Indiana Biography

Portal:Indiana

A biography is a history of a person’s life. In a biography you may find the individual’s birth, marriage, and death information, and the names of his parents, children, or other family members. Biographies often include photographs, family traditions and stories, clues about an ancestor’s place of origin, places where he lived, his church affiliation, military service, and activities within the community. The information must be used carefully, however, because there may be inaccuracies.

The Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library, the Indiana Historical Society, the Allen County Public Library, and the Family History Library have major collections of biographical sources of some of the residents of Indiana. Most town and county histories have separately published indexes.

The Indiana State Library card file for its Indiana Biography Index is online. There are approximately 250,000 names in the index, each with a minimum of one citation to a book, magazine, or other printed source. The cards are arranged alphabetically by the name of the person. Birth and death dates are included, whenever possible. Abbreviated citations to books and periodicals with biographical information about that person are listed on the card, with page numbers. Sometimes call numbers for the item are included as well. The list of sources contains complete titles and call numbers for the abbreviated citations found on the card file images. Copies can be requested.

The following website is an index to biographical sketches and portraits from selected books and periodicals with information about people with "strong connections to Indiana.

Indiana Biography Index: http://www.indiana.edu/~librcsd/internet/Indiana_Resources/History_and_Biography/