Finding aids provide further information for each of MGC’s archival collections. Each will include the following elements:
Collection Summary
Collection Inventory
Rights and Access to each archival collection
Name and folder indexes are available for some of MGC’s archival collections. Name indexes display first, maiden, middle, and last names as well as any notes that may help identify individuals. Folder indexes display the folder title and additional information.
This collection contains photos of Herman and Pauline Schumann and their family. Many of the photos are unidentified. Other documents include the original baptismal and marriage records from Germany as well as the deed of sale for land owned by Herman Schumann.
This collection contains some genealogical information related to the Rector and Collins family from Nebraska. Other items include personal items belonging to Wilma (Rector) Hanks such as her senior class book of photos. Some items relate to acquaintances living in and around Norfolk, Nebraska as well as the Omaha, Nebraska area. One album is comprised of photographs and other items related to doctors and nurses at Lutheran Hospital in Norfolk, Nebraska, and Dr. Cowin’s Hospital in Marshall, Minnesota.
This collection contains photos and genealogical documents relating to the Jennings, Gartman, and Nauman families. Photos date back to the nineteenth century and some have been identified and dated. Genealogical documents include such items as marriage and death certificates, obituaries, funeral programs, wedding announcements, and naturalization papers. Some brief biographical sketches and personal histories from family members written in the 1950s and one from 1980 make up part of this collection. Family members also provided lists of names and dates of vital records for extended family.
This collection pertains to the Kimberlin family of Cass County, Missouri. Deeds, land patents and title abstracts for land purchased by the Kimberlin and Pulliam family date from the 1840s to 1914. Other documents related to the family include farm leases, land patents, insurance policies, and receipts. Some receipts date back to the 1840s and include items sold and purchased, as well as a receipt of money from an insurance company for the theft of a horse. Some of the other items relate to their professional life as a judge, county clerk, and a farmer. Items reflecting their businesses include weight tickets for corn and other crops grown from the 1890s as well as ledgers with payment information. Other interesting items in the collection include Civil War payment vouchers and exemption for service given to Joseph Kimberlin based on his age. The items in this collection had been originally stored in brown document bags inside a trunk. Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, a major supplier of denim to Levi Strauss, produced one of the bags that still has a portion of the logo visible on the bag.
The collection primarily comprises the genealogical research prepared by Lowell Howell about the Lowell family and other related families. Arranged in five series, the collection contains numerous handwritten and typed family group sheets and pedigree charts, genealogical research, and documents. The information was obtained through correspondence, ordering documents, and research in libraries and online. The collection includes several manuscripts of family histories written by family members.
This collection contains genealogical research about the Livesay family primarily in England. Records include extracted records and copies of original records. Other records include United States Census extracted records from various states where the Livesay name was found.
This collection contains genealogical research done by Jack Lake Revare for both his paternal and maternal families. The majority of the research was done from the 1980s through 2000s. The collection is mainly comprised of research notes on each of the families as well as pedigree charts and family group sheets. Family names include Colliver, Eales, Greathouse, Huguenard, Lady, Lake, Mayo, Northcutt, Owens, Quimby, Remy, Watts, Whaley, and Wheeling families.
This collection contains manuscripts and notes used to write family histories on both the Stevens family and Gray family. Casimir P Stevens used the information from his genealogical research to write several books on both families from about 1918 to 1940. Typed original copies of his books were included in the donation and have been added to the Midwest Genealogy Center book collection. Photographs of family members in the collection date around the early twentieth century.
This collection is primarily family group sheets for the Kelsay family along with loose photographs on the history of the Kelsay family. Additional materials on the Kelsay family are in the Adair County Library in Columbia, KY and in the Morgan County Library and the Morgan County Historical Society Museum in Versailles, MO. Dr. Kelsay collaborated with Carl Kelsay and Thema Scott Hickson to research and record the various Kelsay family lines. Each individually compiled extensive records.
The collection consists of family photos and CD’s with books, drafts of books, and genealogical research of family histories on the McIntosh and related families. A few CD’s contain oral histories or personal histories.
The collections consists of photos, documents, correspondence, and artifacts relating to the life of George B. Owens. Although many of the items relate to his personal life, they also have a broader context. As a student and later a teacher in Johnson County, Kansas and Wyandotte County, Kansas schools, many of the photos are not only not only of him, but class photos, and photos of school buildings. The collection helps form a history of the early rural schools in the area. The photos and artifacts relating to his military career include many early photos of airplanes from World War I.
The collection contains copies of sexton records including interment records, burial records, and lot records from various cemeteries in Kansas City, Kansas and one cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri. The information collected was used by Joan Kusek to publish books containing indexes of burials in those cemeteries. Other records include handwritten cemetery transcriptions done during the 1980s or 1990s. The collection includes digital images of Index cards transcribed from funeral home records. The records were transcribed around 1980s or 1990s. Some of the funeral homes no longer exist. The project to publish the funeral home index was not completed.
This collection consists of the genealogical research for the Pulliam/Schneck and families who married Pulliam/Schneck descendants. Surnames included are as follows: Pulliam, Schneck, Williams, Nelson, Lindley, Byram, Martin, Priddy, Newby, Holladay, Sandige, Fuchs, Sloan, Parke, Hammonds, Willigs, Deibert and Fee. This research contains family group sheets, original documents, photographs, copies documents, and more. Also contained within this collection are family histories, journals, correspondence, and cards.
There is also content in this collection provided by Mary Laurine. Her additions include information from e-mail correspondence regarding genealogy surname research.
The collection contains genealogical research on the Mai family including correspondence, photographs,
and research notes. The basis of the collection is funeral books and the accompanying records such as
obituaries, eulogies, and funeral programs for members of the Mai family.
The collection comprises family photos from the Gee family from the late 1800s through the mid-1900s. Many of the family photos are from portrait studios in Nebraska, Ohio, and Illinois. Other photos may be from families related to the Gee family by marriage. Many photos include handwritten identification with first names and relationships such as aunt, or great grandfather. The collection contains other related family items such as postcards, letters, newspaper clippings, a poem, and a Cradle Roll Certificate from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
The family register in the middle of the Bible begin with the marriage of William Albert Bass and Ann Joyce Burroughs. The pages contain pedigree charts for the father’s family and the mother’s family. Other pages include information about children and grandchildren as well as pages to record things to remember.
The collection consists of family photos and postcards belonging to the Lawson family from the 1920s to the 1950s. Many of the photos have been organized into albums but others are loose. Some photos have names, location and date recorded. Many of the photos are from trips. Others are taken in the Kansas City area where the family resided.
An envelope from the First State Bank in Donna, Texas contained deeds belonging to E. E. Vickers tracing ownership of land in Hidalgo County, Texas. The legal description of the land is Lots numbered 1 and 2 in Block 65 for Lott Town and Improvement Company’s subdivision of lands, containing 6.75 acres of land out of the La Blanca grant of land. The earliest deed for the property is dated May 14, 1913 and the last deed to E. E. Vickers dated January 22, 1924. The envelope also included a contract of sale for other land owned by E. E. Vickers in 1924. The legal description of that land is Lot No. 3 in Block 30 of Hammond Addition to the Town of McAllen.
This collection comprises six marriage record books belonging to Reverend Harry E. Corbin. The first book notes that Harry E. Corbin bought the book while living in Canton, Missouri in 1923. The book details marriages dating back to 1913 added by Harry E. Corbin after the purchase of the book. The date of the last entry in the final book is 1969. The number of recorded marriages performed by Reverend Corbin totaled 585 marriages. Each record lists the date and place where the license was issued, the names and residences of the couple being married, the witnesses, and the date and location the marriage was performed. At the front of each book is an alphabetical index of names along with the corresponding page number of the marriage record.
The photo album is a green, hardbound album with flowers and a cameo decorating the front and velvet on the back cover. It has a decorative metal clasp. The album pages have slots for photographs. Some of the photographs are labeled using a labeler and others have penciled names on the album pages. Many of the photographs have been pasted into the album. The oldest photographs are tintypes of Enos and Gertrude when they are very young. A note taped inside the front of the album states: “This album was presented to Miss Gertrude Wentz of Elgin Ohio Dec 25 1898 by Enos M. Sherrieb of Mahoning Penn.” Inside the album is a letter with some genealogical information as well as sheets of paper with family names and dates recorded. Other items kept in the album are a lock of hair from Gertrude, Enos and Gertrude’s marriage license, some newspaper clippings, and funeral programs. The loose items have been removed from the album and put into an acid free folder.
The scrapbook contains items pasted on pages of a book. The lettering on the book says “SCRAPBOOK” and the cover and pages are bound by string. The items in the scrapbook relate to Mildred Schoenborn’s life both before and after her marriage. The oldest item in the scrapbook is a copy of her parents wedding announcement. The album contains such items as newspaper clippings, telegrams, announcements, invitations, programs, post cards, photographs, and other memorabilia. Interesting items include invitations from several U.S. presidents to attend receptions at the White House. Mildred also kept a piece of the dirigible, USS Los Angeles. The items in the scrapbook provide insight into hobbies and pastimes of Mildred as well as genealogical information about members of her family.
This collection contains one hardbound album. The pages within the album have slots for photographs and all photographs are in black and white. A note in the front of the album states that “penciled notations are those of Aunt Lena-sister of Florence Evelyn formerly Leland.” A notation in the back of the book states that in 1950, Mary McCoy, nee Mary Laura Townsley, went through the album and tried to identify the various people and their relationship to her. Some notations in the album are underneath the photographs and others are written on the backs of the photographs. The creator of the original album is unknown. The first photograph is of Mary (Townsley) McCoy’s grandmother, Mary (Bowen) Moses. The photographs in the album mainly represent the Moses and Townsley families.
This collection is digital images of voter registration books from Jackson County, Missouri. The information in the registers includes the voter's name, address, birthplace, race (color), term of residence, township and voting precinct. One book from the 4th Precinct, Brooking Township was kept as example.
The collection consists of one civil docket book from the time that Si Farmer served as Justice of the Peace in Washington Township in Jackson County, Missouri. The beginning of the book contains an alphabetical index of names with corresponding page numbers. The main portion of the book details the cases brought before the Justice of the Peace. They list the plaintiff and defendant along with the fees involved and who was responsible for paying those fees.
The family record sheets located in the middle of the Bible contain two pages of family records with name, place of birth, date of birth, date of marriage, and date of death for family members listed. Many of the names and dates are in the same handwriting. The correspondence in the front of the Bible dated in the 1930s indicate that George Morris Abell possessed the Bible at some time. The names listed in the record pages include both paternal and maternal families of George Morris Abell and include the surnames: Abell, Ralls, Dunkkum, and Doty.
