Washington Biography

Online Resources

 * Who's Who on the Pacific Coast, 1913, ($), index/images
 * County and Town Histories with biographies
 * Women in Washington biographies
 * Eastern Washington Biographical Sketches
 * Washington, west of the Cascades; historical and descriptive; the explorers, the Indians, the pioneers, the modern; Vol. 1, e-book, Vol. 2, Vol. 3,
 * A history of the Puget Sound country,... v.1, e-book, Vol. 2
 * History of Washington, the evergreen state, from early dawn to daylight; With portraits and biographies. Vol. 1, e-book, Vol. 2
 * An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, e-book

Washington Biography''


 * The Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington has the best collection of biographical materials for Washingtonians.


 * The Family History Library has some compiled of explorers, Indians, prominent citizens, and early settlers in the state. Add a comma to the search box and slide way down the list to select a county.


 * Biographical information is often found in state and local histories. Another helpful biographical source is Who's Who in Washington State: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Men and Women Prominent in the Affairs of Washington State. (Seattle, Washington: H. Allen Pub., 1927.).

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 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".