Genealogy buffs will understand the thrill of breaking through a brick wall and finally finding an ancestor who has eluded you for years. I had just such a Eureka! moment this weekend when I finally found evidence of not one but four of my mother's great-grandparents. Now, I'm a fairly casual researcher. I get occasional moments of genealogy frenzy when I go out on the web and poke around to see what's available. And every now and then, I get lucky. This breakthrough, for example, came from a Google search that led me to FamilySearch.org, the Mormon Church's huge online database of genealogy information.
Now, I could probably have had this information years ago if I were a serious researcher. What I found on FamilySearch was a transcription of a marriage record that I could have just requested from the New York City vital records office. It is apparently held there on microfilm.
Although new content is released in digital format all the time, there are still many, many other records like this are not yet available electronically. Here in Nashua, for example, we have birth, marriage, and death records on microfilm:
- Birth records on microfilm, 1826 to 1900
- Marriage records on microfilm, 1836 to 1915
- Death records on microfilm, 1837 to 1915
Any reference librarian on duty will be happy to assist you in using our microfilm scanner-readers. You can print copies of records or scan them and send them via e-mail.
We also have a number of paper resources for vital records in the Hunt Room, including:
- Vital records of Dunstable, Massachusetts to the end of the year 1849 (call number REF 974.44 D93 V). These records date from the time when Nashua was part of Dunstable.
- Deaths registered in the city of Nashua, NH, from the city's annual reports (1887–1919)
- Other books of marriage, death, and birth records including church baptism records, marriage intentions, and cemetery listings
So, if you're looking for vital records, remember: it's not just about Ancestry.com and the great vast web. Come and see us at the reference desk if you'd like to broaden your search and see what's available on microfilm and paper.
(Of course, we do have subscriptions to Ancestry.com and HeritageQuest, to help you cover the electronic bases. You can find these on our genealogy web page, http://www.nashua.lib.nh.us/IbrowseAdultGenealogy.htm.)