The Georgia Archives hold rich information on the state’s governors

Georgia’s governors left rich historical records, and one of the best places to find information on them is the Georgia Archives.

Founded in 1918, the Georgia Archives is celebrat- ing its centenni al.At tempts to close it in 2012 failed, and it was administratively transferred in 2013 to the University System of Georgia. Increased funding has helped enlarge staff and ser vices. The Archives houses the state’s official collection of records. Biographical questionnaires with genealogical information are on file for most 20th century legislators and governors.

Published biographi-cal sketches are found in James F. Cook’s “The Governors of Georgia, 17552004” (Mercer University Press, 2005), in the Dic- tionary of Georgia Biography (UGA Press, 1982), and the online New Geor- gia Encyclopedia, georgi-aencyclopedia.org. The Georgia Department of Nat ural Resources published a booklet in 2003 “Geor- gia Governors’ Gravesites Field Guide, 1776-2003.” Outgoing First Lady San- dra Deal and Kennesaw State professors Jennifer Dickey and Catherine Lewis co-authored “Memories of the Mansion: The Story of Georgia’s Governor’s Mansion” (UGA Press, 2015). It’s a good history of the governors, their families and their lives in the mansion since 1968. So, if you are interested in the history of Georgia’s governors, the best place to go would be the Georgia Archives.

While there, check out their vast collecti on of published Georgia county source books, family histo- ries, as well as genealogy material from most South- eastern states. See Geor- giaArchives.org.

The Christian Index now digitized

The Digital Library of Georgia and the Georgia Newspaper Project have just added more digitized versions of Georgia news- papers to their site, dlg.usg. edu. Search the site geographically to find newspapers of interest. One of the most important titles now online is the official Baptist publication, “The Christian Index,” from 1833 to 1866, now fully searchable. Previous access was only through published abstracts of marriages and obituaries. Now researchers have access t oa ll the other information within. You can search for a person’s name, or a church and, from my experience, find something interesting. For Baptis t research, see the Georgia Baptist Archives i n the Special Collections, Tarver Library at Mercer Universit yin Macon. And see libraries. mercer.edu for files on many Baptist churches.

Linkpendium

Check Linkpendium.com , wher eyo u can search for your family members, especially those with an unusual last name, and find a lot of links and other clues.