Google Books

There is one type of genealogy resource that helps us move beyond the names and dates of our ancestor's lives. This resource is a wonderful place to find wills, obituaries, family stories, land ownership records and much more. These resources are in old books found in Google Books.

Google Books has lots of county histories. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there was a push for county histories and biographical compilations. These books have geographic, social, economic, political and religious notes about specific areas. In the second half of the books are biographical sketches about prominent people in the area and these sketches may include relevant dates, lists and information on family members, and stories about these people.

Google Books is a collection of digitized books and magazines from around the world. Many are out of copyright and in the public domain. Some books you may only have a snippet view of the book, but there are many books that you can view the entire book and even download them as a PDF. For those books that only allow a snippet view, Google does help you find places where you may purchase a copy or even find a copy in a library near you.

You can search Google Books by your ancestor’s name and town or county where they lived. There are even books on court records, patents, and military books from the area you are searching. There are books about churches and congregations that my list your ancestors as attending these churches. By clicking control and f, you can do a search in these books for specific names or information you are researching.

First, go to Google Books (books.google.com), and you can start with a narrow search for books with your family names. As an example, I always start my search out with the family surname I’m looking for and add genealogy (Brinkerhoff family genealogy). I might even include the state, county, or town where they lived. Then look for ‘Tools’ at the top of the page. Click on it and choose ‘Any books’ from the drop-down menu. Next click on ‘Any books’ and from that drop-down menu choose ‘Free Google Books’ to get the books that you can read its complete version.

Next time you are researching, be sure and give Google Books a try! These books are great for finding information that may not be elsewhere.