Local History Lovers Wanted

Join the staff of the Mary Talmage Local History Room, on Tuesday May 19, 2009 at 7pm for the first local history roundtable. We will give you an overview of our collection and suggest possible topics for future meetings. There are 5 seats remaining so register today for an evening of discussion. You can register through our program calendar at: http://alpha1.suffolk.lib.ny.us/iii/calendar/month/C&M=5-2009&R=30;jsessionid=BC02D3005562920D6DE343BE120D4C06?lang=eng&suite=def

For more information comment here or contact Teresa Schwind or Lori King at 631-427-5165 ext.251. We look forward to sharing our resources with you.

World War II Collection

Visit http://go.footnote.com/wwii/

and view the largest interactive WWII collection on the Internet. The Collection is a collaborative effort between the National Archives Administration and footnote.com. It includes an interactive version of the USS Arizona Memorial, WWII Hero Pages and WWII photos and documents previously unavailable online. The collection adds a new dimension to the history of those involved in this war and is available for free, for a limited time.

Director of Access Programs at the National Archives James Hastings states, "We can’t afford to forget this period in our history. Our ongoing partnership with Footnote.com helps ensure that the stories contained in these photos and documents are accessible to everyone, particularly those who cannot travel to our facilities to study the original records. This partnership complements our mission of making National Archives holdings as widely available as possible."

The Collection is a wonderful resource for genealogists with ties to those who were a part of WWII. Footnote.com invites those who were impacted by this war to create a Hero Page to add to the collection.

About Footnote, Inc. Footnote.com is a subscription website that features searchable original documents, providing users with an unaltered view of the events, places and people that shaped the American nation and the world. At Footnote.com, all are invited to come share, discuss, and collaborate on their discoveries with friends, family, and colleagues. For more information, visit http://www.footnote.com/.

Baseball and Other Sports in the Town of Huntington Display

The Huntington Historical Society joins the library and the Long Island Reads program to exhibit sports that were played by local families of the early 20th century. The Huntington Historical Society has a wonderful collection of artifacts that represent the rich heritage of the Town.

The display consists of sports memorabilia that has been donated by town residents over the years. Among the items are antique baseball equipment, golf clubs and ice skates that illustrate various sports that were played throughout the community.


The Huntington Historical Society's mission is to preserve the heritage of the town. and they accomplish this through public education programs, the maintenance of two house-museums, collections of costumes and artifacts, genealogy meetings, the research center of and the preservation of five historic buildings.


Stop by the reading room on the first floor of the library to view this timely display.

HeritageQuest Online

HeritageQuest Online is an essential research tool that often gets overshadowed by Ancestry.com. It's wonderful collection of unique material for genealogists and the historical researcher. It's comprised of census records, more than 20,000 book titles (both family and local histories), primary documents, including city directories, tax lists, probate records and more. Military records are also part of the collection, dating back to the American Revolution and the Freedman Bank Records, is considered on of the most important resources for African-American genealogical research.

Best of all, you can access this database from the comfort of your own home. Visit our library's homepage at: http://www.thehuntingtonlibrary.org/, click on our databases, than click on Suffolk e-resources. Scroll down and click on HeritageQuest. With your valid library card number and password you can begin your research.

GENEALOGY RESOURCES ON DISPLAY

Genealogy resources from our collection are on display on the main floor of the library. Stop by and check out a sample of these wonderful and unique items.

We have Huntington and Long Island family genealogies in our collection that may be a valuable asset to your genealogy research.

In the digital age, print sources often get pushed aside in favor of online resources. However, thoroughly researched and compiled books may provide previously undiscovered information.

Visit our library's catalog to search for specific titles: ttp://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us/search~S30 or stop by the Local History Room for assistance.

Researching the History of Your House

Discovering the history of your house can be fun and exciting, but often a difficult task that takes time and perseverance. Library patrons have many reasons for researching the history of their house, from learning of the people who lived their before, determining the age and architectural style, or perhaps to discover historical events associated with one's home. The research and discoveries are countless.

If your interested in tackling the history of your house, below is a guide for the process. It provides an idea of how to begin your research. Stop by the library and the staff of the Mary Talmage Local History Room will be happy to assist you.

Researching the History of Your House

The Office of the County Clerk holds land records dating from the mid-1600’s. These do not always contain descriptions of the house or other buildings found on the land. Even so, a deed is a good place to begin researching the history of your house. The following steps should start you on your way.

1. Read your current deed. Make a note of the Liber (book) and page number which is listed on the upper right hand corner of the deed. At the end of the description of your property, you may find references to the prior deed and the Liber and page number where it was recorded. Make a note of those numbers as well.
2. Go to the Records Room in the Office of the Suffolk County Clerk at the County Center in Riverhead.
3. Go to the rows of numbered Deed Libers and find the lowest numbered Liber you found on your deed. This deed may refer you to an earlier one. Work your way backward through earlier deeds.
4. If you have no Liber numbers on your deed, you can still research your property. Begin with the last name of the person from whom you bought your house and look that name up in the indexes in the Record room. If you bought your home after 1969, you will need to use the terminals in the Public Access Room to look up this information. Land records before 1969 are indexed by both Grantee (buyer) and Grantor (seller) in large index books in the Records Room. These volumes are located on opposite sides of the room. The aisle containing the Grantor indexes that reference the oldest of the deeds are not indicated by a sign, go to the Historic Documents Library and the archivist will show you where to find those books.
5. The Grantee/Grantor indexes are organized as follows: From 1660-1950, all of Suffolk County is indexed in one set of books, arranged alphabetically by the first letter of the last name, inside each volume, the records are arranged by the first letter of the first name. Beginning in 1951 and continuing through 1969, the records are divided by town and within each town they are arranged as described above.
6. There are also Mortgage Libers in the Record Room. Many times the mortgage on a property is referenced in the deed. In the cases of earlier deeds, this may sometimes be a good indication of when a house was constructed on a piece of land.
7. As you work your way backward, you may come to one that is deeded to someone as the heir of a deceased person. Make a note of that person’s name in order to look up the will at the Surrogate’s court. Many times wills are more descriptive of houses than are deeds.
8. Building permits were not issued before the early 1920’s, but you may find reference to a “date of origin” for a house on early permits. These will be on file at your Town Clerk’s Office or in the Building Department. Keep in mind that this date was given by the person applying for the building permit and may be an approximate date.

Other Helpful Records

Records in the Historic Documents Library include several large bound atlases of various portions of Suffolk County. The earliest one is dated c. 1873. Many of these include the property owners’ names. Buildings and houses are also indicated on several of the atlases, sometimes with numbers that signify the number of stories in the house.

There is also a collection of Sanborn Company maps. This company, started in 1867 by D.A. Sanborn was the major provider of maps to the insurance industry for more than one hundred years. Although the collection here does not cover all of Suffolk County, the entire collection of Sanborn maps for the state of New York can be found online here at Huntington Public Library. These maps show buildings and are coded to indicate the type of construction such as wood or steel frame.

One may also want to check the SPLIA (Society for the Preservation of Ling Island Antiquities) list of surveyed historic houses all over Long Island. Patchogue-Medford Library, the central reference library for Suffolk County, has an inventory list located in their local history room.

Family History Center Affiliate Library

We are excited to announce that SCLS (Suffolk Cooperative Library System) has been designated a Family History Center Affiliate Library. Prior to this designation, researchers would have to visit the Family History Center in Plainview or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City to conduct research. Now our patrons can request most microfilm and microfiche listed in the Family History Library Catalog, from the comfort of one's home.

The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was founded in 1894 to help members of the LDS church research their family history and genealogy. The Library has grown tremendously and today it's the largest of its kind. Researchers from across the globe visit the Library and the Centers to conduct wide-ranging research. The collection includes over 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records; 727,000 microfiche; 356,000 books, serials, and other formats; over 4,500 periodicals; 3,725 electronic resources.

For library members the fees are as follows: microfilm loan charges are $6.00 per reel. The loan time is 60 days which includes shipping time to and from the Family History Library. This assumes 15 days shipping time each way, so the patron will have about 30 days to view the microfilm. There is a $6.00 charge for renewal of the microfilm for an additional 30 days. Microfiche are available for loan at the rate of $1.00 per fiche card. The patron may use the fiche for 60 days.

This is an amazing resource and SCLS is thrilled to be designated an Affiliate Library. The procedure for requesting microfilm is tricky so let a librarian walk you through the process. However, do visit the site and explore the vast array of historical information the Family History Library holds. Feel free to contact the Adult Services Department with any questions, 631-427-5165.