Monday, April 21, 2014

Discover How to Dig for Your Genealogical Roots


Are you new to genealogy and don't know where to begin? HCGS in conjunction with our library partners is offering three sessions that will enable you to kickstart your research. Both a member of the Genealogy and Local History Department and a member of HCGS will give you tips and techniques on how to begin and help make you aware of the rich resources we are fortunate to have in Cincinnati.

The sessions will he held as follows:
Saturday, May 10th, 11:00 AM in the 3rd Floor Program Space
Monday, May 12th, 7:00 PM Anderson Branch
Tuesday, May 13th, 6:00 PM St. Bernard Branch

For maps and directions, visit the "About Us" Section on the library site.

Submitted by: Kathy Reed

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Sometimes the Stars Just Align!

Bill Graver and Liz Stratton
The Final Practicum of Searching Land Records for Genealogical Gold will be on Saturday, April 19th. Liz Stratton's topic will be an Introduction to Property Maps. Participants will use online resources to locate properties using online historic and contemporary maps. There will be a brief introduction to land platting.

At a recent Practicum, Liz was discussing how to use published sources to locate Hamilton County land records. She cited several sources authored by Bill Graver. At this point, one of the participants made Liz aware that Bill Graver was attending the lab! What a treat for us all. Bill, gracious as always, was thrilled to see that we were getting hands-on experience in the use of these materials.

Next Steps: Many of the images are now online. We have resources to understand them and many of us have learned the basics. Bill Graver's invaluable books available on our website (http://hcgsohio.org/forsale.php), see "Property Records, etc.":

Hamilton County, Ohio, Guide to Recorder's Indexes and Documents, 1794-1988

Hamilton County, Ohio, Index to Early Deed Books, 1804-1806 and 1814-1817

Hamilton County, Ohio, Index of People, Roads, Churches, etc., on 1835, 1847, 1848, 1869, 1884 Maps and Atlases

Cincinnati, Ohio, Index to Property Owners & Streets in 1895 and 1897 Atlases: River to Liberty, Freeman to Mt. Adams

Locating land records in Hamilton County using geographical indexes can be a complex process. In the future, Liz Stratton has agreed to create a video summarizing the steps. We look forward to offering more programs in the future related to this topic -- so stay tuned!
Submitted by Kathy Reed

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Update on Hamilton County Recorder's Office Records Online at Family Search

Kenny Burck, Jeff Herbert, Jim Dempsey, and Jim Cissel
The FamilySearch project to scan Hamilton County Recorder's Office records, begun in September 2013, was completed on April 8, 2014. For a detailed record list, see "Hamilton County Recorder’s Office Records to Be Added to FamilySearch" by Jim Dempsey, in the December 2013 issue of The Tracer. A significant amount of the images are already available at https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2141016. Land-related records now online are:

Deeds, volumes 477-854 (1877-1901)
Mortgages, volumes 20-571 (1823-1889)
Mortgage Releases, volumes 1, 2 and 3 (1892-1949)
Leases, volumes 1-122 (1847-1902)
Lease Indexes, volumes 1, 2 and 3 (1858-1901)
Deed and Mortgage Series 6 Indexes (1917-1928)*
Deed and Mortgage Series 7 Indexes (1928-1938)*
Sundries Indexes 1 through 8 (1794-1969)

*All of these indexes, which are geographic or "by-area," including all of Series 1 to 5, are available at the Recorder's website, http://recordersoffice.hamilton-co.org/helpful_information/series_indices.html

Many non-deed records will also be online in the future. They can be seen on microfilm at the Recorder's Office and at the Cincinnati Historical Library and Archives. For descriptions of these records see articles by Jim Dempsey in The Tracer: "Hamilton County Recorder’s Office Early Indexes and Records," September 2012 issue, and "Hamilton County Recorder’s Office - Far More Than Deeds," November 2011 issue. These records are indexed in the Sundries Indexes, volumes 1-8 (1794-1969), now online at FamilySearch. The earliest index, Sundries volume 1 (1794-1889), is also on our website at http://www.hcgsohio.org/cpage.php?pt=76

Note: Over the next few months, we hope to develop some instructions on how to efficiently make use of some of these incredible resources. Stay tuned.

Submitted by: Jim Dempsey
Photo Credit: John Tholking


Thursday, April 3, 2014

New issue of The Gazette available



The April issue of The Gazette, our quarterly newsletter, is now available online at: http://hcgsohio.org/upload/files/Publications/gazette20140401.pdf

In this issue:
  • A few seats left for the Michael Lacopo seminar
  • Surveying Land Records For Genealogical Gold added additional Practicums
  • DNA Program -- May 21st
  • Better Know Your HCGS Website!
  • Library News from PLCH
  • President's message
  • The Civil War -- The Untold Story
  • Calendar of Events

Please note that The Gazette is only published online on our website. If you have any questions, please contact us.

Hamilton County Genealogical Society
P.O. Box 15865
Cincinnati, OH 45215-0865
Voice mail: 513-956-7078
Website: www.hcgsohio.org