I use several resources for finding historical information, for free! Yes, Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com, and Find My Past are amazing sites with more information you can ever dream of, but if you’re like me and hate spending money on subscriptions, the below sites will fill in many gaps. These are my favorite and most helpful sites I would love to share with other researchers like myself:
For those researching Nationwide (and Worldwide)
Vital Records at Family Search
Familysearch.org
Familysearch is my go-to site for all research! They have birth, death, marriage, draft, census records and much more. Just create a free account and start your search. Besides family research, I use this site to make sure my Find A Grave memorials are as accurate as possible. I’ve been shocked by the information in so many death certificates, that it inspired me to write the stories of these people in this blog.
Old Newspapers at Chronicling America
chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
The Library of Congress provides digitized American newspapers from 1789-1963. They don’t have every newspaper, but you might be surprised by what you can find there.
For those researching Northeast Ohio…
Warren Trumbull County Public Library
If you are searching for information in Northeast Ohio, you will be impressed by the amount of information offered at the Warren Trumbull County Public Library. You can visit the genealogy room at their Warren branch or do all your research through their website at https://www.wtcpl.org.
Visit their Local History & Genealogy page and browse the archives. Search their Obituary Index for articles from the Warren Tribune Chronicle from 1900-1949 and 1970 to near present. Once you find the name/s you are researching, submit a Research Request Form. You can enter up to 5 names and article details. Make sure to send only one form at a time by waiting for them to respond to your query before sending a new one. For years not available in the index, provide the name and date of death in the research request form. I would like to note that without the helpful librarians at Warren Trumbull County Library, this website would not exist. I am forever grateful for their hard work and assistance.
Digital Archives of the McKinley Memorial Library
http://mckinley.advantage-preservation.com
Another extremely helpful site if searching in Northeast Ohio, is the Digital Archives of the McKinley Memorial Library. Here, you can search and view the Niles Newspapers which often covers news from all of Trumbull and Mahoning Counties. This site is a gem and one that has assisted me so much that my research would have gone nowhere without it!
Ohio Memory History Connection
http://catalog.ohiohistory.org/Presto/home/home.aspx
Digitized Newspapers Through Ohio Memory Project
For Those Researching Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Newspaper Archive
West Virginia Historical Records
https://wvculture.org/research/archives-and-history-research-databases/
WV Culture has a huge collection of records and photographs. This is my go-to site for all of my West Virginia related research! My favorite is the “vital records” tab where birth, marriage, and death records are made easily searchable.
Historical Map Archives
http://www.historicmapworks.com
Browse historic maps by State, county, or township. The township maps are especially helpful because you can study them in search of specific properties. Each parcel bears the owner’s name and is great to find out who lived on a certain property and if a house, or “dwelling”, was present at the time.
The Trumbull County archives has not only maps spanning several decades, but cemetery plats and atlases as well.
