Nebraska Biography

Online Resources
The Nebraska GenWeb has a large On-line Library of books available for viewing, which include biographies, state, county and town histories. The books are arranged by subject and location.
 * Western Nebraska History and Biography($), index
 * County and Town Histories, includes biographies
 * Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Western Nebraska, index/images
 * Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska, index/images
 * History of Western Nebraska and It's People, Vol. III, index/images
 * "History of the State of Nebraska", 1882, index/images
 * Johnson's History of Nebraska
 * 1890 Nebraska State Gazetteer (town listings of businesses, farmers lists for each county), index/images
 * Semi-Centennial History of Nebraska, index/images
 * "History &amp; Stories of Nebraska", index/images
 * Western Nebraska History and Biography($), index
 * Franciscans of Nebraska, Prefaced by "Historical Sketches of Mid-Nebraska", index/images
 * Memorial and Biographical Record, index/images
 * Southeastern Nebraska, A Biographical and Genealogical History of - Vol I, index/images
 * "Nebraskans, 1854-1904", index/images
 * "Nebraskans, 1904-1914", index/images
 * "The Blue Book of Nebraska Women", index/images
 * Nebraskana, 1932 - "Biographical sketches of Nebraska men and women of achievement, index/images
 * Who's Who in Nebraska, 1940, index/images
 * 900 Famous Nebraskans, Nebraska State Education Association
 * Links to biography collection by county and town, NEGenWeb Project Resource Center On-Line Library. Scroll down to "Counties

Biographies provide useful genealogical information such as a person’s birth date and place; names of family members, including maiden names; education; occupation; and social, political, and religious affiliation. They may also contain a physical description of the person, previous residences, and immigration information. Biographies are the product of family knowledge or previous research about early settlers and prominent citizens of a state, county, or town. Local histories may contain biographical sketches of lesser-known people.

Biographies in Local Histories

 * Biographical information is often found in state, county, and town histories.
 * Towards the end of the 19th century, began publishers soliciting short biographical/family histories from local founding families, offering to publish them in an upcoming local history. This then became an incentive for family members to buy a copy of the book.
 * Families represented were not necessarily prominent. Practically everyone living there, especially in the Midwest, counted as an early settler.
 * These biographies often start with the first member of the family to settle in the area, and detail their descendants at the time of publishing. They may tell where the family moved in from. Children's marriages often are given, with maiden names included.

Finding Biographies
The History Nebraska has the best collection of published biographies (enter Biographies in Search field). There is no statewide biographical index or major manuscript collection. State, regional, and county histories often have biographical sections.
 * The county Wiki page lists several county histories. It also lists local libraries, and societies which probably have copies of local histories.
 * Many histories are no longer under copyright and can be found in the following online, digitized book collections. Search with keywords "History" and "the name of your locality" (state, county, or town).
 * FamilySearch Books
 * Google Books
 * World Cat
 * HathiTrust
 * Internet Archive
 * The FamilySearch library has extensive collections of these local histories. Many are digitized. Search the FamilySearch Catalog under your locality for the topics "Biography" and "History".

Biographical Encyclopedias
Some representative biographical encyclopedias for Nebraska are:


 * Baldwin, Sara Mullin and Robert Morton Mullin. Nebraskana: Biographical Sketches of Nebraska Men and Women of Achievement. Hebron, Nebraska: Baldwin Company, 1932..


 * Compendium of History, Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska. Chicago, Illinois: Alden Publishing Company, 1912. ; similar volumes are on.


 * Morton, Julius Sterling et al. Illustrated History of Nebraska. Three Volumes. Lincoln, Nebraska: Jacob North and Co., 1905-13. . The Nebraska Historical Society has an every-name card index to these volumes on microfilm.


 * Sheldon, Addison Erwin. Nebraska: The Land and the People. Three Volumes. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company, 1931. . Volumes 2 and 3 are biographical.