Google Books
In the past few months I have discovered Google Books. Google books are scans of original books you can read online; I have found some family and county histories on this site. Genealogists know one of the biggest road blocks to research is proximity. There have been many times I hoped the information I needed was in a county history. Unfortunately, the county was 500 miles away and in a different state. Although I have found some major genealogy mistakes in some county histories they still provide excellent background and sometimes you get lucky and a biography of your family member is included. Many family histories are also the same, but most I have encountered have been generally accurate and many contain transcriptions of family bibles, wills and other documents which would not other wise come into my hands. Some of the books on Google books are full view where you can access the entire book, some have a limited view where you can only access parts and others I have found are limited by the number of times you can view the source. Even with these restrictions I have found valuable information by searching Google Books. Many of the books also come with a handy search function, which is invaluable when scanning a non-indexed county history. When I find a book which might be helpful to you I will post a link on the right sidebar under Google Books.
Here is a direct Google Books
In the past few months I have discovered Google Books. Google books are scans of original books you can read online; I have found some family and county histories on this site. Genealogists know one of the biggest road blocks to research is proximity. There have been many times I hoped the information I needed was in a county history. Unfortunately, the county was 500 miles away and in a different state. Although I have found some major genealogy mistakes in some county histories they still provide excellent background and sometimes you get lucky and a biography of your family member is included. Many family histories are also the same, but most I have encountered have been generally accurate and many contain transcriptions of family bibles, wills and other documents which would not other wise come into my hands. Some of the books on Google books are full view where you can access the entire book, some have a limited view where you can only access parts and others I have found are limited by the number of times you can view the source. Even with these restrictions I have found valuable information by searching Google Books. Many of the books also come with a handy search function, which is invaluable when scanning a non-indexed county history. When I find a book which might be helpful to you I will post a link on the right sidebar under Google Books.
Here is a direct Google Books
