Arizona Compiled Genealogies

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Beginning Research
Record Types
Arizona Background
Cultural Groups
Local Research Resources
Thorp School Sewing Group, Chicago, Illinois circa 1900

Online Resources

Introduction

Most archives, historical societies, and genealogical societies have special collections of previous research and indexes of genealogical value. To begin the search of an ancestor in these collections, you may wish to begin with available published indexes, both on a national level as well as a local level. Many genealogy databases are on line through various websites.

Nationwide Indexes

  • The FamilySearch Library has an extensive collection of almost 50,000 published U.S. family histories and newsletters. Copies at the library are listed in the Last names Search of the FamilySearch Catalog.
  • National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC). "The National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, established in 1959, is a cooperative cataloging program in which repositories from all over the United States open to the public report their holdings of manuscript collections to the Library of Congress. Staff members of the Manuscripts Section of the Library's Special Materials Cataloging Division prepare catalog entries for these reports, which are published annually in book form by the Library of Congress"--Index to personal names in the National Union Catalog of manuscript collections, 1959-1984, p. vii. An index is available at the FamilySearch Library FS Catalog book 016.091 N21 1959 to 1984

Statewide Indexes

Mesa Regional FamilySearch Center. Located at 41 S Hobson in Mesa (across the Street East of the Mesa Arizona Temple Visitor Center). This is a prime facility for Family History research, with 100+ computers,150 staff members to provide assistance, many classes on genealogy subjects, 120,000+ microfilms and 52,000 fiche with microfilm readers and printers, and over 20,000 books and publications.

Unfortunately, the above building is temporarily closed for remodeling. But the old genealogy library is still open for genealogy training classes. Located about 500 East First Street on the west side of the Temple.

Most archives, historical societies, and genealogical societies have special collections and indexes of genealogical value. These must usually be searched in person. Some important collections for Arizona are:

  • Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Collection. This collection consists of transcripts of a few Bible records, cemetery records, church records, marriages, deaths, obituaries, and wills. It was microfilmed in 1971 at the DAR Library, Washington, DC, and is on FS Library 844408.
  • Family Group Records: Collected and Compiled by the Former Spanish-American Mission. This is a collection of family group sheets showing the ancestry of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the Southwest. It is on FS Library Latin America films 940001-6.
  • The Family History Society of Arizona has a new Surname index that can be browsed. Users can add their own surnames. Index provides the following information, after which the user can e-mail the subscriber:
  1. Ref #
  2. Surname
  3. Dates
  4. Town/Township/County
  5. State


Writing and Sharing Your Family History

Sharing your own family history is valuable for several reasons:

  • It helps you see gaps in your own research and raises opportunities to find new information.
  • It helps other researchers progress in researching ancestors you share in common.
  • It draws other researchers to you who already have information about your family that you do not yet possess.
  • It draws together researchers with common interests, sparking collaboration opportunities. For instance, researchers in various localities might choose to do lookups for each other in remote repositories. Your readers may also share photos of your ancestors that you have never seen before.
See also: