How do I go about looking up someone who lived in my town in the early 1900's??

Question

I am trying to find someone who was a dentist in my town around 1906-1908, I cant seem where to look on the internet. Where is a good place to look?? Where else would be good to look?? I thought about my towns court house....is that a good idea?? Well thank you so much for all your info!!!!

Answer 1

Check the local library  for that year. They might have old tax records or almanacs.

Answer 2

Some one in the court house might know where to look; most people are very helpful if you ask nicely :)

I'm not sure where you are, but in the north east, most towns have a county clerk that maintains records like that.  Most librarians at the public library can also direct you to public records.  Some towns have a historical society with members that LOVE to answer questions like that.  Ours had a mini-museum that kept the town's geneology.

Answer 3

Join one of the sites geneology.com or ancestry.com  or Call your local chamber of commerce and ask where historical archives are kept. Or do you have a historical society in your town?

Answer 4

The court house is an excellent idea. See if they have records of the census or the voters list. Failing that, check with the newspaper office. Often they have a complete file of all the newspapers they have published. In most cases, these days, those files have been transferred to microfiche, but they are still accessible.

Answer 5

USA Answer:

Your public library. They should have old telephone books and old city directories. They may have a "History of the Leading Men of abc County", which were the "Who's Who of American Used Car Salesman" of their day - if you bought a copy in advance, the selection committee decided you were worthy of inclusion. 1906 is a tad late; they reached their heyday in the late 1800's.

Ask the librarian. There may be more. You may have to go to the main branch to get what you need, too.

You could search for his name in the US Gen Web site for your county. Odds are anything you find will be on paper, not on-line.

If you post the town, county and state, his name, wife's name and approximate age, someone may look him up on the census for you.

Answer 6

Before telephones there were business directories that may be in the library/archives.

Census returns and records of Dental qualifications may also help.

Answer 7

Court house.

Newspaper Archives.

Town Historians are also a great resource.