In recent years the New
Hampshire State Library has become a much more useful resource for
genealogical research. Formerly the pertinent material had been kept in
closed stacks and had to be requested at the desk by the researcher. A
few years ago, though, most of the genealogical material was relocated
to a room on the first floor with open stacks. The online library
catalog makes searching easy for the genealogist. The library staff
welcomes patrons and makes every reasonable effort to assist library
users in finding the information for which they are searching. And there
is no admission charge at state library facilities, which is not the
case for non-members at the New Hampshire Historical Society, just
across North State Street from the Library. That facility will be
discussed in a future article in this series. In choosing the resources
listed in this brief catalog, I attempted to select the most important
items from a collection of thousands of books and other types of
records.
American Genealogical and Biographical Index
The
library holdings include both the red-covered original set of this
series and all of the revised, green-covered volumes that have been
published to date. This index contains the names of thousands upon
thousands of individuals who lived in America from 1607 to the early
nineteenth century. Census records, military records, many genealogies
and collections of genealogies, and the Boston Transcript genealogical
columns are indexed in the AGBI.
Cemetery Records
This
miscellaneous collection of manuscripts and typescripts includes
records from a large number of the cemeteries in the state.
Census
Records
These federal census records of the State of New
Hampshire from 1790 to 1910 also include AIS Indexes to 1860; Soundex
for 1880, 1900, and 1920; the Civil War Veterans’ census of 1890; and
1790 censuses of several other states. The library also has compilations
of so-called NH censuses taken in 1776 [The Association Test] and 1732.
City
and County Directories (located in closed stacks)
This
collection contains fairly complete sets of city directories for the
state’s most populous municipalities and a smattering of directories for
several smaller communities. Large numbers of Boston city directories
and New England business directories are also included in this
collection.
County Histories
In general the
earliest settlers and prominent residents are featured in the town
histories found in these volumes.
Early New Hampshire Town
Records
The flagship collection of the library’s genealogical
holdings is the indexed collection of the early records of New
Hampshire’s towns. This collection contains the records of many births
and marriages which occurred prior to about 1840. The tax lists found in
this collection can also provide helpful information about ancestors.
Family
Histories
This large collection of genealogies contains some
volumes that are not found in the collection at the New Hampshire
Historical Society next door. Copeley’s guide to town histories, a
helpful index to this vast collection of brief genealogies, is available
at the reference desk.
General References
The
entries listed under this heading represent a minute sampling of the
genealogical reference materials available at the State Library:
- Ayling -- “Revised Register of the Soldiers and
Sailors of New Hampshire in the War of the Rebellion: 1861-1865” DAR
Patriot Index
- Filby -- “Passenger and Immigration Lists Index”
- New England Historic Genealogical Society Register
- Noyes, Libby, and Davis -- “Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and
New Hampshire.”
- Savage -- “Genealogical Dictionary of the
First Settlers of New England.”
- Stearns -- “Genealogical and
Family History of the State of New Hampshire.”
Index
to New Hampshire Notables
The names of New Hampshire
citizens that have appeared in county histories, biographical
collections, Dartmouth class rolls, etc., are included in this extensive
index.
Local Histories
Many of these histories and
accounts of New Hampshire towns and cities contain genealogical
information.
Loyalists’ Petitions to The Crown
(located in closed stacks)
This five-volume set provides a
considerable amount of genealogical information about New Hampshire
residents who fled to Canada as a result of having chosen to remain
loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution. Family historians
who have Loyalist ancestors from colonies other than New Hampshire
should find these of interest because the same sort of information was
contained in the documents that all loyalist petitioners made to His
Majesty’s Government.
Maps and Atlases
Included in
the map collection are county maps of 1858 and 1892, which plot the
positions of individual homes and identify the residents. The Sanborne
Fire Insurance Maps are of interest for more recent information and are
located in closed stacks.
Massachusetts Vital Records to
1849
This multivolume set, which began as a WPA project
during the depression of the 1930s, contains records of the births,
marriages, and deaths in the majority of Massachusetts towns and cities.
Data for these vital records were obtained from such sources as town
records, church records and cemetery records.
Military Records
See
“Provincial and State Papers” below and also Ayling under “General
References.” See also Potter’s The Military History of the State of
New Hampshire, 1621-1861.
Newspapers
New
Hampshire newspapers of both rural communities and the state’s major
cities are included in this collection. Although the majority of these
newspapers were printed beginning about 1875, a few of the items in this
collection were printed prior to that year.
Provincial and
State Papers of New Hampshire
This 34-volume set
encompasses a wide variety of topics relative to the provincial and
early state history of New Hampshire. Especially valuable to the
genealogist are the military rolls found in volumes 14-17 and provincial
probate records from 1635 to 1771, contained in volumes 21-29. The
volumes which were not cited in this paragraph are also potential
sources of significant genealogical information.
Town Reports
(located in closed stacks)
Beginning just before 1890, towns in
New Hampshire began publishing vital records in the annual town reports.
Many towns have discontinued this practice, but a few towns continue to
publish this valuable genealogical data in current town reports. The
library contains a comprehensive collection of these reports.
Parking
Metered
spaces are available on Park Street and State Street for 25 cents per
hour with a two-hour limit. Free three-hour parking is available on
North State Street, one block north of the library. Free all-day parking
is available on nearby Union Street.
Photocopies
Patrons
may make photocopies from books for 10 cents per copy and from
microfilms for 25 cents per copy. Photocopies may be ordered by mail for
20 cents and 50 cents per copy respectively.
Research by
Correspondence
Staff members will spend at least 45 minutes
to research requests received in the mail, and will provide a reasonable
number of photocopies in response to such requests. The New Hampshire
Historical Society list of local researchers is available to
correspondents requiring more extensive work.
General
Information
20 Park Street (directly across Park Street from
the capitol building), Concord, NH 03301
(603) 271- 2144
HOURS:
Monday-Friday from 8AM - 4:30PM except state holidays.