It is wise to acquaint yourself with any repository which you might visit by writing to the appropriate archive or library in advance. Every repository has published materials that introduce its collections and research policy. State archives and historical agencies also have Internet sites that provide the same information. Some even have downloadable databases for some or parts of their collections.
Vermont
State Archives, 109 State Street, Montpelier,
VT 05609-1103;802-828-2308 [EMAIL] The archives consist
of state government records, the bulk of which
relate to the executive and legislative branches.
Collections include maps, plans, governors’ papers,
election records, deeds, and photographs.
"Genealogists are generally positive and energetic, and most are ready to share their findings or research experience with anyone they can help. There are hundreds of genealogical societies at the grass-roots level. Knowledge of the genealogical community will place you in the midst of much activity, increase your productivity, and alert you to the importance of research standards and etiquette." Sandra Hargreaves Luebking,
Editor of FGS Forum, Co-editor of The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy
Because family history research relies greatly upon records found at the county level, many local societies represent counties. Organizations also form around shared interests. Ethnic or religious origins account for many groups, such as the Polish Genealogical Society of America and P.O.I.N.T. (Pursuing Our Italian Names Together). Societies also form around common locales of origin for members’ ancestors; hence, the Palatines to America and Germans from Russia societies. To locate these and other societies, consult Juliana Szucs Smith’s The Ancestry Family Historian’s Address Book. It lists addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and Internet addresses of thousands of organizations throughout the United States.
For almost every state there is a state genealogical society, a state genealogical council, or both. In addition to their own work, state-level groups sometimes help coordinate the efforts of local societies within the state. Their publications, newsletters and quarterlies, supplement those produced by the local societies.
Genealogical
Society of Vermont, P.O. Box 1553,
St. Albans, VT 05478 Membership organization publishing quarterly
journal, Vermont Genealogy (with query column for
members), quarterly newsletter, and books & sponsoring
semi-annual meetings and occasional workshops.
See also Rhode Island Periodicals The American Genealogist; and Massachusetts Periodicals The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.) Statewide or regional publications include the following: [ see specific county page for individual county list ]
Vermont Historyis published quarterly by the Vermont Historical Society (see Archives, Libraries, and Societies) and has excellent articles on Vermont history, rarely genealogy. It is indexed annually.
Branches and Twigsis published quarterly by the Genealogical Society of Vermont. It is not indexed and not easy to use but is filled with bits and details on Vermont ancestors.
Across the Border, P.O. Box 31010, Bloomington, Minnesota 55431, covers northern Vermont and Quebec's eastern townships.
There is an excellent newspaper collection for Vermont beginning with the first publication in 1781, microfilmed and available at the Vermont Department of Libraries. Under “Newspapers,” the card catalog lists the location of publications and all issues available. Vital records are occasionally included—births rarely. Obituaries are not prominent until well into the twentieth century.
An index to the Burlington Free Press in typescript form covering the years 1848–70 is in the “Vermont Room” at the state library. As a subject index, it still is essential for genealogical research since accidents and deaths, for example, can be located by topic with the names of people involved listed alphabetically.
The University of Vermont Bailey-Howe Library also has a good newspaper collection with copies of the typescript to the index, Burlington Free Press (1848–70).
Copies of the Boston Evening Transcript genealogy column for some years are held at the Vermont Historical Society in scrapbook form.
While records of birth, marriage, and death are the most commonly sought and the most consistently helpful records, only the genealogist’s imagination and resourcefulness limit newspapers’ usefulness in supplying clues about historical events, local history, probate court and legal notices, real estate transactions, political biographies, announcements, notices of new and terminated partnerships, business advertisements, and notices for settling debts.
Newspapers can provide at least a partial substitute for nonexistent civil records. For example, a person’s obituary may have appeared in a newspaper even when civil death records for that person do not exist. And newspapers are an important source of marriage records, particularly in those states where civil recording of marriages was essentially nonexistent until the twentieth century.
Unlike official records, newspapers are not limited to a particular geographical area. They often include reports of the weddings of local citizens (even those that occurred in a neighboring county or another state), and they sometimes report visits of geographically distant relatives or the visits of former local residents. They often published death notices of individuals who had left the area long before but who still had local family or friends as well. In each case the newspaper account can identify the date and place of an event, thus opening the possibility of turning up additional documentation in other sources.
The first step in searching a newspaper is to identify those which served the area of interest and which have survived. The three most necessary tools are bibliographies (What was published?), inventories of library and depository holdings (Where is it?), and indexes (How do I find what I want in it?).
