Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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June 7, 2010

Genealogy library provides tools to trace family tree

By GREG JORDAN Bluefield Daily Telegraph

PRINCETON — Southern West Virginia now has a new resource for residents and visitors who want to learn more about the region and trace the branches of their family trees.

After months of preparation and renovations, the Mercer County Historical Society hosted the grand opening of a new genealogical library at 908 Harrison Street. It is the only library of its type in the southern portion of the state, said Lois Miller, the historical society’s president. Miller consulted several authorities while the society organized the new library.

“I’ve been working with West Virginia State Library Commissioner J.D. Waggoner,” Miller said. “I’ve had pointers from him. I also got information to help me open this up from Abe Lilly at Concord University, and I’ve been working with Joe Geiger at West Virginia Culture and History. For the past six months I’ve been corresponding, making my rounds and getting my resources together for what we need for a library.”

The new library will specialize in Mercer County history, the history of residents who served in the armed forces, the history of surrounding counties and other topics. Another specialty will be family histories.

“There are family histories that have been donated to the historical society with some West Virginia history. The big thing is having the census and the old tax records, and this is a great year because of the 2010 Census. We’ve let the census takers meet down here the last few months because we want them to know how important it is to have good records,” Miller said.

The library also has Internet access with links to free genealogy websites.

“We have a 12 room house. It’s 100 years old, and we’ve been renovating it since 2006. We had to renovate the structure to this point to get it open. We have an antique nursery, antique bedroom, antique parlor, and we’re going to have a filing system and a library computer program; it came from Concord (University). They showed me what to get and how to use it,” Miller said.

Visitors from several states have visited the new library already.

“We’ve had people from Nebraska, Ohio, Virginia, a couple from Hinton a day ago and from Maryland last week,” Miller said.

The library is open three days a week: Monday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Thursday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visitors can also make an appointment by calling 304-425-9017 or on the Internet at mercercountyhisotricalsociety@yahoo.com.

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