Genealogy Guide

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Guide to Genealogy Research

Local Genealogy Collections

Clayton County Library Genealogy Room. Headquarters Branch.
Georgia Archives. Morrow.
National Archives, Southeast Region. Morrow (adjacent to State Archives).
Genealogical Society of Henry and Clayton Counties. McDonough.
Atlanta History Center Kenan Research Center. Atlanta.
Atlanta - Fulton Public Library Special Collections Room. Atlanta.
Middle Georgia Archives. Macon.
University of Georgia Main Library. Athens.

Subscription Resources

Ancestry Library Edition (Ancestry.com) - Includes U.S. federal census images and indexes from 1790 to 1930. This collection also contains more than 1,000 historical maps, the American Genealogical Biographical Index, Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage, Social Security Death Index, WWI Draft Registration Cards, Federal Slave Narratives, and assorted Civil War documents. In Library Use only.
- This subscription database is available from workstations in our library branches. The free version may be searched at www.ancestry.com but viewing vital records requires a fee and registration.

Heritage Quest Online - 1790-1930 U.S. Federal Census with complete original images, plus many head-of-household name indexes, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, Freedman’s Bank Records and more. Remote access is available.
Password required. See our FAQs for log in information.

Web sites - Best bets

American Family Immigration History Center - 25 million immigrant arrival records from the Ellis Island Archives, including passenger lists, manifests and ship information.

Digital Library of Georgia Resource Guide - An excellent guide to genealogy resources specific to Georgia. Note that the African American Biographical Database and African American Newspapers are not part of the Clayton County Library System's GALILEO subscription.

Carl Vinson Institute of Government - Clayton County history, maps and genealogy links.

Other web sites

AfriGeneas- African Ancestral Genealogy - Afrigeneas is a site devoted to African American genealogy, to researching African ancestry in the Americas in particular and to genealogical research and resources in general.

Afro-Louisiana History History and Genealogy Research: 1719-1820 - a free, searchable database of historic Louisiana slave records.

Cyndi's List - A comprehensive index of genealogy resources on the internet.

Family Search - Several databases may be searched simultaneously, Including Social Security records, privately compiled indexes and Census data. Full census records are available for a fee from this site. There is also a useful Research Guide for novice genealogists.

JewishGen - JewishGen Inc. is a primary internet source connecting researchers of Jewish genealogy worldwide.

RootsWeb - The free version of Ancestry.com contains extensive interactive guides and numerous research tools for tracing family histories, message boards and an electronic mailing list (list serve).

U.S. GenWeb Project - A non-commercial volunteer organization dedicated to free genealogical research in the U.S. and abroad. Another excellent guide for novice researchers is included.