If I had my druthers, I’d spend my free time in Norwalk, Ohio at the Firelands Historical Society‘s Laning-Young Research Center, the Norwalk Public Library and the Huron County Courthouse. But I’ve found it inconvenient to do so from my home in Colorado. What to do?

Fortunately, resources about Norwalk abound online. Beside Ancestry.com, FamilySearch and other “normal” genealogical sources, here are a few others specific to Norwalk and the Firelands I regularly use to flesh out my Sufferers’ Land and Norwalk High School Class of 1907 series of posts on this website:

• The Firelands Pioneer: The journal of the Firelands Historical Society was first published in June 1858. The “Old Series” of nineteen issues ran from 1858 until 1878, followed by twenty-five additional issues in the “New Series” from 1882 to 1937. During the publication of the “Old Issue,” most of the original settlers of the Firelands were still alive, and many contributed eyewitness accounts of their experiences. In 1939, the Firelands Historical Society published an index to both series. This index has been invaluable to me in my research. Most issues of The Firelands Pioneer are now digitized and just a Google search away.

• Another important source of information about the Firelands is W.W. Williams 1879 book History of the Fire-Lands: Comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of the Prominent Men and Pioneers. Mr.. Williams used The Firelands Pioneer as an important source for History of the Firelands; he also drew from many other  primary sources, to include court records and personal interviews with settlers still surviving in the 1870’s. The resulting book is a treasure trove of histories, biographies, and illustrations for the genealogist and historian interested in this region and the families that settled there. This tome is available online, and I have posted links to the Table of Contents of the book on this website.

• Finally, another great source is the Huron County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society Website. Here you can find links to publications of the society, and other sources: death indexes, cemetery and funeral records, indexes of probate and court records and more. You can also request assistance from society members for a fee. This is definitely worth a visit if you are interested in researching the Firelands.

So that’s it: a short list of the resources I’ve found most useful in researching posts for this website. But there is one more that only recently become available to me: newspaper archives. I’ll tell you about that source in my next post.

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