Whether you have looked in the index or performed full-text searches, consider actually reading the county history for the location where your ancestor lived. If the entire book is too much, consider at least reading those parts discussing the area of the county where your ancestor lived. There might be clues–indirect ones, but clues.
© 2026 Genealogy Tip of the Day and Michael John Neill. Designed and hosted by
Sparkynet.
2 Responses
The books you do not have to buy because of their age you can get at Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free Books… http://archive.org/index.php with this link don't be surprised if you are redirected to Google to download the book in PDF form.
Some that are for sale due to the published date you Might find at http://openlibrary.org/ All you have to do is signup to use the site. You'll need to download a Reader and like a regular library you only have so many days to view it on your computer.
Hadn’t thought to check the Internet Archive for older books before, that redirect to Google for the PDF is a useful detail. Might have to try openlibrary for the ones still under copyright too.