When was the last time you took a close look at a city directory?
City directories are more than just the list of all the people in one city or a particular jurisdiction. It is important when researching directories online, to not just “grab and go” with the source, because the fun doesn’t stop with finding our ancestor’s name and address. City directories are essentially an encyclopedia of a community thanks to the various listings and guides for citizens, streets, businesses, organizations and historical information. Knowing the contents of a city directory and how to maximize its potential can add a lot to your research.
Published annually, city directories are a necessity for genealogists to find information on the “in-between years” of census schedules. A decade is a very long to assume someone stayed in the same place and important clues to their whereabouts can be found by checking the annual listings. Equally important is their potential as a tool for FAN research. FANs are an ancestor’s friends, associates, and neighbors, essentially the people our ancestor interacted with everyday in their community.
The 1920 directory for Fitchburg, Massachusetts is a great example.
Advertisements
In the 50 or so pages following the front cover are the large business advertisements that cover ½ or ⅓ of the page. To find if a person purchased an advertisement in that volume, check the index of advertisers found immediately after. Historical business ads are great for featuring in a family history narrative or article.
Residents
Next are the listing of residents or "householders." The publishers include a legend of the abbreviations preceding the directory of citizens. These are usually for terms related to dwelling information, occupation titles, and various institutions. For example, you may see next to your ancestor’s listing, “rem. to New York City”, meaning he moved away and suggesting to you as a researcher, that you may need to try searching in that location.
Listings by Street
In this volume, I was searching for Lillian Teto. According to the directory, she was living at 15 Marshall Street and worked at 466 Main Street as a clerk.[1] How would I find out what type of business she worked at? Directories often feature a street guide and directory of householders. What this guide does is provide the personal and business listings in alphabetical order by street. So when I search for 466 Main Street, I find the dwelling is occupied with a dry goods store, owned by Joseph Smiley.[2]
I can easily continue scrolling to Marshall Street where I find Lillian’s home address under the householder Matti Tiitto, her father. In addition, I am also see all the residents of neighboring dwellings on Marshall, people I would add as my ancestor’s FANs because their paper trail may provide a clue about my ancestor’s origin. The surnames on Marshall Street in 1920 are predominantly Finnish and Scandinavian, so it is more than likely some of them are friends from the old country. Because the Tiitto family lived at the end of Marshall, I wouldn’t want to overlook adjoining or intersecting streets which can be solved by checking the street guide, allowing me to record all the other neighbors.[3]
Municipal Offices, Clubs and more!
Following the street guides are listings of municipal offices, fraternal organizations, social clubs, and more. This is a great source of important information about the community and its history. So when you think you are done with that city directory after successfully locating your ancestor’s personal listing, take a little extra time to peruse the other sections within that particular volume. You may find much more than you originally expected.
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Jake Fletcher is a genealogist, lecturer, and blogger. Jake has been researching and writing about genealogy since 2008 on his research blog Travelogues of a Genealogist. He currently volunteers as a research assistant at the National Archives in Waltham, Massachusetts and is Vice President of the New England Association of Professional Genealogists (NEAPG).
[1] Price and Lee Co., Comp. Fitchburg Directory, 1920. (New Haven, Conn: The Price & Lee Co., 1920), 514, “Lillian Teto.”
[2] Ibid, 586, “Joseph S. Smiley.”
[3] Ibid, 589, “Matti Tiitto.”
This so grabbed my attention as I live in Fitchburg Wisconsin! Very informative with good tips. I have discovered lots of clues to my ancestors lives in these directories. Whole families start to come to life as you discover their neighborhood – or learn that your aunt married the guy who lived down the street from her. Fun stuff!