I am just now getting around to posting this, but a couple of weeks ago, we went to Evansville during the week and I had an opportunity to spend a few hours visiting Willard Library in Evansville, Indiana. This library is the oldest public library in the state of Indiana. I’d begun to notice over the past several months that many of the resources I was interested in, are held at this library! They have a very extensive genealogy collection and the three hours I spent there seems like such a small amount of time!
So, here’s a recap of what I ended up bringing home with me, though I looked at much more.
- Marriages of Rowan County, North Carolina: 1753-1868 compiled by Brent H. Holcomb. I was looking in this book primarily for surnames associated with my stepmother’s tree (Fry, Reed, Bean, Oneal, Crowell). I found several entries that I photocopied for later analysis.
- County of Todd, Kentucky: Historical and Biographical – edited by J.H. Battle. – I photocopied a few pages out of this book as this is where my brother-in-law’s paternal family is from. Interestingly enough, he has a 2nd great-grandfather named Granville Waddell (who was a slave) and in this book I found mention of a white Granville Waddell who emigrated to the county and died there in 1852. I have yet to further research this possible lead. Another surname of interest from this book is Talley. Kalonji has black ancestors with the surname from this county and there is mention of white Talley’s in the area.
- Todd County, Kentucky Obituaries by Tim Pulley – found many obits here for Meriweather’s (white and black), another surname associated with Kalonji’s tree. Also some obits for Talley, Daniel and Wisdom.
- Todd County, Kentucky Marriages 1820-1879 by Era W. Stinson – another source for looking up Kalonji and his brother’s lines. Found some possible listings of interest. I did find one goldmine – the above mentioned Granville Waddell married Philis Bell 8 Feb 1868 – I finally have their marriage date!
- Vital Statistics Todd County, Kentucky – by A.B. Willhite – this book had births, marriages and deaths – both black and white.
- Marriage and Death Notices from the Western Carolinian by Robert M. Topkins – found a few Crowell’s and Reed’s listed.
- Estate Records of Edgecombe County North Carolina 1820-1850 Vol. II – by Joseph W. Watson – one of the few books they had for Edgecombe County (of interest sfor my maternal grandmother’s line). I am glad I looked here, because I learned more about Edmund McNair than I knew before, including the fact that he had plantations and slaves in more counties than I knew of. I will have to go back to some of the material I’ve collected about Dred Wimberly, but I think I remember that some items mentioned him being born at Walnut Hill. Well, from this inventory information, I learn that Walnut Hill is in Franklin County, not Edgecombe County.
I also photocopied a few Kentucky death certificates in hope of finding more relationships. Overall, a good visit. I really need to get back!