Google Books Finds: Including an Article with Four Photos!
I have used Google Books in the past, but after listening to a Genealogy Gems podcast by Lisa Louise Cooke on Friday, I decided to spend some time seeing what I could find. In just minutes, I found an article with four photos! And over the next two hours, I found dozens of “hits.”
Tip: For unusual surnames (like Holthoefer), just search for the surname. For more common names, put the name in quotation marks & add a place name.
Herman J Holthoefer (1863-1950), a druggist/pharmacist, was a nephew of my great, great grandmother, Franciska/Frances (Holthoefer) Adam. I found a three page article about him in the 1919 Western Druggist: Volume 41. It is titled “Druggist Doubles His Business in Two Years” and includes four images:
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- a photo of Herman (about 55 years old)
- a photo of a person (probably Herman) in the store
- a photo of his store window
- an ad for a medicine he developed, Holthoefer’s Health Salts (shown above)
Besides this article, I found:
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- several city directories listing my family members, including a business of one of my great, great grandfathers I didn’t know about
- biographical sketches I’d not seen
- an ancestor as a witness on a (potential relative’s) will
- a transcription of a deed transfer
- additional information about a fatal car wreck of one of my relatives
- & more!
Some of these books are available online, but others need to be requested via an interlibrary loan. I have a lot more work to do!
Do we share common ancestors? I’d love to talk! Please leave a comment or email me at drleeds@sbcglobal.net.
Some really great finds there, Dana, and all adding color to your ancestors' lives.
Thanks, Dara. I LOVE adding the "stories" to our ancestors' lives! I have another one I plan on writing up today or tomorrow. You never know what you'll find!
I love Google Books for the reasons you mentioned and it sure paid off for you!
I found even MORE since then! It's definitely a site I need to spend more time with. Stay tuned! 🙂
I'll have to try more google books again. I haven't searched in a while, but it is always smart to go back and repeat searches periodically. You never know what may have been added.
That's absolutely true! I should have made that more clear… I had searched for Holthoefer before on Google Books & this hadn't come up. It was #2 on the list now, so it was new! #1 was a book I contributed to that was just published in November. 🙂
I'll have to try more google books again. I haven't searched in a while, but it is always smart to go back and repeat searches periodically. You never know what may have been added.
Dana, it's great to see you encouraging family historians to use Google Books. I wrote about my experiences in Google Books: 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy, no.26 (and I wish I was related to the Gertrude HANSON about whom I found the article in 'Life' Magazine!)
Thanks, Judy! I wasn't aware you could search for magazine articles separately. I'll have to look into that!
Hooray for your discoveries! I found a book about my ancestor's military unit during the Civil War, not by searching for his name but by searching for his unit commander's name. A wonderful book that I hadn't expected to find. Granted, I didn't go directly to Google Books but by searching the overall Google site. The results said, "Hey, I found a book for you." So cool.
Nice! And, I, too, often search for the unit's commander's name when searching for information about a regiment. It's a great way to find these men who fought in wars!
Hooray for your discoveries! I found a book about my ancestor's military unit during the Civil War, not by searching for his name but by searching for his unit commander's name. A wonderful book that I hadn't expected to find. Granted, I didn't go directly to Google Books but by searching the overall Google site. The results said, "Hey, I found a book for you." So cool.