Indiana Genealogy Resources

Another state that I’ve visited, metaphorically speaking, for family history research is Indiana, mainly because my husband’s very large Miller ancestors and siblings moved far and wide after they migrated from Virginia about 1813.

There are many more records available online today than when I was working on the family. Here are links to current websites:

Indiana State Library – This website about encompasses everything as it not only has to records at the state level and a link to INGenWeb, it also has individual links to each county in the state.

In spite of comprehensive information on that site, I would still like to highlight several other sites so you are aware of them if Indiana is a state linked to your family history.

Indiana Digital Archives – This link will take you to photos, institutional records, military records, naturalizations and other historical records. What I like about this site is that it even has a list of “Coming Soon” so if what you need isn’t online yet, you can check to see if it is in the queue.

Allen County Public Library holds one of the foremost genealogical collections in the United States, although not all of its materials by any means are available digitally. This link will take you to its page of database links which are free to all and can be accessed from anywhere.

IN GenWeb is a robust site with lots of information on it. If you aren’t familiar with US Gen Web, each site on it is hosted by volunteers. The amount and quality of information depends on community contributions and records that exist. Most information is grouped by counties. If a county is a “burned” county with major record loss, there may be less information posted than from a county with mostly complete records. However, all US GenWeb sites are free and I have found superb information, thanks to the generosity of others.

FamilySearch.org has an excellent list of links to various Indiana records. If the link says access is free, it is likely to records collected by the Family History Library. Dollar signs mean paid sites, such as Ancestry, fold3, etc. Some links are to index-only databases and they are so noted. Look carefully at the link choices. For example, there are two links to an Indiana death index, 1882-1920. One is free and the other is a paid site. They appear to be the same database, shared on two sites.

Online Indiana Death Records and Indexes – This site has a compilation of death records available online for Indiana. Some links are to free sites and some note that access is by subscription.

Indiana State Library Genealogy Database: Marriages Through 1850 – If your family was in Indiana pre-1850 and had members who married there before that date, then use this search engine to locate the marriages.

Sullivan County Public Library – Their genealogy database page indicates that new information is being entered daily and there are already multiple links to online records. If your family lived in Sullivan County, be sure to check this site out.

Vigo County Public Library has a couple of excellent resources on line, the Local History Books Online Index and Wars and Military Records concerning those who served from Vigo County, including some links to Grand Army of the Republic records.

Wabash Valley Visions and Voices Digital Memory Project – The Wabash Valley is partly in Indiana and partly in Illinois, centered on the Wabash River. Larger cities in the region include Clinton, Lafayette, Mount Carmel, Princeton, Terre Haute, and Vincennes.

Indiana Historical Society – There is a digital image collection available online that include early maps, documents and photos. Take some time to browse through them.

In addition to these sites, be sure to search your county of interest and even the towns of interest as there may be other online resources available.

Happy hunting!

 

 

 

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