Let Index Of Periodicals Make Life Easier

I have wonderful news for all genealogists who use the downtown Spokane Public Library’s Genealogy Section: PERSI is here!

We have the library to thank for the purchase of this multivolume reference set of books.

PERSI stands for PERiodical Source Index, a set of resource books published by the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Ind. Imagine having a comprehensive place, subject and surname index to genealogy and local history periodicals from across the nation dating back to 1847. That’s PERSI.

A genealogy periodical can be published periodically or on a regular basis. The Bulletin of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society is an example, as is The New England Genealogical and Historical Register.

Genealogy periodicals contain articles and biographies usually pertaining to people from the area of publication, but at times they carry information from other locales. For instance, the EWGS Bulletin has printed Oregon Trail stories.

A genealogy periodical might also contain local records - census, cemetery, business and church - and vital records, such as births, marriages and deaths.

However, knowing that all kinds of helpful information is published in genealogy periodicals is a long way from knowing how to get your hands on the material.

If you need cemetery information in Baldwin County, Ala., for instance, and suspect the information might have been published in the Baldwin County Genealogy Society’s newsletter, how would you get your eager hands on that information?

This is where PERSI will be a gold mine.

The computer program comes in an original set of books covering 1847 through 1985, then with annual supplements up through 1993 (so far). There is a PLACE section, a SUBJECT section, and a SURNAME section. Here is how you use PERSI:

First, look up your family name in the SURNAME section. There are also first names listed, followed by a brief, one-line statement of published information on the surname. The last column is a four-letter code abbreviation which will lead you to the full name of the periodical and the issue that contains the desired information.

For instance, you may find a listing like this: “POTTER, John - Family Bible of John Potter and Abigail Smith - PAYF-7-1-Mar 1954.” This means that in the genealogy periodical, Your Family Tree, Vol. 7, No. 1, in March 1954, a Potter-Smith family Bible record was published. If this fits your family, you will no doubt be singing and dancing when you find this.

The PLACE section is for looking up geographic places. This does not just mean where the periodical was published, but the place pertaining to the published material. For instance, an Oklahoma periodical might have published cemetery records from a county in Texas since the two states are closely tied along a common border.

To use the PLACE section, look up where your ancestors lived and you’ll find a list of everything that’s been included in a genealogy periodical during the time period covered by that book.

And, you’ll find a similar source citation as shown above. Using this PLACE section could be a real bonanza if, for instance, you discover published cemetery records from “your” county, saving you having to write to that cemetery.

Using the SUBJECT section is probably the most fun.

Do you have an ancestor who served in World War I? Traveled the Oregon Trail? Was involved in bootlegging? Was a crewman on a canal boat?

Look up these subjects to find background material published in a genealogical periodical to help you understand the life and times of your ancestor.

But, once you find the citation in PERSI, you are still only halfway toward the goal.

With citation in hand, you’ll want to access the specific periodical to gain the information. The library’s Genealogical Section receives periodicals from dozens of societies, and possibly your PERSI citation will direct you to one that’s right on our own shelves.

If it’s not there, you can write to the Allen County Public Library and, for a small fee, they will look up, copy and send the cited material to you.

If you use PERSI in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, you can look up the references for yourself. Most are in that library.

So, genealogists, take notice. If you’re not using PERSI, you’re working too hard to find material that possibly could be accessed with ease.

In other genealogy news, Sherry Irvine, owner of the Interlink Bookshop in Victoria, British Columbia, wrote to say she now has a U.S. mailing address - 228-K W. First, Suite 224, Port Angeles, Wash., 98362 - and a toll-free phone number - (800) 747-4877. Irvine’s bookshop offers a wide variety of research aids for those seeking Canadian and English ancestors. She also offers many genealogical research services. To ask a question or request a catalog, give her a call.

The fall special educational sessions of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society will be Tuesday in the downtown library’s auditorium. There are two free sessions to select from: 2:30 to 4 p.m., and 6:30 to 8 p.m.

A panel of local resource people will discuss computers, land records, probate records, library reference materials, Civil War records and Spokane research, as well as cemetery and church research.

Today’s laugh: Have you seen the term “engagement child?” A child born in less than nine months from the time of the parents’ marriage was referred to in some old records as an “engagement child.”

Desmond Allen, speaking at a recent national genealogy conference in Seattle, said this was a “genetic thing” in her family. “All the first babies in my line were six-month babies. But they sure were healthy 8-pounders! Yep, just a genetic thing.”

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Donna Potter Phillips The Spokesman-Review