Nebraska became the 37th state in America on 1 March 1867, albeit among controversy as it is unique in being granted statehood over a presidential veto. This post isn’t about Nebraska Territory’s path to statehood, but its history is interesting.
Whether your ancestors settled in the newly opened Kansas-Nebraska Territory in 1854 or after it achieved statehood, I recommend beginning your research with a visit to the FamilySearch research wiki page, which provides extensive links across many categories.
The links are tagged so that you can tell if it goes to a paid site or if it can be viewed for free.
Nebraska is a big state with 93 counties, so it isn’t feasible to include links at the county level. My second recommendation is to again visit the FamilySearch wiki for the county of interest, as similar pages can be found for each of them. Omaha is in Douglas County.
Here are other online resources for Nebraska:
HistoryNebraska – the state archives and state historical society
NebraskAccess – the Nebraska state site
Nebraska State Genealogical Society – There are a number of links to both state and county resources that can be accessed without being a member of the society, including links to most of the state’s local genealogy societies. Well worth visiting the website!
Access Genealogy – Nebraska – Links to free resources
Cyndi’s List – Nebraska – a mix of free and paid resources
NEGenWeb – volunteer site with records set up by counties
Nebraska Genealogy Data on Genealogy Buff
Omaha Public Library – Genealogy Page
Online Nebraska Death Records & Indexes
Library of Congress – Nebraska Resources for Local History & Genealogy
University of Nebraska Archives and Special Collections
University of Nebraska Digital Collections
Adams County Historical Society
Dawson County Historical Society – maintains a research library
Gage County Historical Society & Museum
Nebraska Jewish Historical Society
Nebraska History Museum – online collections
American Historical Society of Germans from Russia
Crawford Historical Society & Museum
Happy researching in Nebraska!