Genealogy

Genealogy Room Assistance

A member of the Yellowstone Genealogy Forum is usually available to help with research in the Genealogy Room Monday through Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. Capacity limit of 2 people.

Heritage Quest Online

Use Heritage Quest Online to search for family history; including books, census records, local histories, Revolutionary War records and more.  Ancestry Library Edition is available for library patrons inside the main library.

Early Billings Newspapers - Vitals, Indexes, Archives

Use these indexes of the Billings Gazette, Billings Herald, and Billings Post to find vital statistics on early residents of Billings with notations on births, deaths, business licenses and other records as reported in the Billings Gazette, Billings Herald, and Billings Post from 1882-1901. Also find Billings Gazette Indexes for 1930-1939, and 1940-1949, along with digital archives of recent editions of the Billings Gazette starting with January 2013, and an assortment of early papers from 1929 to 1970. Search the Billings Gazette’s historic newspaper pages from 1899-1909 at Chronicling America on the Library of Congress website.

Early Billings City Directories

Billings residents and businesses from 1883-1904, as published in the city directories.

Montana & Yellowstone County Resources

View genealogy resources from Montana and Yellowstone County, including links to historic Montana newspapers archived at the Library of Congress.

Nearby State / Province Genealogy Resources

Check genealogy resources from states and provinces adjoining Montana: Alberta, British Columbia, Idaho, North Dakota, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Wyoming.

Other Genealogy Reference Links

Visit other genealogy sites on the internet. Among the websites listed are some of the best genealogy reference sites on the internet, including the U.S. National Archives, and the U.S. and World GenWeb project homepages.

Various Genealogy Handouts for free download

Ancestry Library Edition at BPL (PDF)

Archived Books & Genealogies (PDF)

Birth Marriage & Death Records (PDF)

Census Info in US Census, 1790-1940 (PDF)

Census Content in Federal Census (PDF)

Census Records - an Introduction by PJ Smith (PDF)

City Directories Online (PDF)

City Directory Research Worksheet (PDF)

Civil War Ancestors - Finding Yours (PDF)

Civil War Military Records (PDF)

Creating a Family Tree (PDF)

Daughters of the American Revolution-an Intro (PDF)

Digital Public Library of America (PDF)

Family Detective for Children (PDF)

Family Interview (PDF)

Find A Grave - How to use (PDF)

Military Records Online (PDF)

Newpapers online - Historic & Current (PDF)

Online Archives (PDF)

Passenger Lists & Immigration Records (PDF)

Start Tracing your Family History (PDF)

Writing Family Stories (PDF)