Genealogy Resources
Ancestry Library Edition
This version of the consumer Ancestry product is available free of charge at an OWWL Library.
Ancestry Inside an OWWL Library
While in your library the URL is https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/.
Library visitors can use their own internet-connected devices (laptops, tablets, etc.) at the library, or use library computers. We recommend that visitors using library computers bring their own flash drives.
Remote (at home) access to Ancestry Library Edition was discontinued by the provider on December 31, 2021.
Family Search
This free genealogy research service is tied to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but does not involve any sort of proselytism. The records and contents are very similar to Ancestry, but it is available for free, anywhere you have internet access. The URL is: https://familysearch.org/
Historic Newspapers
The OWWL Library System and individual libraries have been working to digitize local historic newspapers and make them available online. They are currently distributed across several repositories.
Check out our index of OWWL area historical newspapers to see a list of regional publications with links to digital content, links to OWWL catalog records, and links to information about the titles from the Library of Congress.
Library Repositories
- Digital Archives of the OWWL Library System – various titles from Livingston (Dansville focus), Ontario (Naples, Phelps focus), Wayne (Palmyra, Wolcott focus), and Wyoming (Arcade, Silver Springs focus) Counties
- Digital Archives of the Clyde-Savannah Public Library – various titles from Wayne County (Clyde focus)
- Digital Archives of the Perry Public Library – various titles from Wyoming County (Perry focus)
- Digital Archives of the Sodus Community Library – various titles from Wayne County (Sodus focus)
- Digital Archives of the Stevens Memorial Library & The Attica Historical Society – Attica News and other Attica materials (cemetery plot books, scrapbooks, etc.)
- Digital Archives of the Williamson Public Library – various titles from Wayne County (Williamson focus)
State Repositories
- New York State Historic Newspapers – this repository includes newspapers from across NYS, including papers contributed by Geneva Public Library, Macedon Public Library, Newark Public Library, and Walworth-Seely Public Library
National Repositories
- Chronicling America – this repository includes newspapers from across the United States; the NYS papers are mainly from New York City
Archival Collections
Library Repositories
- Geneva Public Library – this collection includes photographs of historic Geneva, and Geneva City Directories 1862-2000
- Macedon Public Library – this collection contains photographs from the Bullis Family Collection
- Naples Library – this collection includes: 118 Civil War letters, primarily written by George W. Simmons; historic postcards depicting the Naples and Canandaigua Lake area; manuscripts and documents including Blanche Capron’s Scrapbook (1920s), 19th century Clerk’s Books for School District No. 21 and School District No. 9; the 1849 Diary of Sumner S. Luther, Naples resident; and Rev. John C. Morgan’s Auto-Biography of a Home Missionary in Western New York
- Newark Public Library – this collection includes materials related to Newark area history and Newark Public Library history
State Repositories
- New York Heritage, a project of the Empire State Library Network – includes historical, scholarly, and cultural materials held by NYS libraries, museums, and archives
- New York State Archives Digital Collections – materials from the NYS Archives
- New York State Library Digital Collections – NYS government documents and historical materials held by the NYS Library