Family Files Surname Index
Family File Folder Index (PDF)
The Family Files Surname Index is primarily restricted to people born in or married in the 19th century in Monroe County, Indiana. The Family File folders themselves are located in file cabinets 2 through 6 of the Genealogy Library. There are nearly 1500 family file folders in the collection, filed by last name in the same alphabetical order found in the online index.
If there is clearly a Monroe County connection, all folders with last names in sections A–S have been indexed for the current (4/25/2012) version of the 19th-century Family Files Surname Index. The sixth column of the index contains other surnames for which information is found in the folders. If the main last name in column one falls in the alphabetic range A–S and there is no family name in the sixth cell, it is likely that the family resided in one of the surrounding counties of Monroe County. The current version of the index includes only minimal information for the folders donated in late 2009 by Don Matson with surnames in the range T–Z. Indexing of those files is in progress. All other files donated by Mr. Matson have been indexed.
You can search for any surname, regardless of the column in which it appears, with the Adobe Reader’s “Find” option. Click on the “Edit” option in the Adobe Reader task bar to see the “Find” option.
Some of the folders are also covered by an older card index located on top of file cabinet 3. It covers individuals found in the pedigrees in those folders.
A yellow surname cell that includes a call number is a visual hint that there is no family folder for that name. However, the yellow color signals that a book for the family name is found in the library’s Family History book collection. On the other hand, a white background in a cell that has a call number indicates that both a book and a family file folder are available for the surname. Likewise, a yellow dot on the folder itself tells you that there is also a book located on the Family History book shelves that deals with that family.
For many of the entries in the index, other columns indicate whether the folder contains a Pedigree (P), Family Group Sheets (FS), or Family History (FH). In some cases, a Civil War or other military unit is listed in the final column, and there may be copies of official records indicating that in the corresponding folders.
Please notify Gary Wiggins (wiggins@indiana.edu) if you notice any errors in the index.
