We had an excellent presentation on how to research city directories from Maureen this week.
We learned that the earliest directories were published for advertising purposes by the 1700s and that they are available for the U. S., Canada and Europe.
Names, addresses and employers are listed; wives were included later. The listings included the householder and those employed, so directories are extremely helpful for finding ancestors between the census years. Occasionally the death of an entrant from a previous year is included.
Maureen suggested that we check the index, table of contents and list of abbreviations before browsing for our names. Usually a history of the area is included as well as maps, businesses, churches, schools and newspapers.
Directories are available online at Ancestry and FamilySearch; other possibilities were listed on the handout. If possible, find directories in person at a local library, historical society, or state library.
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