Nebraska Biography

United States Nebraska  Nebraska Biography

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.

The Nebraska State Historical Society has the best collection of published biographies. There is no statewide biographical index or major manuscript collection. State, regional, and county histories often have biographical sections.

Biographical Encyclopedias
Some representative biographical encyclopedias for Nebraska are:


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


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


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


 * 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.

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.