Free Genealogy

Free Genealogy

I’m interested in researching my family history. Where is the best place to go for that?

Outside Resources Available Through the Library:

Ancestry Library Edition:

Accessible free only at a library branch. This database of genealogical resources includes the complete U.S. Census, a multitude of city directories, Find-A-Grave records, military records such as draft registration cards and muster rolls, immigration records such as passenger lists and naturalization records, the Social Security Death Index, and birth, marriage, and death records (coverage varies by state).  Available at all Doniphan County library branches.  Temporary access at home with current Library District 1 card.

Heritage Quest:

Accessible at home or at the library with Kansas Library Card. HeritageQuest offers access to federal census records and city directories, U.S. Indian Census Rolls, slave schedules and Freedman’s Bank records, mortality schedules, agricultural and industrial schedules, and a variety of published family and local histories.

In addition to the newspapers that we hold in microfilm (see below), there are several possibilities for accessing Doniphan County newspapers online: Newspaper.com:

Offers free access to Kansans through the Kansas State Historical Society and makes available several Lawrence and Douglas County newspapers dating from the mid-1850s through 1922. Enter your name, Kansas DL or ID number, and your birth date for access to this archive. The Kansas State Historical Society also offers a searchable database of the newspapers in its collection.

Chronicling America:

A project that offers a searchable U.S. Newspaper Directory which can be narrowed by geographic coverage, date, language, ethnicity, and labor press (i.e., published for readers of a particular occupation or political philosophy, such as coal miners, dairy farmers, and/or socialists).

Local Resources from the Library

Local Digital Resources:
I addition to the information and files below, we have created our own Genealogy Website.  Access to genealogy information including family histories, obituaries, and local cemetery information. Bear with us as we continue to add items. General Historic Documents Family Files (sorted by last name) Doniphan County Churches  Brenner School
Doniphan County Schools 

Brenner School

Doniphan County Graduations

Bendena High School:

      Bendena High School Yearbooks Doniphan West High School:

Doniphan West High School Yearbooks

Highland High School:

Highland High School Yearbooks

Midway High School:

        Midway High School Yearbooks

Severance School:         Severance Grade and High School Yearbooks

Sparks School:

          Sparks Grade School Yearbooks

Troy High School:

First Graduate Class of Troy High School

Trojan Trumpet

Troy High School Yearbooks

Wathena High School:

Wathena School

Wathena High School Banquet

Wathena High School Yearbooks

Doniphan County Cemetery Inventory – by Speedy and Gail Stewart Doniphan Town Site Elwood City Historical Documents Fanning Historical Documents Highland Historical Documents Jackson County, Kansas Schools          Whiting Rural High School Yearbooks

Jackson Heights High School Yearbooks

Leona Historical Documents Troy City Historical Documents Wathena City Historical Documents Vertical Files Miscellaneous Documents:

4-H News

Military

Local Physical (nondigital) Resources:

These are hard-copy resources available only at the Library branches. They are not available for check-out. The bulk of our physical collection of newspapers, birth and death announcements, military service records, etc. are at the Troy Library.  The other branches also have small local genealogy collections that may help you research your family history. The Doniphan County Courthouse is just across the street from the Troy Branch, so it is very convenient to do research in Troy. Microfilm – The following are available at the Troy Branch:
  • Federal and State Census records for Doniphan County from 1854-
  • Various Doniphan County Newspapers Centennial State 1881 Coffeyville Earth  1913 Denton Journal  1897 Denton Wheel  1895 – 1896 Doniphan County Hustler  1898 Doniphan County Hustler  1906 – 1908 Doniphan County Hustler  1924 – 1928 Elwood Inquire  1965 Elwood Inquire  1967 Highland Vidette  1893 – 1898 Highland Vidette  1900 – 1973 Highland Vidette  1986 – 1994 Highlander  1924 Highlander  1950 Kansas Chief  1919 Kansas Chief  1920 – 1925 Kansas Chief  1927 Kansas Chief  1929 – 1993 Leona Sun  1896 Newspress  1877 – 1878 Severance News  1883 Severence News  1889 Severence News  1900 – 1906 Severence News  1908 – 1909 Severence News  1910 – 1926 Telephone  1906 – 1907 Troy Times  1886 – 1901 Wathena Advance  1878 Wathena Republic March 1900 – Dec 1900 Wathena Republic  1901 – 1906 Wathena Republic  1908 – 1910 Wathena Republic  1912 Wathena Republic  1914 Wathena Republic  1917 Wathena Star  1896 – 1897 Wathena Star  1899 – 1900 Wathena Times  1902 – 1907 Wathena Times  1930 – 1991 Wathena Times  1993 – 1993 Wathena Times  1995 Wathena Weekly Gazette  July 1889 – Sept 1890 White Cloud Chief  1920 White Cloud Globe  1892 – 1921 White Cloud Review  1881 – 1885 White Cloud Review  1896 – 1897 White Cloud Review  1949
The Photograph Collection

Photos donated to the library.  Contains photographs of Doniphan County people, businesses, and events.

Local Cemetery Information
Local Obituaries
Funeral Home Records


Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                        1918-1925 (Index)
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1918-1925 pg.1-72
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1918-1925 pg.73-92
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1918-1925 pg.1-99
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1918-1925 pg.100-175
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1918-1925 pg.176-235
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1918-1925 pg.236-300
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1925-1930 (Index) pg 1-75
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1925-1930 pg.76-150
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1925-1930 pg.151-225
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1925-1930 pg.226-300
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1931-1933 (Index) pg.101-148
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1931-1933 pg .149-198
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1931-1933 pg.199-233
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1934-1936 (Index) pg.234-281
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1934-1936 pg.282-329
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1934-1936 pg.330-357
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1937-1939 (Index) 358-404
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1937-1939 pg.405-454
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1937-1939 pg.455-482
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1940-1942 (Index) pg.483-530
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1940-1942 pg.531-579
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1940-1942 pg.580-614
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1943-1945(Index)  pg.615-662
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1943-1945 pg .663-710
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1943-1945 pg.711-723, 1-14
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1946-1948 (Index) pg.15-61
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1946-1948 pg.62-111
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1946-1948 pg.112-152
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1949-1951 (Index) pg.153-200
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1949-1951 pg.201-234
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1949-1951 pg.235-263
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1951-1953 (Index) pg264-311
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1951-1953 pg.312-357
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1954-1957 (Index) pg.358-405
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1954-1957 pg.406-452
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1954-1957 pg.453-480
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1954-1957 pg.481-507
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1958-1961 (Index) pg.508-555
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1958-1961 pg.556-604
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1958-1961 pg.605-653
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1958-1961 pg.654-690
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1962-1965 (Index) pg.691-738
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1962-1965 pg.739-787
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1962-1965 pg.788-824
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1965-1968 (Index) pg.1-48
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1965-1968 pg.49-97
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1965-1968 pg.98-146
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1969-1973 (Index) pg.147-194
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1969-1973 pg.195-243
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1969-1973 pg.244-292
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1969-1973 pg.293-341
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1973-1976 (Index) pg.342-380
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1973-1976 pg.381-417
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1973-1976 pg.418-453
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1976-1979 (Index) pg.454-501
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1976-1979 pg.502-546
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1976-1979 pg.547-570
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1979-1983 pg.1-40
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1979-1983 (Index) pg.41-160.
Harman-Rohde Funeral Home                                         1984-1987 (Index) pg.1-167

Other Helpful Resources

A History of Doniphan County Schools (from a book written in 1893)

Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records:  The Bureau of Land Management has original land patents which can be searched online by state and name. You can view or order a copy of a patent online.

Cyndi’s List of genealogical sites on the internet:  The largest and best known list of Genealogy websites

Doniphan County GenWeb

Find a Grave:  Search over 70 million grave records, some of which include pictures of headstones and cemeteries and other information on your ancestors.

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild

Kansas Memory: Accessible anywhere. This database offers a broad, statewide selection of digitized Kansas maps, photographs, and other primary documents from the collections of the Kansas State Historical Society.

K. Roger Pyle’s Doniphan County 1882 Plat book

LDS Family Search:  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint’s online research website. Their three big resources – International Genealogical Index, Ancestral File and Family History Library Catalog are all available here.

Soldiers and Sailors Database:  Accessible anywhere. The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS) is a database containing information about the men who served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. Other information on the site includes histories of Union and Confederate regiments, links to descriptions of significant battles, and selected lists of prisoner-of-war records and cemetery records.

The USGenWeb Project:  An outstanding volunteer effort to provide information on all the states and counties in the US. The sites vary but at a minimum have query pages and volunteer lookups. Also worth a visit is the USGenWeb Project Archives.

William G Cutler’s History of the State of Kansas
-Doniphan County section

Genealogy Libraries

National Archives–Kansas City: The Kansas City branch of the National Archives offers free access to a variety of databases. NARA holdings include census, immigration, military, naturalization, and land records.

State Archives & Library, Kansas Historical Society, 6425 SW 6th St. Topeka, KS. Open 9:00-4:30 T-F. Kansas newspapers on microfilm, Kansas history, some genealogical materials from other states, free access to ancestry.com. www.kshs.org

Midwest Genealogy Center, 3440 Lee’s Summit Rd, Independence, MO. Part of Mid-Continent Library system, a 52,000 square-foot free-standing facility dedicated to genealogy. Strong Missouri collection, resources from all states. www.mymcpl.org/genealogy (816) 252-6272