HeritageQuest Enhanced/Expanded Searching

Great news for those using HeritageQuest at home!  Below is the news release explaining the details.  Happy searching!!

Coming March 4, 2015, HeritageQuest Online (HQO) will be materially improved and enhanced with a much richer content set and a more powerful, intuitive interface.

• Complete 1790-1940 U.S. Federal Census with images and every-name indexes for all years
• Additional census records such as Mortality and Non-Population Schedules, Indian Census Rolls, and more
• Expanded collection of genealogy and local history books and city directories with an all-new user interface, thumbnail images and hit highlighting
• Complete Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land record collection (NARA M804)
• Freedman’s Bank Records with full-page register view
• Periodical Source Index Archive (PERSI), 1800-2009
• U.S. Serial Set Memorials, Petitions and Private Relief Actions
• All-new research aids
• Interactive census maps
• And more

The product will have a more modern look and feel that will make it easier to use and help streamline the research process for genealogists.

Additional Information

• The conversion to the new version will be automatic.  No changes will need to be made by libraries.
• Authentication methods will remain the same, including:
  • Static IP address
  • Referring URL
  • Barcode
  • Embedded username/password
  • Usage reports: We will use the same usage reporting system that’s currently available today
• All-new image viewer with more functionality
• Grayscale or color images
• ADA Section 508 compliance

New Browser Requirements

• HeritageQuest Online will be optimized to perform best on current versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Internet Explorer 9 or newer (we recommend IE 11+).  This gives libraries the most up-to-date security, as well.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 or older will no longer be supported.  The new HeritageQuest Online may work in discontinued operating systems (such as Windows XP) and browsers, but we will not guarantee compatibility or make fixes.

85th Anniversary of Devastating Tornado

This afternoon, four score and five years ago, a tornado wrought destruction and death to the city of Poplar Bluff.  This will be remembered and marked by a few but go unnoticed by most.  May 9, 1927, may have left the community in pieces that day but life went on.

Two days later, "The Daily Republican", published a double-sided, one page edition with the banner headline "Poplar Bluff Will Rebuild".  One column contains a list the deceased.  Over 100 died that day.  As I delved further into my own genealogy research, that list became very personal after finding a death certificate for my great-great grandfather.  I had never read the list, just glanced over it. Looking back, sure enough, there he was: J.W. (John Wesley) Huson, my great-great grandfather.  The death certificate was submitted by D.B. Deem, Justice of the Peace, Acting Coroner (author of Deem's History of Butler County).

I have yet to discover where he was precisely.  His occupation was always listed as being a farmer but double checking the 1920 Census and following up with his widow in the 1930 Census, street addresses for Poplar Bluff were listed on the far left columns of both.  So many of my ancestors were farmers and always listed as "rural", "county road", or "country road", I'd become blind to the street address portion of the Census.

I definitely learned my lesson.  Even if you think you're familiar with a record, it's never a bad idea to take another look. You may find a new clue that leads you to additional information.  If nothing else, you'll be confirming what you already knew.

You can see the resulting devastation in a series of photographs, including a scanned image of the first post-storm edition of "The Daily Republican" published on May 11th, on the library's website.