Friday, April 29, 2011

Make-a-Difference Day, May 7, 11 am - 4 pm

Make a Difference Day (MADD) will be held on May 7 from 11 am – 4 pm in the Technology Room on the third floor of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCH). Every year the Chapter does a volunteer indexing project to improve access to local records for the benefit of genealogists. This year we will be stepping back in time nearly 200 years to index Columbia Township, records. Space in the Technology Room is limited so please contact the Library at 369-6905 to reserve a computer – it is not necessary for you to stay the entire time.

Columbia Township, Hamilton County, Ohio Record Book is a typescript of original Columbia Township records. Selected pages were transcribed by the Library and bound in 1934. The book includes earmarks, estrays, tax lists, school district boundary descriptions, indentures, militia lists, voting lists, warnings out-of-town and who knows what else we might discover! Amazingly, the earmark lists date back to 1791 with other notations beginning in 1801. An 1833 indenture gives the flavor of the times with the indentured man agreeing “not [to] contract in matrimony during said term. Taverns or alehouse or places of gaming he shall not frequent . . .” This will be a fun set of records to index!

We are experimenting with a new indexing process for MADD. Rather than index on paper and typing the entries later, we will be using computers in the technology room to directly enter the information using online forms. (Paper will be on hand just in case there are problems!) This will also make it possible for people to participate from home or use their own laptop computer at the library. If you are interested in participating from a distance, please contact Liz Stratton at HCOGSIndexing@gmail.com.

1 comment:

  1. It looks like a really interesting set of records. I'm going to sign up. See you then.

    ReplyDelete

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