My Fourth Vital Record

Robert W. Marlin speaks about the importance of city directories of yesterday and today.

The author’s personal genealogical search began with a successful search of the city directories of Brooklyn and Boston.

Bonus Information
Like a modern day telephone directory, the front section of a city directory is filled with valuable information which many newcomers to genealogy simply skip past. There are special lists of names which were received too late for normal insertion in the directory and a list of all persons who have refused to supply any information. These entries simply list the name and address along with the notation “refused.” There is generally a list of abbreviations which are used in the directory. These abbreviations cover occupations, products and locations.

Some have a list of physicians and some have a list of nurses. Remember that in the 1800s the term nurse and midwife were sometimes used interchangeably. Black people are also listed, with the word “colored” added to the other information. Some directories have street maps which contain approximate political subdivisions such as wards. Others have lists of streets and avenues and give house numbers falling between two parallel streets.

Some contain warnings to check all variant spellings of the surname you are looking for. The surname Allan could be also found under Allen or Allyn. Shafer could be found under Schaffer, Schaefer, Shaefer, Scheffer or even Scheffer. Even a simple name like Smith could be found under Smyth or Smythe.

Historical Snapshots
To me, researching in an old city directory is also a little like looking backward at history. A comparison of the 1870 and the 1890 city directories for New York City will give you an idea what I am talking about. Included right alongside the rich and famous are many of our ordinary ancestors. As a genealogist it is your job to find them. There were also many unusual occupations listed such as Ostler, Rockman, Currier, Scourer, Lather, Sawyer, Wharfinger, Wheelwright, Cooper and Poulterer. In the 1870 edition there are listings for John D. Rockefeller who just that year had started the Standard Oil Company. His success redefined wealth. Orlando and Riker Rockefeller were both painters living on Varick Street. Cornelius Vanderbilt was already a legend, though few knew about Cornelius Vanderbilt the janitor, who was also listed. The Teddy Roosevelt listed is not the future president of the US. It is however, Teddy’s father, who operated a family importing business. Teddy was only about 12 at this time and probably had little inkling that he would one day be president of the US. More on Teddy later. There is a listing for a man named James Gordon Bennett, Jr. He was the publisher of the New York Herald and was responsible for sending Henry M. Stanley to Africa to find Dr. Livingston. The rest is history. And last but not least, Phineas T. Barnum lived at 438 Fifth Avenue. His plan to have the circus come to town was about to start. Barnum did not live to see his circus merge to form the Barnum and Bailey circus.

The 1890 City Directory for New York City also had many interesting listings. These include, once again, John D. Rockefeller who is now listed as “pres.” Cornelius Vanderbilt is now the president of Grand Central Station and Theodore Roosevelt is now the US Civil Service Commissioner. He is now less than 12 years away from becoming president upon the assassination of President McKinley.

City directories provide early glimpses at the lives of such famous names as Barnum, Bennett, Rockefeller, Roosevelt and Vanderbilt.

Research Techniques
Using the city directory for research is not an exact science. It is necessary to use both conjecture and imagination. Don’t get hung up on conflicting information from other vital records. This includes the spelling of surnames or given names. The street or house could also be wrong. Remember that like census reports, the information which went into city directories was received verbally. The person recording it generally recorded it phonetically which left a lot of room for error.

When properly used, the information in city directories can lead you to many other sources of information. For example, the year a person is first listed in a city directly may give you some clue as to when they arrived in the US. If an ancestor’s first entry in a city directory is 1908 you might look through passenger arrival indexes starting with 1905. If you know they became a citizen, the 1908 entry might be a clue as to when to start looking for naturalization records. If your ancestor had grown children living at home for a number of years and they stopped appearing in the directory this could be a sign that they had either passed away or left home to get married. It would be a good idea to check marriage indexes or death indexes.

The address your ancestors live at during federal census years is especially important. The US federal census has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. Knowing the address your ancestor was living at in 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 or 1920 can help you to locate them in the census. Although there is an index for some of these census years, it is not as accurate as it could be. If you have tried to find you ancestors in the census and failed, you may be able to locate them using their street address. Learning to interpret the information in the directory is important. Some older directories even told you that the person lived in a boarding house, when they moved to another city or when they changed jobs. The possibilities are endless.

My personal experience working with city directories has been great. It was the 1933 Brooklyn city directory which started my genealogical search more than 20 years ago. The Boston Public Library was the source for my city directory hunt for the Wild family in Boston. I was able to track the family in the Boston area of Roxbury from 1874 to 1888. Following the Kruse family though the Brooklyn City Directory was also a success. At the time this research was done, quality copy machines were simply not available and it was impossible to make quality copies from the film. Later, when searching for the Meyer Korris family in Buffalo I was able to track the family for many years. The only clue I had was the verbal statement that Meyer had moved to Buffalo sometime around 1914. I didn’t know that Meyer’s father, Hyman, (my great-grandfather) was then also living with him, but the directory showed them at the same address. This was a bonus. Hyman is last listed in 1921, and it appears that he may have passed away or gone to live with one of his other children. In this case, I later discovered that Hyman had moved back to New York City and lived with the family of his daughter, Hilda Korris Margolin, who was my maternal grandmother. The various entries also included the business name and address. The business name of “Korris & Herring” had some family significance. I was already aware that Meyer was married to a lady whose maiden name was Sarah Herring and that Nathan was Meyer’s brother-in-law. At the time this research was done, it was not necessary to go any further have three sections. The first is the regular city directory which lists people by name, address and occupation. The second section is broken down alphabetically or numerically by street address and then the name and address of the resident. The third section is a list of listed phone numbers sorted by than I did.

The use of more modern city directories is just as helpful, though with less historical impact. Newer directories have even more information. Most recent R. L. Polk Directories exchange. Naturally section three is of little help if the person has an unlisted number. These directories are especially helpful in locating relatives who have moved to other cities or just dropped out of sight.

Many libraries throughout the US have older city directories for their respective area. The current editions are not usually in the genealogy department as they are considered business directories. The LDS Church has hundreds of these directories on microfilm and makes them available to their Family History Centers. Many FHC also have selected local directories on permanent loan. Almost any city directory can be ordered from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and viewed at your local FHC. The best way to do this is to spend a little time searching through the CD-ROM index of library holdings and picking out the city or cities you are interested in.

Speaking of CD-ROMS, a new digital collection will soon make thousands of city directories readily available to genealogists everywhere. Heritage Quest, of Bountiful, Utah, formed a partnership some time ago with the New England Historic Genealogical Society and the Spokane, Washington Public Library. The purpose was to film on microfiche the entire city directory collection held by the latter two partners. The number of directories is staggering. Between NEHGS and the SPL, the combined collection consists of about 10,000 directories.

States in this collection include Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, Idaho, California and Washington. The collection includes both large and small cities. Some of the larger cities include Bangor, Boston, Bridgeport, Burlington, Cambridge, Hartford, Los Angeles, New Haven, New London, Oakland, Pasadena, Sacramento, San Diego, Spokane and Twin Falls. The filming of approximately 5,000 of these directories has been completed.

The earliest date available is 1789 and the latest is in the 1960s. The best part is that you will be able to order only the pages you choose. At the present time only the Massachusetts directories are available in complete catalog form. However, listings can be provided for other areas which have been completed. For more information contact Heritage Quest, P.O. Box 329, Bountiful, UT 84011-0329; tel. 800-760-2455; fax 801-298-5468; e-mail: sales@heritagequest.com.

This article originally appeared in the March/April 1998 issue of Family Chronicle.