Genealogy and Indiana History
Our location at 131 North Walnut Street is open:Monday through Thursday 9:00 am - 9:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday (October through April) 1:00 - 5:00 pm
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The Batesville Memorial Public Library has
a number of resources to help those interested in tracing their family history.
Located in the library's Mary Stewart Center for Entrepreneurship room, the Genealogy collection contains some
materials that may be checked out. These are generally the "how-to" books
to get you started. Other materials in the collection that are for
research within the library include locally prepared and published materials
such as church cemetery records, census records, family histories and
biographies.
If you require assistance, ask for Denean
Williams, our Genealogy and
Local History Specialist at the
library on Monday afternoons from 12:00 till 5:00, or
Tuesday or Thursday from 4:00 till
9:00 pm, or E-mail her at
genealogy@ebatesville.com.
You may also contact Denean by mail (Batesville
Memorial Public Library, 131 N. Walnut St., Batesville, IN 47006) or
by calling (812-934-4706) or faxing (812-934-6288). At other
times, or other days of the week, the library staff is available to let you into
the room, but may not have the expertise to answer all your questions.
Genealogy
Basics - This online course will help you understand the
research process, ways to organize your information and the use of forms to make
sense of your data. You will learn how to develop a strategy to accomplish your
research objectives and evaluate the results by recording new information, and
sharing that information with others. If you are a newcomer to this hobby or
just want to make a small family tree, this course will get you off to a good
start. You will explore many Internet sites where you can search for family
names. The course explains in simple terms where to look, who to contact, and
how to use the genealogical research tools of the computer and the Internet to
further your research.
The library's
Guide to Genealogy Resources
is available in a PDF file.
The BMPL's Indiana and
Local History Collections contain over 800 books, pamphlets,
and audiotape sets with state and local information. Indiana authors are
featured, along with historical, legal and reference materials.
Our Heroes Tree The Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University is partnering with libraries across the state of Indiana to present the Our Heroes’ TreeSM initiative. Through this program, libraries are able to honor the contributions of past and present service members while also creating an awareness of military families affected by current military deployments.
Participating libraries display a tree in October and early November. The trees feature handmade ornaments created by community members to honor the service members in their lives. Libraries will also provide resources to help these communities provide support and understand to local servicemen and women and their families.
All ornaments submitted at participating local libraries will be a part of the Virtual Indiana State Heroes’ Tree.
View the Virtual Indiana State Heroes’ Tree
Genealogy Resources
The library has available on microfilm the Franklin County Federal census records from 1820 through 1920, and the Ripley County Federal census records from 1870 through 1920. We also have the following records on microfilm for Ripley County: Births, Death Certificates, Naturalizations, Declarations of Intent, Probate Order Books A & B, Wills, and Contagious Diseases records. Some records from other nearby Indiana counties, such as Dearborn and Decatur, are included.
Also available on microfilm are the Batesville newspapers from 1887 to 2008, and some old newspapers from Brookville, Osgood, and Versailles, Indiana. Copies from microfilm or microfiche may be printed from the library's reader/printer at a cost of 10 cents per page.The Tri-County Genealogical Society meets at the library on the second Wednesday evening of each month. Check the library's Meeting and Program Calendar for the date and time.