IGS Website Now Has More Than 2000 Databases

The Indiana Genealogical Society recently hit a milestone. There are more than 2,000 databases on the IGS website! Each county has at least 8 database (most with many more), plus databases in the Military Records, Statewide Records, College Records, and IGS Records portions of the website.

Here are the newest databases on the IGS website:

Free Databases

Clay County
- Graduates of Bowling Green High School (1924-1965). Contributed by Randi Richardson.

Elkhart County
- Abstracts of Naturalization Records (1907-1918)

Greene County
The following were all contributed by the Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County Public Library.

- Bloomfield City Directory (1939).
- Bloomfield City Directory (1960)
- Graduates of Common Schools in Smith Township (1906)
- Index to Census of Greene County Poor House (1870)
- Index to Census of Greene County Poor House (1880)
- Index to Census of Greene County Poor House (1900)
- Index to Census of Greene County Poor House (1910)
- Index to Census of Greene County Poor House (1920)

Henry County
- New Castle City Directory (1894). Contributed by East Central Indiana Genealogy Alliance.

Monroe County
- Index to Photographs in Yearbooks of Stinesville School (1929-1939). Contributed by Randi Richardson.

Scott County
- Index to Plat Book for Johnson Township (1915). Contributed by Randi Richardson.

Sullivan County
- Merom Phone Directory (1918). Contributed by Sullivan County Public Library.

Members-Only Databases

The following databases are available to IGS members. Not a member? Join today for access to these and more than 2000 other databases!
 
Monroe County
- Veterans of Spanish-American War. Contributed by Randi Richardson.

Putnam County
- History of the Cataract/Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church (1927)

Washington County
- Marriage Records of Quakers in Washington County (1816-1920). Contributed by Randi Richardson.

You can find a list of all of the databases on the IGS website by clicking here. Be sure to explore!

Research Tip: Federal Tax Assessment Lists

By July 1862 the federal government already faced mounting debts from fighting the Civil War. As a result, Congress passed the Internal Revenue Act, which imposed federal taxes on an individual's income, as well as on the purchase of many products and service.

Indiana tax lists from the 1800s were based on how much property someone owned, usually real estate, but sometimes also personal property (such as livestock) if it reached a certain minimum value.

However, the federal taxes that were assessed during the Civil War focused on those who owned personal property such as a horse and wagon, or professionals such as doctors and lawyers who received a license from the state. As such, these federal assessment lists from the 1860s can give you insight into a different group of ancestors than those that were included on Indiana's property tax lists from the same period.

An 1862 federal tax assessment list for Johnson County, Indiana:

Johnson County, Indiana federal tax assessment, 1862. Image courtesy Ancestry.com. Click here for full-size PDF (will open in new tab.)

The National Archives has microfilmed these federal tax assessment lists. Indiana's portion covers 1862 through 1866. Digital images are available at both Ancestry.com (subscription required) and FamilySearch (free): 

• Ancestry.com: U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918
• FamilySearch: United States Internal Assessment Lists, 1862-1874

For the FamilySearch database, you must browse the digital images; they are not yet indexed there. The records are arranged by state and then by county. Ancestry.com's database does have a searchable index, but if you also want to browse the digital images, be aware that they are arranged by state and then Congressional District, not by county. We have a table (PDF format) of Indiana's 92 counties and what Congressional District they were in from 1821 through 1911.

You might want to compare the quality/legibility of the digital images on the two sites. Here is the same Johnson County 1862 list, as viewed on FamilySearch:

Johnson County, Indiana federal tax assessmet, 1862. Image courtesy FamilySearch. Click here for full-size PDF (will open in new tab).

This article originally appeared in the Indiana Genealogical Society's free monthly email newsletter, Indiana News, which features news and information about Indiana genealogy. Click here to subscribe for free, so you can stay up-to-date and learn about Hoosier family history resources.

Digitization Kit #6: Bloomfield Sends Additional Files

What is really gratifying to us is all of the groups who send in data files above and beyond the minimums required. The Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County Library just sent in this file plus another and the Paoli Library also sent in an extra file the other day. Thanks much to both and to others from IGS. We're sure many researchers join us in saying, "Keep 'em coming, guys!"

New Free Databases for Howard and Morgan Counties

IGS is happy to announce several new free databases on the website. All of these were produced as part of the Indiana Genealogy Digitization Project.

Howard County:

Both of these were contributed by the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library.
- Graduates of District Schools in Howard Township, Howard County, Indiana (1908)
- Graduates of District Schools in Liberty Township, Howard County, Indiana (1911)

Morgan County:

Each of these were contributed by the Ten O'Clock Line Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Martinsville.
- Graduates of Martinsville High School, Morgan County, Indiana (1901)
- Graduates of Martinsville High School, Morgan County, Indiana (1905)
- Graduates of Martinsville High School, Morgan County, Indiana (1906)
- Graduates of Martinsville High School, Morgan County, Indiana (1908)
- Graduates of Martinsville High School, Morgan County, Indiana (1909)
- Graduates of Martinsville High School, Morgan County, Indiana (1913)
- Graduates of Martinsville High School, Morgan County, Indiana (1914)

IGS' Indiana Genealogy Digitization Project provides digitization equipment to organizations with Indiana genealogy materials. In exchange for the equipment, the organizations agree to allow the images to be provided for free on the IGS website. We are grateful for the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library, the Ten O'Clock Line Chapter, DAR, and all of the partners in this project for helping make more records available.

If your organization has Indiana genealogy materials that need digitizing, please consider applying for a digitization kit.

Query: George James Shaw, Wabash County

             My grandpa was born Sept. 9, 1885; his name was George James Shaw, which may have been given to him at the orphanage in Wabash County. He was left at orphanage a few days old; had a sister too-he was told. My mother is still alive, and I would like to find out as much as I could about my grandpa, but not sure where to look.

            He said his father was born in Scotland and his mother in Ireland. Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Mert Richardson

706 - 6th Street

Hoquiam, WA 98550

switch66@comcast.net