Preserving Local Memories

By: Dellie Craig

The Crawfordsville District Public Library is home to the Marian Morrison Local History Collection, featuring materials on Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana and surrounding areas. Located on the second floor of the library, our Local History and genealogy section is a part of the Reference Department and features a robust online database in addition to the collection located in the building.

We often digitize fragile materials that can’t be handled easily using a special high resolution scanner housed in the archives room of the library. Early photographs, letters, diaries, books and such are digitized by trained staff members and some are indexed for ease of research. Once items are digitized, links are added to the library website so patrons can access them online. New items are added regularly.

One recent addition is the Wier-Krout Reunion Book (alternately spelled Weir). The book contains minutes and officers from 1921 to 2001 and has been uploaded in five parts to the website. One of the benefits of digitization is the ability to preserve the original documents and another is that the digitized file reader has the ability to zoom in and out of the documents to make reading easier. Some of the digitized documents are able to be downloaded to your device so you can read them without being connected to the internet or save them for your own family history. You can also share the digital documents with your family when researching your genealogy.

If your family or organization has historical documents you would like considered for digitization, the library can scan a copy for the Local History webpage. You don’t even have to part with the original unless you would like to donate them for our collection. The library can preserve these documents using archival methods for future generations.

One organization that recently shared documents with the library is the Mace Methodist Episcopal Church. Their membership rolls with information from 1892 onward has been recently added to the library’s digital collection. The three-part document includes the family names, relations, and occupations of the congregation members. The Mace Kings Daughters Sunday School documents from 1917-1921 and 1940-1948 have also been scanned. These documents include the minutes and membership of the group associated with the Methodist Episcopal Church. If you have family from the Mace area, look for their names and read about what they were doing.

Also of interest are documents from The Grand Army of Republic. The GAR was a fraternal group composed of veterans of the Union Army, Navy, and Marines, who served during the American Civil War. The group was founded in 1866 in Decatur, Illinois. Crawfordsville was home to the McPherson Post No. 7 of the GAR. The local history collection has many interesting documents from the McPherson Post. The Treasurer Book from 1884-1893 includes members’ names, dues, credits, debits, and notes. If you are looking for someone from Montgomery County that served during the Civil War, check the GAR Membership List Ledger, 1895-1941. This ledger has an index of members. The ledger will list their rank and unit, the dues they paid, and any notes about them. Also available is the Roster and two books of minutes from the Grand Army of the Republic.

For a complete list of the digital materials available, visit the Local History and Genealogy page of the library’s website at cdpl.lib.in.us/services/local-history-and-genealogy. Toward the bottom of the page is a section titled “Explore Further” which features the “Digitized CDPL Resources. If you have local history documents or books you would like to share with the library, please contact Dellie Craig, our local history specialist, at 765-362-2242, ext. 119 or [email protected]

-Dellie Craig is a Local History Specialist and Michelle Ogden is a Library Assistant. You can find them in the Reference and Local History Department at CDPL.