There are many types of societies that can help with your family history research. Genealogical, historical, lineage, veterans and ethnic societies, family associations, and fraternal organizations are especially helpful to family historians because of the records and resources they collect, transcribe, and publish. See the “Societies” section in the United States Research Outline for directories to help locate county and state societies.

Genealogical and historical societies often maintain a genealogical file for historical families of the area and may sponsor publications like those cited in the “Genealogy” and “Periodicals” sections of this outline. County genealogical societies and county historical societies help family historians by collecting information about residents in their area. The addresses of the state genealogical and state historical society are listed in the “Archives and Libraries” section of this outline.

Lineage societies, such as the DAR, Colonial Dames, General Society of Colonial Wars, and the Sons of the American Revolution, require members to prove they are descended from certain people, such as colonists or soldiers. The applications for membership in these societies are preserved, and many are on microfilm at the Family History Library. In Indiana there are many members of national lineage societies described in the “Societies” section of the United States Research Outline.

An example of a publication by an Indiana lineage society is:

Mayflower Descendants, Lineages of the Indiana Society. Indianapolis: Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of Indiana, 1977. (FHL book 977.2 D2s; computer number 243063.) This book is indexed and has lineages descending from Mayflower passengers to a person living in 1977. It contains the name of each ancestor in the direct line, with the name of the spouse and the marriage year. For the direct descendants it usually includes birth, marriage, and death information.

Veterans and ethnic organizations may have helpful records concerning their members. For example, Indiana had local units of the Grand Army of the Republic organized by Civil War veterans. Some of these records are on microfilm at the Family History Library. See the “Military Records” section of this outline for instructions about finding veterans records in the Family History Library Catalog.

Societies’ records are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

INDIANA- SOCIETIESINDIANA- GENEALOGY- SOCIETIESINDIANA, [COUNTY]- SOCIETIESINDIANA, [COUNTY]- GENEALOGY- SOCIETIES

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