INTRODUCTION

What is "hard-to-find" information?

Most information published in a genealogical periodical concerns the locality where the society which publishes it is based. Thus you would be able to find California material by merely consulting the table of contents in a periodical from California. Sometimes, however, a society publishes valuable information which concerns other localities. For example, a California periodical may publish information of interest to persons researching Illinois, of Michigan, or perhaps several other states. This fact makes such information "hard-to-find". Such material is listed in this finding guide.

Several periodicals indexed in this work give general coverage rather than a specific one thus making certain items in them hard-to-find. Many such items are brought to the researcher's attention by this guide which lists them under the particular area or subject to which they relate. These periodicals include: The Family Tree, General Reference Builders Newsletter, Records Roundup/World Records, Ancestral Notes, and Midwestern Heritage.

There are also a few publications which relate to two states, so articles dealing with either state are not included in this index. They are: Michiana Searcher, Michigan and Indiana; Illiana Genealogist, Illinois and Indiana; Lost in Canada?, Wisconsin and Canada; and Massog, Massachusetts and Maine.

All the articles listed in this index are found in the genealogical periodicals in the Grand Rapids Public Library. They have been gleaned from 85 quarterlies which cover more than 20 years, to January 1980. The Key to Indexed Periodicals (page 3) gives the names of all the publications included. (Note: Major bound periodicals such as New York Genealogy and Biography, Pennsylvania Archives, etc. are not included

First consideration has been given to placing the hard-to-find article under the name of a state or foreign country. If such an article refers to a group (military, religious, ethnic, etc.) in a given state, it is listed under that state rather than under the broader United States category.

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE

When you find an item of interest to you, note the Roman numeral code number for the periodical, the volume number, and the page number. Find the name of the publication by looking for its Roman numeral in the Key to Indexed Periodicals

Example: "Colorado Pioneer Association, Denver, Colorado 1890"
XXXI, Vol. 13, pg. 46
XXXI - The Report and the Newsletter
Vol. 13- The article begins in that volume.
pg. 46 - The article begins on that page.
If the page number is followed by a plus sign (+), the article is continued in later issues.

If you wish to write to the society which published a particular article, you will find its address in the Key to Indexed Periodicals. Note, since this index was created in 1980, some addresses may no longer be current.