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LIBRARIES IN GEORGIA WITH GENEALOGICAL HOLDINGS:
To help family researchers make better use of genealogical resources in Georgia, this series of articles will focus on several libraries with good genealogical collections and, thus, provide guidelines as to what can be found in different areas of the state. If there is a particular library that you would like to see reviewed, please provide the contributors with the name, address, and telephone number of the library and the name of the librarian to contact.
Clarksville/Habersham County LibraryContributed by Ann L. Sherman and Jane L. Splawn Clarksville/Habersham County Library
** Includes the following counties: Habersham, Stephens, Rabun, and White.
The contact person at the Library is Lynn Kirkpatrick, Head Librarian, and a part-time staff person, Frances Black, is available in the Heritage Room to answer questions during the mid-day hours of 10-3 on Monday-Thursday and 10-1 on Friday. Directions to and Parking at the Library Go into Clarksville on Highway 441, which becomes South Washington Street. Just one block south of the square, turn east on Green Street. The library is on the right in the second block. Handicap access is at the front door of the library with parking to the left of the building.
In 1818 Habersham County was formed from lands previously owned by the Cherokee Indians before their removal by Governor George R. Gilmer. Several white settlements had already been established prior to 1818. Location of Genealogical Materials Upon entering the library, the Heritage Room is on the left side at the back of the main library reference section.
Several CD-ROMs are available: Marriage Index for Georgia, 1754-1850; Marriage Index for Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, 1641-1944; Family Tree Maker World Family Tree, Volumes One and Two; and the Social Security Index. (See librarian for access.) Books: The Heritage Room has an extensive collection on Georgia including Candler's Colonial Records of Georgia (thirty-five volumes); Habersham and White County cemeteries; a nice collection of county histories arranged as a group; family histories arranged as a group; many books relating to the Civil War, including Hewett's Roster of Confederate Soldiers (sixteen volumes); Filby's Passenger and Immigration Lists Index set; Compendium of American Genealogy set; 1820-1870 federal census indexes; books on North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia arranged by states with some books on other states; three books of lineage charts compiled by the South Carolina Genealogical Society; and books on Cherokee Indians.
Maps: Some interesting material includes maps on North and South Carolina; a Civil War map of Georgia showing Sherman's March to the Sea, the route of Wilson's Raiders, and the route of Jefferson's Davis' attempted escape; many maps relating to Habersham County; Hemperley's map of early roads and trails of Georgia; a Hall County map; a map showing lakes in North Georgia; land-grant maps of the counties of Chester, Fairfield, Greenville, Laurens, Newberry, and Spartanburg, South Carolina; and maps for Cornelia and Clarksville. The maps are not sorted, and the drawers are not labeled. City Directories: Clarksville directories, 1960, 1969, 1973, and 1976. Manuscripts: Included are some family files, a local history file, and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and pictures about Clarksville and its people. Cemetery File: A cemetery card file has cards for graves of all church cemeteries in Habersham County, and some of those have obituary notices attached. Copiers: No copying machine is in the Heritage Room, but one is located just outside the door in the main part of the library. The price of copies is determined by the size of the paper used. This machine can handle the larger sized paper of 11 X 17 inches. A standard 8 ½ X 11 paper is 15 cents. Microform CollectionThe following list is representative of the collection that is available. Items are microfilm unless specified as microfiche:
Located in the Heritage Room are two microfilm reader-copiers and two microfiche reader-copiers. Copies are 25 cents per page. Other Area Attractions One block east on Green Street is located Grace Calvary Church, built in 1842 and the oldest unchanged Episcopal church in the state. The old Clarksville Cemetery is located one block south on Jefferson Street. Across the street from the library, restoration is in progress for a small historic area. When completed, the Mauldin House will contain a welcome center, museum, meeting room, display hall, and office/storage space. Next to the Mauldin house is a small one-room house, which was used as a millinery shop and will become a store museum. Restoration work is also underway for the last building on the lot, an old log cabin. Plans are to make it a museum. Also a rail fence is planned for the area around the log cabin, and parking and picnic facilities will be at the back of the area. *Ann L. Sherman, 1000 Winding Creek Trail, Atlanta, GA 30328, (404) 252-7938. E-mail: Ann Sherman |