Getting Out of the Rut

Are you stuck in a rut doing your research?  Do you consistently check databases such as Ancestry.com, FamilySearch and others?  They are all great, but there's even more.  Start searching for databases that are on library, historical society and genealogical society web pages.  There are some amazing things you will want to explore!  Here's a sampling: 

Cleveland Public Library - Cleveland, Ohio 

downloadable guides in PDF format

Ohio Death Certificates 1908-1953

Cleveland Necrology File (pre 1975) 

Cleveland News Index (1975 to current) 

Inventory of City, Criss Cross and Telephone Directories 

Northern Illinois University Libraries - Illinois Historical Digitization Projects 

Illinois During the Civil War 1861-1865 

The Mexican-American War 

Illinois Civil War Newspapers 

Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society .... and more 

Campbell County Public Library System, Gillette, Wyoming 

Index of Local Birth, Death and Marriage Announcements from newspapers 

Local Cemetery Records 

Wyoming Genealogy Resources 

Tampico Area Historical Society and Museum, Tampico, Whiteside Co., Illinois 

Cemeteries 

Churches 

Census, Directories, Tax Payers and Voters 

History

Military 

Biographies 

Ashtabula County District Library, Ashtabula, Ohio 

Obituary Notebook Index 1896 to present (over 32,000 entries) 

Family Surname Index (over 4,400 entries)

Wells County Public Library, Bluffton, Indiana 

Cemetery Index and List 

Obituary Index 1866-2000 

There's a lot more out there, so start Googling for libraries and societies that have web pages and check them out.