Arizona Compiled Genealogies

United States Arizona  Arizona Genealogy

Introduction


Most archives, historical societies, and genealogical societies have special collections of previous research and indexes of genealogical value. To begin the search of an ancestor in these collections, you may wish to begin with available published indexes, both on a national level as well as a local level. Many genealogy databases are on line through various websites.

Nationwide Indexes

 * FamilySearch™ Internet Genealogy Service - Trees contains lineages organized into family groups and pedigrees with an every-name index. This was created from a database formerly known as Ancestral File.


 * The Newberry Library of Chicago, Illinois has a collection of thousands of genealogies published before 1917 and includes an index available at the library. Coverage is best for New England with secondary coverage for Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic states. Index is also found at the Family History Library


 * The Family History Library has an extensive collection of almost 50,000 published U.S. family histories and newsletters. Copies at the library are listed in the Last names Search of the FamilySearch Catalog.


 * Major collections of printed family histories are also found at most of the archives and libraries listed in United States Archives and Libraries. Most large libraries have indexes and catalogs to published family histories. For a list of the indexes and catalogs available at the Family History Library see the Family History section of United States Compiled Genealogies in the Wiki.


 * National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC). "The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, established in 1959, is a cooperative cataloging program in which repositories from all over the United States open to the public report their holdings of manuscript collections to the Library of Congress. Staff members of the Manuscripts Section of the Library's Special Materials Cataloging Division prepare catalog entries for these reports, which are published annually in book form by the Library of Congress"--Index to personal names in the National Union Catalog of manuscript collections, 1959-1984, p. vii. An index is available at the Family History Library


 * Ancestry.com ($) Public and Private member trees.


 * World Connect includes hundreds of thousands of ancestors in pedigrees and family trees with an easy to use index.


 * Periodical Source Index (PERSI). There are more than 126,000 surnames included in the PERSI database which is available on the Internet at HeritageQuestOnline.com as well as at Ancestry.com. Both are subscription websites, but often available at local libraries.

Statewide Indexes
'''Mesa Regional Family History Center. '''Located at 41 S Hobson in Mesa (across the Street East of the Mesa Arizona Temple Visitor Center). This is a prime facility for Family History research, with 100+ computers,150 staff members to provide assistance, many classes on genealogy subjects, 120,000+ microfilms and 52,000 fiche with microfilm readers and printers, and over 20,000 books and publications.

Unfortunately, the above building is temporarily closed for remodeling. But the old genealogy library is still open for genealogy training classes. Located about 500 East First Street on the west side of the Temple.

Most archives, historical societies, and genealogical societies have special collections and indexes of genealogical value. These must usually be searched in person. Some important collections for Arizona are:


 * Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Collection. This collection consists of transcripts of a few Bible records, cemetery records, church records, marriages, deaths, obituaries, and wills. It was microfilmed in 1971 at the DAR Library, Washington, DC, and is on.
 * Computer Pedigree Index. The Arizona State Genealogical Society is gathering and indexing pedigree charts on computer. Its original emphasis was families from the Tucson area, but anyone is welcome to participate.
 * Family Group Records: Collected and Compiled by the Former Spanish-American Mission. This is a collection of family group sheets showing the ancestry of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Southwest. It is on FHL Latin America films 940001-6.
 * The Family History Society of Arizona has a new Surname index that can be browsed. Users can add their own surnames. Index provides the following information, after which the user can e-mail the subscriber:


 * 1) Ref #
 * 2) Surname
 * 3) Dates
 * 4) Town/Township/County
 * 5) State

Writing and Sharing Your Family History
Sharing your own family history is valuable for several reasons:


 * It helps you see gaps in your own research and raises opportunities to find new information.
 * It helps other researchers progress in researching ancestors you share in common.
 * It draws other researchers to you who already have information about your family that you do not yet possess.
 * It draws together researchers with common interests, sparking collaboration opportunities. For instance, researchers in various localities might choose to do lookups for each other in remote repositories. Your readers may also share photos of your ancestors that you have never seen before.


 * See also:
 * Create a Family History
 * Writing Your Family and Personal History
 * A Guide to Printing Your Family History