Genealogy/Local History
In Library Use on our computers
Sanborn Maps  
Ancestry.com - Library edition

Plus links to:

Making of Modern Michigan

Michigan County Histories

Index to the Marquette County Naturalization Files

Genealogy & Local History Assistance @ PWPL

Reference Staff aids patrons in using the microfilm and microfilm reader/printers when they are seeking information that can be found in the PWPL archived issues of Marquette's local newspapers. The PWPL's microfilm collection includes incomplete holdings of the Lake Superior Journal (July 1846 - Dec 1849) and Lake Superior News & Mining Journal (July 1846 - Nov 1868). It also includes The Weekly Mining Journal (1868 - 1918), The Daily Mining Journal (June 1884 - Dec 31, 1953) and the current newspaper, The Mining Journal, from its inception in January 1954 through present day.

Funeral records are also available at the Canale -Tonella Funeral Home from October 9, 1896 to June 1958.

Access to the website Ancestry.com is provided at the Peter White Public Library's building through the purchase of a use license by the Library of Michigan. Only library, in-house computers can access, cost-free, this subscription database that is widely used for genealogical research. Staff can instruct patrons on how to use the database to find persons in U.S. Census records; Social Security Death Index; Ireland Vital Records; German Immigration Records; Historical Register and Dictionary of the U.S. Army 1789-1903; the Register of Revolutionary War Officers; and numerous other databases dedicated to specific ethnic origins and regions.

For genealogy and/or local history assistance, please stop by the Reference Desk on the second floor, contact the Reference Department at 906.226.4311 or e-mail refdesk@uproc.lib.mi.us.

For copies of local obituaries, visit the Library and Staff (as manning allows) will provide assistance to look up and print an obituary. If you would like staff to locate and print an obituary, there is a small fee for this service. For more details and a printable Obituary Request Form: Obituary Request Form. NOTE: The Peter White Public Library's Obituary Research Service is intended for individuals researching their family histories. We reserve the right to decline requests from paid researchers and companies.

The Marquette County Genealogy Society offers volunteer assistance from 12 noon until 4:00 pm on most Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. No appointments necessary; call 226-4311 to ascertain if a volunteer will be/is present.

 

MAKING OF MODERN MICHIGAN

The Making of Modern Michigan is a collaborative project involving more than 50 Michigan libraries. It includes local history materials from communities around the state. Michigan's unique heritage is represented through photographs, family papers, oral histories, genealogical materials, and much more. As of January 2005, MMM includes contributions from 36 libraries. Collections from another 15 libraries are in the works and will be available soon. The Making of Modern Michigan is headed by the Michigan State University Libraries, in partnership with the Library of Michigan, the Michigan Library Consortium, and the 50+ libraries currently participating in the project.

MMM is funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent federal agency serving museums and libraries.

Peter White Public Library is one of 36 libraries to contribute material to this project. PWPL received a grant to participate in the Making of Modern Michigan digitization project as a part of the Upper Peninsula Digitalization Project. The grant allowed staff and volunteers to purchase equipment to scan and therefore, digitize the Wesley Perron Rail Research Collection. This material had originally been in notebooks with typed papers; now it is digitized and online for searchable use by others interested in railroads in the Upper Peninsula.

To find the complete, digitized heritage in Making of Modern Michigan, go to http://mmm.lib.msu.edu/

To find the Upper Peninsula's Digitization Project Center, go to http://slc2.uproc.lib.mi.us/MMM/

To find Peter White Public Library's Wesley Perron Rail Research Collection Papers, go to http://mmm.lib.msu.edu/search/browsecollections.cfm?t=1, and enter Peter White Public Library.

Helpful Genealogy website's

RootsWeb.com The oldest and largest FREE genealogy site

www.usgenweb.org Free genealogy and family history online

www.cyndislist.com Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet

Index of Native American Resources on the Internet

Directory of Genealogy Libraries in the US: http://www.gwest.org/gen_libs.htm

Ellis Island / Statue of Liberty Entry Records: http://www.ellisislandrecords.org

FamilySearch.org : The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The Genealogy Home Page List of genealogy website's and other helpful sites