Information about City and County Directories

by Rick Huff, Originally published in the "Western New York Genealogical Society, Inc. Journal", Vol. XXVII No.3, 12/2000.

 

One of the cardinal rules of genealogy is when starting a family research project; we must always search within our family first. Once this information has been collected and organized, the next step is to go outside the family to other sources. It is at this point that we look to the public record. There are many sources in the public record. These would include, but not be limited to, sources such as the census, land records, surrogate files, and the like. Near the top of this list should be included the local directory.

 

When your public record search begins, looking to the census index and census records will always a good first step if you know about where someone resides. The census is especially useful in the State of New York because, for a time, the state conducted their census five years apart from the federal census. Other states have done this but not all. The federal census began in 1790 and has been taken every ten years since; as prescribed by the United States Constitution. However, ten years between these counts is a long time, even back when things seemingly moved more slowly. Using the census index and census records can be a daunting task for the researcher, especially in the later years' enumeration. So, how does one locate a family and fill in the subsequent gaps and save some time to boot? Are there other records that can aide in this search? Often times the answer to this question is yes, the local business directories.

 

Census records are invaluable and by using the Federal and New York record, we are able to track a family every five years. To round out and form a more complete picture of a family, the directory will provide even more information about what families did, who they were, when they arrived, when they left, and where they worshiped, from year to year. For this reason, they become an important genealogical research tool.

 

So, what is a directory? Today when we think of a directory we think of the telephone book. In many ways the early city and county directories were much the same but without the telephone numbers. They were compiled, in this area of Western New York as early as the 1840's and are still used today by businesses of all kinds. Directories are a wealth of information and when used in conjunction with the census records they can help piece together a more complete historical record of a family and shed light on the times in which the lived.

 

Directories vary from place to place and this article will focus on the directories of Western New York. We find two kinds of directories, the county and the city directory, and here are a few ideas that may help you put things together when tracing your ancestors. Each directory is broken up into four main sections. The first contains general demographic information about a city, village or county that will usually include a street map of the locality, the names of the current government officials, brief histories, attractions, and other points of interest. The next section of the directory lists the residents in alphabetical order. This is the section that looks much like the telephone directories of today. The third contains the business directory, citing businesses much as our current yellow pages do along with their addresses and advertisements. The fourth is the street locator, which allows the reader to look up a particular street and locate a particular residence. The actual order of these sections may vary from book to book, but all will have them.

 

The directory maps are usually in the front sections of each directory. Besides all of the usual advantages maps bring to a research project, they are a good source for seeing just how towns and cities changed over time when comparing them from one year to another. Don't overlook this point. They are invaluable for helping to locate homes on streets and make a census search easier by pin pointing locations with respect to other families, streets, and landmarks so one may be able to narrow the search for the correct enumeration district and ward. In fact, one can actually trace the steps of the census taker using period maps, the census, and directory simultaneously.

 

Abbreviations are used routinely in directories and it is best to become familiar with them. Know where they are located in each directory and check them before you begin your search. For example, the following would be a typical listing for a fictitious Smith family:

 

Smith John W. h 100 Oak St., Painter

 

Note the 'h' means the residence is John Smith's home. Instead of the 'h' there may be an 'r' which means the person resides at the residence or a 'bds' for boards at this location. There is a distinct difference between these two connotations. The "r" means the person resides at the residence but may not be the owner or head while the "h" means the individual is the householder implying ownership. This can take you to mortgage information and land records at the courthouse. It also implies the family stayed in one location for a longer period of time and this becomes important with regard to tracing other records because it means there may be more information available. It is common for grown children to live at home much as it is today. As each child approaches adulthood and becomes a potential member of the labor force, they will be cited separately in the listings, hence the 'r' or the 'bds' next to their names in the following example:

 

Smith John W. h 100 Oak St., painter
Smith Lawrence B. bds 100 Oak St,. laborer
Smith Minnie A. r 100 Oak St., teacher
Smith Thomas J. r 100 Oak St., student

The street locator section, is the portion of the directory that has each street listed alphabetically. For each street listing, the residence is listed by house number and head of household and gives a snapshot of all that were living in the neighborhood at the time. This section also points out which streets crossed and which were parallel to others. All of this information may have great genealogical relevance with regard to friends, marriages and other familial relationships. Linking our ancestor's family to others with the same surname in the vicinity can be done in this manner along with providing possible clues to the whereabouts of future spouses. Often times these families were in the same neighborhood, shopped at the same grocer, butcher and clothiers, just to name a few.

 

Another important aspect of the street locator might be the location of churches and businesses. If you do not know which church your ancestor attended or even what denomination they were, it would be logical to use the streets index as it would show the churches that were in proximity to your ancestor's home; this can narrow the search and be a big time saver. Another benefit worth mentioning is that some directories have separate sections that contain an alphabetical listing of family's and their estate value; a valuable bit of information for land record and mortgage information.

 

Finally, there is the business section of the directory. Listed alphabetically by name and type of business, these entries provide the usual information about the business but they may also contain the company's business card as an additional promotion of their business. Other directories have actual business card sections and these are sometimes in the back and other times in the front of the directories but they are worth a look, if for no other reason than for their artwork and historical interest.

 

Tracking information in the business directories can be another benefit for the researcher. If a family was in a location for a longer period of time, one can create a picture of who they were and what they did from year to year and this is the real value of the directory the adds to the census picture. One example, would be the place of employment. Just like today, our occupation to a great extent, defines whom we are. This kind of information is supplied in the directory's alphabetical listings of residents. This next listing is an example, which gives the individuals' name, address, occupation and place of employment:

 

Smith John W. h 100 Oak St., painter, R & C Corp.
Smith Lawrence B. bds 100 Oak St,. laborer, R & C Corp.

 

There is another item to ponder in this instance. Note here that the same company employed Lawrence as John W. Smith. With no other information, we might be able to say that Lawrence, circumstantially, appears to be related in some way to John W. Moreover, John may have assisted with his employment at this company and Lawrence might have been an aspiring painters apprentice! Of course, this is not the only possibility, Lawrence could be the brother, father, or son of John W., but we do know for certain they worked for the same employer that year and they were residing at the same address. This is a compelling argument for relationship but more information would be needed to substantiate this relationship. As is often the case, it may be more than we had when we started!

 

It is often the case that we may find a company's history and our ancestor's paralleled each other; and this fact makes the employer another possible source of information in our ancestral search. Using the directories over a period of years will also tell us when businesses merged, ceased to exist, or moved to another location. In the case where the business left the area, we can surmise the families may have left the area too in search employment. Often times we will see a name in the residential section which may have included in that entry "removed" to another location. This means the family or individual moved away to another location and what is better, the destination is usually provided, such as "removed to Buffalo" or "removed to Medina". This would then obviate picking up the search from the new location as the next step in the search. These entries are especially helpful if we lost track of an ancestor and it may provide clues to others disappearance because once one family moved away other family members may have followed because of the opportunities and adventure moving to a new location to start over.

 

A year to year search of directories is a great benefit when used in pinpointing families for a census search. The addresses, in conjunction with period maps will help to narrow down the particular enumeration district. This use of directories goes to great lengths to reduce the fatigue that often accompanies a lengthy search for a family in a city.

 

What I believe to be one of the best reasons for tracking families in the directories from year to year is one can observe the maturation of an entire family and often locate the names of other relatives in the process. When children were old enough to enter the workforce, they were cited in the listings with their occupation and place of employment. In the case where one of the adults was attending school and possibly college, this too would be mentioned. Monitoring the family annually may enable one to link your family to others in the neighborhood and lend evidence to origination of names and why friendships and marriages may have occurred.

 

If you're one of the lucky ones, there are times when an actual death date for an individual family member appears in the listings. Moreover, the listings will also show who was left residing at the residence, which would provide clues about the disposition of the estate. Besides the benefit of having the death date for a given individual, there may be the actual naming of the widow as the head of household. In some instances, the wife's name may have been unknown. In other circumstances the widow's name would serve as confirmation of the ancestor's identities. An example of this is given below. This death date becomes important in many respects. It will allow us to locate an obituary, it may indicate the existence of a dearth certificate, land transactions and an estate file.

 

More recent studies by the insurance industry have shown that when one spouse dies, the other will usually follow within ten years. This is especially true when a marriage had longevity. So, continue to follow the pages closely and you may locate another mortality. I have seen on many occasions where one elderly spouse dies soon after the first one passes on; in some cases within a year or two. Continuing to track the directories may also eventually furnish the widow's maiden name because parents were often taken in when they were not in the position to take care of themselves.

 

Smith Anna L. widow, h 100 Oak St.,
Smith John W. died 5/16/1891
Smith Lawrence B. bds 100 Oak St,. laborer
Smith Minnie A. r 100 Oak St., teacher
Smith Thomas J. r 100 Oak St., student

In another section this addition appears:

Jones Thomas, wid., res 100 Oak St.

 

A key point to remember; always check for errors. Like any other record made by human beings, mistakes in entry often occur. To avoid this trap always look at more than one year and, if possible, as many as you can. The most common example of errors; last names can be spelled differently from year to year. The moral of this story is to check all spellings for every year to be sure.