How do I...
Research my Great Aunt Edna, Uncle Grumps and the kids?
(during their years in Clear Creek County)
Information to be Found in Other Places
"Annals of Clear Creek County," by Jesse Randall. Mr. Randall served as editor of the Georgetown Courier from its inception in 1877 through the 1920s. Toward the end of his time as editor, he compiled a series of articles on local history (including deaths of local interest, and marriages of local interest) into a small publication entitled "Annals of Clear Creek County," which is available through DPL Western History. FGS has published the entire "Deaths of Local Interest" section in a series of quarterly articles, all of which are included in their "Surname Index."History of Clear Creek and Boulder Valleys, 1880. This publication includes a number of contemporary biographies on county residents. Denver Public Library, John Tomay Library and the county archives also have copies of an index to this publication.
Photographs: Of particular interest to Georgetown, Silver Plume and Empire descendants, is the Randall photo collection at DPL Western History. The Courier’s photo collection includes a number of small pictures used for obituaries or other purposes, and can be accessed by asking to see the "Biography" envelopes within the Georgetown photo collection. Some of the photos are
labeled and filed alphabetically, but there are a large number filed together as "Unknown--Men" and "Unknown--Women"--if you can recognize your relatives, you may be able to find them here.
Newspapers: Clear Creek County had several 19th and early 20th century newspapers, most of which are now available on microfilm at local libraries, DPL and CHS. The larger libraries tend to have more (& sometimes larger) microfilm readers and reader-printers, which may make your task easier. Quite often births and deaths will be noted, but rarely do they have much information (much to the dismay of the intrepid researcher). DPL has an extensive index to Denver’s Rocky Mountain News, (in a large card-catalog) which contains a surprising amount of information on the mountain towns and residents. It’s always worth a quick check to see if your relatives show up in an article or two.
Directories: DPL and CHS have collections of statewide town directories; in addition, an 1878 map of Georgetown and Silver Plume, published by W. H. Willets, contains a number of business and personal ads which should be checked for information. Copies of the Willets map are available at the county archives and DPL.
Business Records: Many people ask us for information related to specific businesses or even payroll ledgers for various mines and mining companies. This information is very rare. A quick check through the manuscript collection at DPL is about the only place to look for these materials.
Back to Archives / Genealogy
email archives
|
