Tuesday, October 13, 2009

My Favorite Genealogical Society: OGS














While I belong to the Erie County and Huron County Chapters of the Ohio Genealogical Society, there are some definite benefits to belonging to the Ohio Genealogical Society. The Ohio Genealogical Society is the largest state genealogical society in the United States.Its mission is: to meet the educational needs of its members and the general public through the acquisition, preservation, and dissemination of genealogical and historical information.


There are a variety of databases available from the Ohio Genealogical Society, some accesible only to members. First Families of Ohio is a lineage society open to OGS members who prove their decent from an ancestor who lived in Ohio by the end of 1820. Over 17,000 names appear in this database.

The searchable Ohio Civil War Roster allows "fuzzy" and "soundex" searches, which is a very versatile tool if you are unsure of the exact spelling of a first or last name.

African Americans Migrating to Ohio lists the names of African Americans who moved to Ohio in the 1860's. This very specific database can be very helpful if you have African American ancestors who moved to Ohio in this early decade.

There are many, many more databases at the website of the Ohio Genealogical Society! The library of the OGS is in Mansfield, Ohio, but a new facility is being built near Interstate 71, just south of Mansfield.

Whether you are a Graveyard Rabbit, genealogist, or you just want to know more about your Ohio ancestors, pay a visit to the Ohio Genealogical Society's site, and see what it has to offer.

3 comments:

Kathryn Doyle said...

Dorene,
Thanks so much for participating in the 82nd Carnival of Genealogy. It's wonderful to find so many enthusiastic supporters of local gen societies. I'm looking forward to learning more about the new library.

Dorene from Ohio said...

Dear Kathryn,
Thank you for being the host!
It was great fun!

Dorene

GrannyPam said...

We visited the OGS library in Mansfield last January, and found the staff helpful and friendly. They have a lot of useful material there.