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LIBRARIES IN GEORGIA WITH GENEALOGICAL HOLDINGS:

Cobb County Library, Marietta, Georgia

Contributed by Ann L. Sherman and Jane L. Splawn*

Cobb County Public Library
266 Roswell Street
Marietta, Georgia 30060
Telephone: (770) 528-2333
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.; Sunday, 1:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
Web Site: cobbcat.cobb.public.lib.ga.us
Contact Person: Carolyn Crawford, Head Librarian of the Georgia Room


Directions to and Parking at the Library
From I 75 take Exit 112 and go west on Highway 120 (South Marietta Parkway) for 1.9 miles, crossing US 41. Turn right on Fairground Street and go .5 mile. Turn left on Roswell Street and go .5 mile. Just past the library, turn left on Alexander Street. The library parking area is on the immediate left at the rear. Handicap access with automatic doors is available through the main entrance.

History of the Area
Cobb County was created in 1832 from Cherokee County, previously Cherokee Indian lands, and was named for Judge Thomas W. Cobb, a prominent jurist of Georgia. Marietta, the county seat, was incorporated by an act of the Georgia Legislature in 1834 in an area once dotted with many Indian villages.

During the month of June 1864 Cobb County was the site of many battles between Confederate and Union forces as General William Tecumseh Sherman made his relentless march from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Marietta's courthouse and businesses around the square were left in ashes.

Location of Genealogical Materials
All genealogical materials are located in the Georgia Room at the left of the entry area into the library.

Finding Aids and Internet Access
Six computers with card catalogs and two connected printers are in the Georgia Room. Printouts are 10 cents per copy (Honor System). Upon registration, a printed layout of material locations in the Georgia Room is available at its front desk. On top of a bookcase behind the front desk are two notebooks listing, by state, the available genealogical materials for states other than Georgia. Two other notebooks contain a bibliography of Georgia materials listed by county. A separate notebook contains a bibliography of Civil War materials, while another one lists periodical and newspaper holdings. A display lists the CDs available in the Georgia Room.

These finding aids, together with the friendly help of two librarians, make the Georgia Room a researcher's delight.


Books
A fine collection of books on Georgia counties is arranged alphabetically. A recent acquisition is Mimi Jo Butler's book on Pickens County marriages from Books A through E, covering the years 1853-1965 and including about 175 newly found certificates which had not been reentered in the marriage books after a courthouse fire in 1947.

Books on other states are shelved in alphabetical order by state. This collection places emphasis on southern states, but many states from the Mid-Atlantic and New England areas are well represented.

Family genealogies are grouped in alphabetical order and present a creditable collection.

Books on African American history and genealogy; other countries which sent emigrants to this land; immigration records, including Filby's Passenger and Immigration Lists Index; biographies; histories of religious groups; newspaper abstracts; Civil War records, including the Official Military Atlas of the Civil War; Revolutionary War records, including the Index to Revolutionary War Service Records; and Georgia history form impressive groups. All indexes for Georgia federal censuses are available, and there is a very good selection of indexes for other states (mostly southern) as well.

Books of general interest are shelved together and include Virkus's set, Compendium of American Genealogy; the twelve-volume set of American Ancestry; eight volumes of Colonial Families of the United States; Avant's four volumes of Some Southern Colonial Families; Armstrong's eight-volume set of Notable Southern Families; and Boddie's Historical Southern Families (23 volumes).

Periodicals
Bound periodicals of national and/or Georgia interest are located in a bookcase behind the front desk. Selected available periodicals are Atlanta Historical Bulletin/Journal, 1927-1996; Central Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly, 1981-1997; Family Puzzlers, 1964-1997; Family Tree Quarterly, 1979-1997; Genealogical Helper, 1964-1997; Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, 1960-1997; Georgia Historical Quarterly, (with index, 1917-1976), 1978-1997; Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly, (with index, 1964-1980), 1964-1997; Journal of Southern History, 1955-1997; National Genealogical Society Quarterly, (with index, 1912-1962), 1934-1997; Southern Roots and Shoots, 1986-1997; and several representing Georgia counties.

Periodicals on other states are shelved in the general book section of each state, and current issues are displayed on the back right wall.

Maps
Maps are located in an area to the right of the entry and are housed in drawers that are not labeled. However, each drawer contains a list of the maps in it, and there is a catalog of available maps on the top of the map case.

Some interesting items include a map of Old Milton County (1871), which became part of Fulton County in 1932; a large collection of Georgia county land lottery maps; many maps of Cobb County; a map of the area of Georgia occupied by the Cherokee Indians (1831); several Geology Survey maps of different areas of Georgia; an impressive collection of Georgia Department of Transportation county maps, some showing militia districts and land lottery lots; maps of counties in other southern states; historic maps of Georgia; migration maps; and recent aerial photography maps of areas of Georgia.

City Directories
     Marietta, 1936, 1938-39, 1941, 1947, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1956, and supplements for 1947 and 1956
      Marietta-Acworth, 1983-1984
      Marietta-Smyrna, 1958-1960, 1962-1970, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1985-1987
      Atlanta, 1876 (West End), 1929, 1972-1978, 1981-1982, 1986-1991
      Austell-Mableton, 1967, 1969-1970, 1972, 1974, 1976-1977, 1980, 1982-1985, 1987
      Canton, 1976
      Carrollton, 1973
      Cartersville, 1976
      Cedartown, 1970, 1973
      Dalton-Chatsworth, 1974-1975
      Douglasville, 1973
      Gainesville, 1941
      Jonesboro-Fayetteville, 1971
      Macon, 1935
      McDonough-Hampton-Stockbridge, 1974
      Rome, 1947, 1973

Telephone Directories
      Marietta, GA, 1948, 1950
      Marietta and Smyrna, GA, 1951, 1953

Manuscripts
The manuscript collection includes a scrapbook of anthology of the life of James Jordan Daniell, a prominent judge of Cobb County; files of newspaper and magazine clippings on the counties of Georgia; and extensive files of clippings on every aspect of Cobb County and Georgia life.

Surname File and Civil War Ancestor File
These files are available to help researchers contact others researching the same lines.

Copying Machines(s)
One copying machine is available in the Georgia Room with a cost of 15 cents per copy, and a debit card must be used. The card costs $1.00, for which $1.05 credit is given.

Microfilm/Microfiche
This remarkable collection alone makes a research trip worthwhile.

A complete collection of Georgia Federal Census Schedules on microfilm and indexes in book form and Soundex form are housed in the microfilm area at the back of the Georgia Room. Schedules and indexes for several other states, although not complete, are nevertheless impressive.

Microform Reader-Copiers
On the back wall of the Georgia Room are located two microfiche readers, seven microfilm readers (two out of order) and one reader/printer. There is also a microfiche reader close to the front desk. Copies are 10 cents each (Honor System).

The availability of microform readers that advance the film automatically makes research in this medium much easier.

CD-Rom Collection
Located at the right side of the room are a computer and printer to access the CD collection. Some selected available CDs are:



Other Area Attractions
A beautifully maintained National Cemetery is located across the street from the library. Here lie buried 10,000 Union soldiers who died in the campaign south of the Etowah River between Generals Sherman and Johnston in 1864. On the west side of the city is a Confederate Cemetery for those men who died during the same campaign.

Northwest of Marietta lies twin-peaked Kennesaw Mountain, where Union and Confederate forces clashed over a period of six weeks. The Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, covering 2,900 acres, contains a museum and offers a slide show on the Atlanta Campaign.

*Ann L. Sherman, 1000 Winding Creek Trail, Atlanta, GA 30328, (404) 252-7938. E-mail: Ann Sherman
*Jane L. Splawn, 3300 Clairmont North NE, Atlanta, GA 30329-1022, (404) 3225-0781. E-mail: Jane Splawn

(This article appeared in the Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 245-251)

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