City Directories: Difference between revisions

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'''City Directories''' were created for salesmen, merchants, and other interested in contacting residents of an area. They are arranged alphabetically giving lists of names and addresses. These often list the adult residents of a city or area.  
Chicago city directories cover the years 1839-1928, with a few gaps, most of which come after 1917. With a few exceptions, they generally included heads of household (including widows) and individuals who were working. Front matter generally included lists of government offices, churches, and civic organizations, and back matter included business listings.


The most helpful directories for genealogical research are city and county directories of local residents and businesses. These are generally published annually and may include an individual's address, occupation, spouse's name, and other helpful facts. An individual's address can be very helpful when searching an unindexed census of a large city.  
Chicago directories can be found online at Footnote.com (subscription site) and ChicagoAncestors.org (click on the "Tools" tab to access the directories). They can also be found on Family History Library microfilm and at many research facilities in the Chicago area. <br>


===Why Use Directories?===
*[http://distantcousin.com/Directories/IL/Chicago/1844/ 1844] and [http://distantcousin.com/Directories/IL/Chicago/1855_6/ 1855/56] Chicago City Directories (at CousinConnect.com; other Illinois cities also available)


*Directories are particularly helpful for research in large cities, where a high percentage of the people were renters, new arrivals, or temporary residents.
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=EugCAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#PPA3,M1 1856] Chicago City Directory and Business Advertiser , Fergus, May Supplement (at Google Books; searchable by address)
*A directory may be the only source to list an ancestor if he or she was not registered to vote and did not own property or if a census enumerator did not enumerate an ancestor.
*Learn the exact years your ancestor inhabited a place.
*Locate ancestor in a census that hasn’t been indexed (esp. state census) or on a census page that otherwise is unreadable.
*Estimate year of immigration.
*Learn occupation and employer as identifiers
*Find other family members.


===Potential Content===
*[http://chicagoancestors.org/downloads/1866front.pdf 1866] Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)


*An alphabetical listing of inhabitants (arranged by name, address, and occupation).
*[http://chicagoancestors.org/downloads/1870front.pdf 1870] Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
*A street address listing (arranged by address, name, and occupation).
*Widows, working women, and adult children at home.
*Ward maps.
*Street locator, including cross streets.
*Street name changes.
*Removals (sometimes destinations!).
*Businesses (and index to advertisers).
*Addresses and maps of churches, schools, funeral homes, cemeteries, post offices, courts, hospitals, benevolent associations, newspapers and often the names of persons associated with those entities.
*Many early directories listed only businesspeople.
*Some directories list wife in parenthesis.
*Whether a woman is a widow (including name of husband).
*List of marriages and deaths of previous year.
*Death date of recently deceased person who had been listed in a prior directory.
*Date of canvas that was used to create the directory (which may help pinpoint the time of year an ancestor may have arrived in a place)


==Online Historical Directories Website==
*[http://chicagoancestors.org/downloads/1871a.pdf 1871] Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
Miriam Robbins Midkiff has created a website, '''''Online Historical Directories Website''''' (or simply, [https://sites.google.com/site/onlinedirectorysite/ '''Online Directory Site''']), where she is cataloging as many online city directories as possible. The website includes other historic directories as well, such as alumni, business, and fraternal orders. Directories are organized by geography and date.


==Wiki Articles==
*[http://chicagoancestors.org/downloads/1880front.pdf 1880] Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)<br>
*[[United States Directories|'''United States Directories''']]
*[http://chicagoancestors.org/downloads/1885front.pdf 1885] Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
*[[Directories in England and Wales|'''Directories in England and Wales''']]
*[http://chicagoancestors.org/downloads/1892front.pdf 1892] Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)


==Wiki Articles: Sidebar Links==
*[http://chicagoancestors.org/downloads/1900front.pdf 1900] Chicago City Directory&nbsp;(PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
'''Each country and U.S. State have a main page. In the main page, there is sidebar on the right with links to articles about types of records. Here you can usually find a link to an article on "Directories".'''
 
<br>
*The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book, 1905 (p. 446-454 "Old Residents of Chicago" arranged by year of arrival; at Google Books; searchable by address)
<br>
 
{|
*[http://chicagoancestors.org/downloads/1910front.pdf 1910] Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
|-
 
|style="border:solid black 2px; padding:10px; vertical-align:top"|
*[http://www.chsmedia.org/househistory/polk/start.pdf 1928/29] Polk's Directory (by street address; PDF Chicago History Museum website; loads slowly)<br>
<center> <span style="color:DarkViolet">'''See the links to "Directories" in the right sidebar in this typical Wiki main page.'''</span><center>
[[File:Directories sidebar.png|1000px]]
|}
<br>
[[Category:City Directories]]

Revision as of 13:07, 9 November 2008

Chicago city directories cover the years 1839-1928, with a few gaps, most of which come after 1917. With a few exceptions, they generally included heads of household (including widows) and individuals who were working. Front matter generally included lists of government offices, churches, and civic organizations, and back matter included business listings.

Chicago directories can be found online at Footnote.com (subscription site) and ChicagoAncestors.org (click on the "Tools" tab to access the directories). They can also be found on Family History Library microfilm and at many research facilities in the Chicago area.

  • 1844 and 1855/56 Chicago City Directories (at CousinConnect.com; other Illinois cities also available)
  • 1856 Chicago City Directory and Business Advertiser , Fergus, May Supplement (at Google Books; searchable by address)
  • 1866 Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
  • 1870 Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
  • 1871 Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
  • 1880 Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
  • 1885 Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
  • 1892 Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
  • 1900 Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
  • The Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book, 1905 (p. 446-454 "Old Residents of Chicago" arranged by year of arrival; at Google Books; searchable by address)
  • 1910 Chicago City Directory (PDF at www.chicagoancestors.org)
  • 1928/29 Polk's Directory (by street address; PDF Chicago History Museum website; loads slowly)
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