Genealogy Resources at the Library

Researching one's family history has become immensely popular in recent years, and here at the Kelley Library we have a number of resources to make your search easier.

Among the greatest advances in genealogical research are online resources. We are pleased to provide two of these, Ancestry Plus and Heritage Quest. Both allow you to search a wide variety of primary source materials quickly and efficiently. Heritage Quest can be used from home (you will need your library barcode to access it); Ancestry Plus must be used here in the Library.

In addition to these excellent tools, we have a number of local print resources that you are not likely to find elsewhere. If your ancestors spent any time in this area they may appear in these. Our print materials useful to genealogical research include Salem's Town Reports (we have these back to 1869). These include vital statistics -- births, deaths, marriages -- that may be useful to your research. Two published histories of Salem -- History of Salem by Edgar Gilbert and At the Edge of Megalopolis by Richard Noyes -- contain much material of interest to the local historian, as well as biographical information of use to the genealogist.

We also have published local histories for other New Hampshire and Massachusetts towns, as well as regimental histories and rosters for the Civil and Revolutionary Wars. We even have Salem school registers for the years 1850-1875.

All of these materials are available for use in the Library during the hours we are open. Of course, Heritage Quest can be used from home at any hour of the day. If you have any question about any of these resources, do not hesitate to call us.