Riley County Genealogical Society Library

United States Kansas  Riley  Archives and Libraries  

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Contact Information
E-mail: [mailto:info@rileycgs info@rileycgs]

Address:


 * 2005 Claflin Road Manhattan, Kansas 66502-3415

Telephone: 785-565-6495

Hours and holidays:  ?

Map and public transportation


 * Google map:  Riley County Genealogical Society Library
 * Public transportation: Manhattan ATA bus routes West and Northwest each travel along Chaflin Road in front of the RCGS Library.

Internet sites and databases:


 * Riley County Genealogical Society who we are, events, newsletter, catalog, membership, surname search, personalized research, Platt House Blog, family stories, cemeteries, links, and tips.
 * Library Holdings genealogy, local history, cemeteries, census, probate, books, and periodicals.
 * Library Card Catalog online. Search by subject, location, title, author, call number, county, or surname.

Collection Description
The Riley County Genealogical Society Library has pre-Civil War records that are excellent for Kansas. Early settlers are documented by obituaries, family folders, and some good indexes.

The RCGS Library has 1175 genealogies especially for Riley County, county-city-town-church and other local histories, computer and microfilm censuses including the KS agricultural schedules, and 1855 territorial census, county probate records 1856-1939, newspaper abstracts for Riley and surrounding counties, and material for nearly all Kansas counties, most states, and many foreign countries.

RCGS members also hold meetings, classes, and other events, make research suggestions, maintain surname and cemetery lists, and serve at the Manhattan Public Library.

Alternate Repositories
If you cannot visit or find a source at the , a similar source may be available at one of the following.

Overlapping Collections


 * National Archives I, Washington DC, census, pre-WWI military service pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, bounty land, homesteads, ethnic sources, prisons, fed employees.
 * National Archives at Kansas City federal censuses 1790–1930; military service indexes, pension indexes, passenger lists, naturalizations, photos, vital records, land, and Indian records.
 * American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, Lincoln NE, AHSGR ancestor lists, cemeteries, homesteads, an AHSGR German hometowns list, passenger lists, obituaries, surname charts, and Russian village files.
 * National Orphan Train Complex, Concordia, museum, history, rider registry, research, and events. 66 v. (20,000 records) of orphan train riders, photos, 9,700 name computer database.
 * Manhattan Kansas Family History Center can offer research suggestions, and can order genealogical microfilms from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Similar Collections


 * Topeka Genealogical Society Library, 12,000 books, 700 periodicals strong on Shawnee County and northeast Kansas. Also includes almost every U.S. state, and many foreign nations.

Neighboring Collections


 * Manhattan City Clerk births and deaths from 1910.
 * Riley County Clerk, Manhattan, births and deaths 1885-1886, 1892-1909.
 * Riley County Clerk of the District Court, Manhattan, has marriages from 1856; probate from 1857, and court records from 1859. Note: births/deaths 1892-1909 are at the Kansas Historical Society.
 * Riley County Register of Deeds, Manhattan, land records since 1857, county school records, and military discharge papers.
 * U.S. District Court District of Kansas, Topeka, recent federal civil, criminal, and bankruptcy cases.
 * Manhattan Public Library includes access to Ancestry.com (Library edition).
 * Riley County Historical Society, Manhattan, 4,500 monographs, 300 periodicals, 5,000 cubic feet of manuscripts and archival materials, and 7,000 photos.
 * Repositories in surrounding counties:  Clay, Geary, Marshall, Pottawatomie, Washington, and Wabaunsee.
 * Fort Hays State University Forsyth Library, Hays, western Kansas history, oral histories, genealogical and historical societies, Hutterites, Mennonites, Catholics, and Lutherans.
 * Iola Public Library, for all Kansas including family folders, special indexes, and published records for many counties of Kansas.
 * Johnson County Library, Overland Park, both a Kansas and a genealogy collection, mostly books, and periodicals with family folders. Also covers Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
 * Kansas Genealogical Society, Dodge City, has the best set of family folders and genealogical periodicals in Kansas. . Also, clippings, obituaries, and an online catalog.
 * Kansas Heritage Center, Dodge City, cowboys, oral history, Fort Dodge history, the Old West.
 * Kansas Historical Society, Topeka, clearly the best place to start researching Kansas ancestors including newspapers, county records, biographies, genealogies, land records, and railroads. Statewide births and deaths prior to 1894; City of Topeka births and deaths 1885-1912.
 * Kansas State Library, Topeka, largest book library in Kansas with county histories, ethnic sources, guides, inventories, and family genealogies. This is a main depository of historical documents about Kansas residents.
 * Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Topeka, since 1911 births, stillbirths, deaths; since 1913 marriages; and since 1951 divorce records issued for a fee only to immediate family members or representatives.
 * University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library, Lawrence, manuscripts, photographs, maps, histories, newspapers, periodicals, film and videotapes that document the "Kansas Experience" of pioneers, railroads, and American Indians. A depository for publications of Kansas and Douglas County.
 * Wichita Public Library Genealogy Center, has many genealogies with an emphasis mostly on books, periodicals, and special publications for southeast KS, and corners of MO, AR, and OK.
 * Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas Archives baptism, confirmations, marriages, deaths, parish records.
 * Kansas United Methodist Archives, Baker University, Baldwin City, church records, newspapers, manuscripts, memoirs, obituaries, archives, reports.
 * Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College, Newton, Mennonite-related books, periodicals, and genealogical materials.
 * Repositories in surrounding states: Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.
 * Mid-Continent Public Library Midwest Genealogy Center, Independence MO, one of America's best genealogical centers: censuses and indexes, 80,000 family histories, 100,000 local histories, 565,000 microfilms, 7,000 maps, and newspapers. Surrounding states are well represented.
 * Kansas City Public Library Missouri Valley Special Collections, The Missouri Valley Room has a great genealogy collection for Missouri and Kansas with biographies, periodicals, genealogies, diaries, photos, scrapbooks, and newspapers of the Kansas City area.