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By Janet Netz, Manuscripts Committee

Among the unique resources available at the CGS Library is the Manuscript Collection, a body of documents comprising pedigree charts, letters, news clippings, scrapbooks, and other items relating to various families in the United States and beyond. The Manuscript Committee has updated the Manuscript Collection Index to reflect the reorganized Collection, as well as several new collections that have been added over the past five years. The Index is in PDF form and is searchable. Here’s how to access it:

From the website, go to the “Library” tab and click on “What’s in the Library.” From there, click on “Manuscript collection” to download the Index. (See image.)

The Index briefly describes each collection, as well as the major geographies, time frame, and primary surnames covered by that collection. Note that portions of the Covell, Griffin, and Sherman collections have been digitized so far, and detailed finding aids are linked under each of those subject headers. CGS members can click on a link to access the digitized documents online, while nonmembers can click on the link to see a complete list of the documents. (See image below.)

Example of a surname search

One way to use the Index is to search for a surname of interest to you. For example, a surname of interest to me is “Holmes”. Upon searching, I find that Holmes is a significant surname in six collections: Bruce Jones; Dryden; Paybody/Peabody; Sherman, Frederick S.; Taylor; and Tuttle, Adams, Lockwood. When I look at the entry for Bruce Jones, I find that the geography covers Mississippi, one of the places I know my people were. So that is a collection I will investigate at some point. The geography of the Dryden and the Paybody/Peabody collections, on the other hand, does not include any of the places where my Holmes people were, so I won’t spend time on those collections.

You can access the Manuscript Collection with assistance from the Desk Duty staff during CGS’s regular library hours (currently Thursday through Saturday, 10 AM – 2 PM).