Society Designated as FamilySearch Affiliate Library

Those wishing to be part of the current ancestral search trend may not need to look any further than the local historical society. The White River Valley Historical Society is now a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, which means it has access to more genealogy resources to help researchers make more family discoveries. FamilySearch is a world leader in family history.

“Interest in our ancestral roots continues to grow with the popularity of DNA tests, reality tv shows like Long Lost Family or Who Do You Think You Are?, and the growing access to online genealogy records.  Adding the White River Valley Historical Society as our newest FamilySearch Affiliate Library will enable patrons to make many fun, personal discoveries and family connections,” said Paul Nauta, FamilySearch Public Relations Manager.

There are only a few hundred affiliate libraries in the country. The designation means visitors to the WRVHS will now have greater and more convenient access to the wealth of genealogical resources available through FamilySearch. The popular web service has over 6 billion searchable names and 2 billion images of historical genealogical records – all available with the assistance of the volunteers and research staff at the WRVHS.

FamilySearch adds over 300 million free genealogical records and images online yearly from all over the world and manages the famous Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It has amassed billions of birth, marriage, death, census, land and court records from more than 130 countries to help researchers discover and make family connections.

 “We’re overjoyed to be able to offer this free service to our researchers at our Forsyth location,” stated Leslie Wyman, WRVHS Managing Director.  “Many of the FamilySearch files are only accessible online at Affiliate Libraries like ours, and we look forward to being able to help our visitors locate the information they can’t view from their homes.  Since we also have access to the County archives on our computers, we anticipate that most researchers will leave our location with some ‘new’ family records to add to their files!”

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 5,000 family history centers in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.