One of my favorite Ancestry Databases

One of my favorite databases at Ancestry.com is the U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.
In the 1990s when I was just beginning my research, I didn't give much thought to directories.  I had imagined they were just like phone books.  Wrong!  There is so much more in a directory.   Don't believe me?  See my blog post from June of 2017--In Praise of City Directories.   If you are an Ancestry subscriber(or your local library has access) you can browse to a directory of interest and see for yourself. I used the 1940 Nashville Tennessee City directory this past week a great deal.  In an effort to save time I found the start of each section and made myself an index of sorts using the image number.  This is something I'd recommend doing for any directory you will be browsing thru frequently.   Browse the directories. There is so much that isn't indexed.  I've noted the image numbers along with the pages for the directory I used last week and I'm including the outline below in case it would be of use to any others who are researching in that area and time period.

Nashville, Tennessee, City Directory, 1940
R. L Polk & Co. Nashville City Directory 1940 [Images 1-748]

• The Alphabetical List of Names pg 37-1040 [Begins on Image 17]
• The Buyers' Guide pg 1-76 [Begins on Image 538]
• The Directory of Householders, including Street and Avenue Guide pg 1041-1273 [Begins on Image 578]
• The Classified Business Directory pg 1353-1444 [Begins on Image 698]

In Praise of City Directories

This week got off to a great start with me finding the 118 page probate/estate packet of my 3rd Great Grandfather.  I began reading over it last night and there is just so much information included.  I haven't even gotten half way thru and I'm seeing the names of all of his children, land descriptions and as this was before emancipation I've also found information pertaining to slaves which were hired out.  It lists their names and ages.  One in particular was a rather odd given name.  Consulting a directory at Ancestry.com for the family I was able to find a gentleman by the same name with the last name of our family. Not sure that it is the one listed in the probate info but is likely a nephew or son.  I found additional census listings also that contained the names mentioned in the probate file. I had worked with directories in my research on another case which I blogged about this past year.  Each time I use them I find even more information or uses. These tidbits are things that you might not expect to find.  If you want to know how the Country, State, County or City was run--just look in the directory for the city in question.  Below is a listing in no particular order of the things that I have found in a city directory.

• Tax Laws specific to the publication year and area covered.
• Occupation--sometimes it also lists place of employment
• Females listed as "widow of.."
• Maps--a variety
• Election schedules & Elected officials
• Business Directory--gives you an idea of what is booming in that area at the time.
• Index to Advertisers--businesses that paid to have an ad listed.  The earlier ones can be really interesting. (One advertisement for a Sanitarium located in Nashville said that they could cure any addition but that they only took refined patients.)
• Streetcar/Railway schedules.
• Any number of stats for larger cities as well as a history of the area
• Religious & other Societies and Associations
• Listing of Local Churches

Friend and fellow genealogist, Miriam Robbins has been addressing this point for a number of years.  In addition to her Online Historical Directories site and blog she has also started a Facebook group on the topic.  More information about all of these can be found in her post at her AnceStories blog.  In my opinion city directories are just as valuable to a researcher today as they were to area residents at their time of publication. Their value is illustrated in this warning printed inside the cover of one of the Nashville Directories.

Beckman family in 1930 Nashville City Directory.

A follow-up to my post from last Friday about finding my daughter's Paternal 2nd Gr Grandparents and their son(from Franklin Co. Indiana)  enumerated in Nashville Tennessee during the 1930 census.

It doesn't look like they were just passing thru.  I also found them in the Nashville Directory.

Directories are a great resource that often times get overlooked.  Ancestry has a pretty good selection of directories especially for the larger cities.  In addition to placing a person at a specific place within a given time period you can also find out about the area by reading the business directory section.  Some directories also contain additional information about the areas which they cover.

City Directories contain much more information than you might expect

Just a few of the many bits of information you can find in a City Directory

• Guide to the Abbreviations
• Alphabetical List of Names  Example:  From the Smith entries of the Akron 1968-69 Directory.

• Street Directory
• Numerical Telephone List
• Apartment Buildings .
• Associations and Clubs
• Business Directory
• Buyers' Guide
• Church Directory
• City & County Officials
• State & Federal Officials/Government
• Fire Department
• Parks.
• Schools:  Public and Private
• Postal Information
• Public Buildings and Halls

Full Directories listings for Akron OH can be found at the Akron Summit library's website on the Historic City Directories page.

An added bonus is that you can use all this information to find other information.  For example you might look up someone's place of employment in the Business Directory section after viewing their Name Entry which lists where they worked.  In some directories companies will list employees.  Of particular importance to me are the years after 1940.  I'd like to fill in some blanks on my family during that time period.  Find out if there are directories covering the area where your ancestors lived.