Genealogy Department

Visitors searching their roots or interested in studying the history of a particular town or locality in New England or one of the states along the Eastern seaboard will find the Library's Genealogy Department to be of valuable assistance. Located on the second floor in a gallery overlooking the Library's main reading room, the Genealogy Department is considered one of the best of its kind on Cape Cod. The core of the holdings is the Edgar Francis Waterman Memorial Genealogical Collection, organized and integrated into the Library commencing in 1979. The collection continues to expand. 

The Genealogy Department is currently open 1:00 to 4:00 PM on Tuesdays.   If you need assistance,  a staff member is on duty in the Genealogy department during those hours.  We suggest you make an appt to use the genealogy collection by contacting Nancy at eplgenealogy@eldredgelibrary.org or call the library at 508-945-5170.  Space is limited in the Genealogy section.

General Reference

Guides for genealogical research; emigrant and passenger arrival lists; military pension indexes; Mayflower families; DAR indexes; heraldry; compendium of colonial lineages.

Histories

County and town histories of New England and middle Atlantic states; Vital Records to 1850 for most Massachusetts towns; Canadian records; Vols. 1-7 "The Search For Missing Friends - Irish research.

Family Histories and Genealogies

Over 500 volumes of individual families, by surname, including many early Cape Cod families.

Periodicals and Newsletters

National, state and local historical and genealogical societies.

Useful Genealogical Web Sites

 

Online Genealogy Database

HeritageQuest Online. HeritageQuest Online is designed specifically for patrons in public libraries who are either just beginning their family research or who after years of work are still uncovering their past. With over 25,000 books, the U.S. Federal Census (no 1850 and partial 1930), and other expanding collections, HeritageQuest Online gives any library the chance to tap in to one of the largest collections of genealogy material in the country. You must have a library card from a Massachusetts library to access this database.

Ancestry.com. Ancestry.com is an online database that includes U.S, UK and Canadian census records, obituary records, U.S. immigration collection and marriage, birth and death records (social security death index). There are newspaper entries, OneWorldTree and military records. This is an excellent resource for searching for genealogy records. This database is available from within the Eldredge Public Library only.

 

The  Eldredge Public Library is a Family Search Affiliate Library.   Users must go to http://www.familysearch.org and create their personal Family Search account.   When you access Family Search from within the EPL, you will have access to additional records.