genealogical researchers. Compiled records are collections of information about a person, group, or family. You can save a lot of time by seeing what information others have already found about your family. You should use these secondary sources with caution and evaluate them for accuracy.

The following archives, libraries, and societies have collections or services for Indiana genealogical research.

State Archives and Libraries

• Commission on Public Records
  Indiana State Archives
  140 North Senate Avenue, Room 117
  Indianapolis, IN 46204
  Telephone: 317-232-3660
  Fax: 317-233-1085
  Internet: www.ai.org/icpr/webfile/archives/
  

The Indiana State Archives, Commission on Public Records, houses state and local government records including land office, census, and military records for Indiana.

• Indiana State Library, Indiana Division

140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2296
Telephone: 317-232-3670
Fax: 317-232-3728
Internet: www.statelib.lib.in.us

• Indiana State Library, Genealogy Division

140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2296
Telephone: 317-232-3689
Fax: 317-232-3728
Internet: www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/indiana/genealogy/genmenu.html

Miller, Carolynne L. Indiana Sources for Genealogical Research in the Indiana State Library. Indianapolis: Genealogical Section, Indiana Historical Society, 1984. (FHL book 977.2 D23mc; computer number 433896.)

A listing of family records and other sources at the Indiana State Library is found in:

Pumroy, Eric. A Guide to Manuscript Collections of the Indiana Historical Society and Indiana State Library. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1986. (FHL book 977.2 H23p; computer number 476880.)

National Archives Regional Center

• National Archives–Great Lakes Region (Chicago)

7358 South Pulaski Road
Chicago, IL 60629
Telephone: 773-581-7816
Fax: 312-353-1294
Internet: www.nara.gov

federal censuses

passenger lists

Indian census rolls

For more information about their holdings, see:

Szucs, Loretto Dennis, and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking. The Archives: A Guide to the National Archives Field Branches. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1988. (FHL book 973 A3sz; computer number 482180.)

Genealogical and Historical Societies

• Indiana Genealogical Society

P.O. Box 10507
Fort Wayne, IN 46825-0507
Telephone: (No telephone)
Internet: www.indgensoc.org

• Indiana Historical Society

315 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Telephone: 317-232-1882
Fax: 317-233-3109
Internet: www.indianahistory.org

See the “Genealogy” section of this outline for information about Ruth Dorrel’s book Pioneer Ancestors of Members of the Society of Indiana Pioneers. The records of the Society of Indiana Pioneers are in the basement of the Indiana Historical Society.

Allen County Public Library

• Allen County Public Library

Genealogy Department
900 Webster Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Telephone: 219-421-1225
Internet: www.acpl.lib.in.us

Cavanaugh, Karen B. A Genealogist’s Guide to the Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Public Library. Owensboro, Ky.: McDowell Pub., 1980. (FHL book 977.274/F2 A3c; computer number 33077.)

Loss of Records through Disasters

There have been over 50 courthouse fires and other natural disasters in Indiana that have caused significant losses of records. A list of these lost records was prepared by John J. Newman of the Indiana Supreme Court in 1988. In the list, the date in parentheses following the county name is the year the county was organized. A fire in one parent county might have affected other counties that were later divided off from it.

Boone (1830) 1856–loss of deed records (partially re-recorded), tax, and commissioner records

Brown (1836) 1873–loss of deed and mortgage records (partially re-recorded)

Clark (1801) 1937–flood, loss of original court, marriage, and probate files

Clay (1825) 1851–early probate and marriage records were destroyed (all deeds and mortgages survived)

Daviess (1817) 1891, 1927, 1985; 1891–fire heavily damaged deeds, mortgages, and commissioner records (fragments were re-recorded from original ledgers)

Dearborn (1803) 1826–loss of virtually all courthouse records

DeKalb (1837) 1913–loss of Clerk’s records, including naturalization, some marriages, most probate, and nearly all civil records

Dubois (1818) 1839–loss of all courthouse records (some court and deed records were re-recorded)

Jasper (1838) 1865–loss of all court and marriage records (a few were re-recorded)

Jennings (1817) 1859–loss of some records; 1950s– man-made loss of civil complete order books and naturalization records by mold due to poor storage

Johnson (1823) 1847 and 1874–loss of original papers; marriage book one begins July 1830, but a few marriage licenses date from 1823.

Knox (1790) 1814–loss of all deed and mortgage records

Madison (1823) 1880–loss of marriage, court, and probate records; 1950s–disposal of commissioner and tax records

Martin (1820) 1876–loss of some tax and commissioner records

Miami (1834) 1843–loss of all court and marriage records (deed and commissioner records generally survived)

Morgan (1822) 1876–loss of some court, probate, tax, and commissioner records

Noble (1836) 1843–loss of all courthouse records; 1859, loss of all court, probate, and marriage records

Parke (1821) 1833–loss of all courthouse records (some court and deed records re-recorded)

Porter (1836) 1934–loss of original court and probate files, most contemporaneous to the fire, but some earlier files were destroyed

Randolph (1818) 1955–disposal of court and probate ledgers, including naturalization records (court order books were not destroyed)

Spencer (1818) 1833–loss of most records (some court, probate, marriage and deed records survived)

Sullivan (1817) 1850–loss of virtually all courthouse records (some deed and one probate ledger survived)

Vermillion (1824) 1923–loss of some commissioner and tax records

Warren (1827) 1907–loss of commissioner records (many re-recorded) and tax records

Archives Inventories

Thompson, Donald E. Preliminary Checklist of Archives and Manuscripts in Indiana Repositories. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1980. (FHL book 977.2 A3p; computer number 63346.) This book contains lists of manuscripts, the counties they relate to, and the addresses of the libraries and archives that house them. It is arranged alphabetically by county and archive.

Computer Networks and Bulletin Boards

Computers with modems are important tools for obtaining information from selected archives and libraries. In a way, computer networks themselves serve as a library. The Internet, certain computer bulletin boards, and commercial on-line services help family history researchers to:

• Locate other researchers.
• Post queries.
• Send and receive e-mail.
• Search large databases.
• Search computer libraries.
• Join in computer chat and lecture sessions.
  

You can find computerized research tips and information about your ancestors from Indiana in a variety of Internet sources at local, state, national, and international levels. The list of sources is growing rapidly. Most of the information is available at no cost. Addresses on the Internet are subject to frequent changes. The following sites are important gateways that link you to many more network and bulletin board sites:

• FamilySearch™ Internet Genealogy Service
  www.familysearch.org

At this site you can access the Family History Library Catalog, Ancestral File, International Genealogical Index, SourceGuide, lists of Family History Centers, web sites related to family history, and lists of researchers interested in similar genealogical topics. You can also learn about and order Family History Library publications.

• Cyndi Howell’s List
  www.cyndislist.com/in.htm

This list has more links to other Indiana genealogical sites and describes more resources than any other site on the Internet.

• USGenWeb

www.rootsweb.com/~ingenweb/
This is a cooperative effort by many volunteers to list genealogical databases, libraries, bulletin boards, and other resources available on the Internet for each county, state, and country.

• Roots-L

www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/usa/in.html
This useful list of sites and resources includes a large, regularly updated research coordination list.

• Indiana Genealogical Libraries

www.memphismemphis.com/genealogy/states/res/ialib.htm
This site lists the addresses of state and county libraries.

• Helm’s Genealogy Toolbox: Indiana

smtp.tbox.com/genealogy/area/asusia.html
This site lists family associations, maps, libraries, and county genealogical societies.

Some family history centers have computers with FamilySearch. These computers do not have access to on-line services, networks, or bulletin boards. You can use on-line services at many public libraries, college libraries, and private locations.

You can find Indiana archive directories, handbooks, and inventories by looking in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

INDIANA- ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIESINDIANA, [COUNTY]- ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES

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