Nebraska Biography
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Online Resources[edit | edit source]
- Western Nebraska History and Biography, ($), index
- County and Town Histories, with biographies
- Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Western Nebraska, index/images
- Compendium of History Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska, index/images
- History of Western Nebraska and It's People, Vol. III, index/images
- "History of the State of Nebraska", 1882, index/images
- Johnson's History of Nebraska
- 1890 Nebraska State Gazetteer (town listings of businesses, farmers lists for each county), index/images
- Semi-Centennial History of Nebraska, index/images
- "History & Stories of Nebraska", index/images
- Western Nebraska History and Biography, ($), index
- Franciscans of Nebraska, Prefaced by "Historical Sketches of Mid-Nebraska", index/images
- Memorial and Biographical Record, index/images
- Southeastern Nebraska, A Biographical and Genealogical History of - Vol I, index/images
- "Nebraskans, 1854-1904", index/images
- "Nebraskans, 1904-1914", index/images
- "The Blue Book of Nebraska Women", index/images
- Nebraskana, 1932 - "Biographical sketches of Nebraska men and women of achievement, index/images
- Who's Who in Nebraska, 1940, index/images
- 900 Famous Nebraskans, Nebraska State Education Association
- Links to biography collection by county and town, NEGenWeb Project Resource Center On-Line Library. Scroll down to "Counties
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.
Contents
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.
Biographies in Local Histories[edit | edit source]
- 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[edit | edit source]
- 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).
- 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".
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[edit | edit source]
Some representative biographical encyclopedias for Nebraska are:
- Baldwin, Sara Mullin and Robert Morton Mullin. Nebraskana: Biographical Sketches of Nebraska Men and Women of Achievement. Hebron, Nebraska: Baldwin Company, 1932. FHL film 1036245 item 4.
- Compendium of History, Reminiscence and Biography of Nebraska. Chicago, Illinois: Alden Publishing Company, 1912. FHL film 1000179; similar volumes are on FHL film 1000180.
- Morton, Julius Sterling et al. Illustrated History of Nebraska. Three Volumes. Lincoln, Nebraska: Jacob North and Co., 1905-13. FHL film 1036256. The Nebraska Historical Society has an every-name card index to these volumes on microfilm.
- Sheldon, Addison Erwin. Nebraska: The Land and the People. Three Volumes. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company, 1931. FHL book 978.2 H2s; FHL film 1000180. Volumes 2 and 3 are biographical.
Online Resources[edit | edit source]
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.
Further Reading[edit | edit source]
See the United States Biography page for information on nationwide biographical collections. See also the Nebraska "History" and "Genealogy" sections for additional sources. You may wish to explore biography, history and genealogy sections in the wiki at county levels also.
Biographies can be found on state, county and local levels. The Family History Library has many collected biographies and local or county histories with biographical sketches on residents. Additional resources for Nebraska biographies may be found in the Nebraska-Biography topic page of the FamilySearch Catalog .
