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Indiana Room

Books with red and blue covers on library shelves.
A wooden file organizer with shelves holding notebooks and papers, with a binder open on top.
File cabinet with signs: "Local History Files. Files may not be checked out."

The Indiana Room is the Alexandrian Public Library’s local history and genealogical special collection. The Indiana Room special collections are intended to preserve and provide access to material supporting specialized research on Posey County history and genealogy. For preservation reasons, these materials do not circulate.

For assistance with genealogy research requests, please contact Nathalie Elderkin at nat@alexandrianpl.org

Microfilm Holdings:

The Indiana Room has a broad range of materials on microfilm or microfiche. Below are some of the most popular materials used for genealogical research.

Census

The following census records of Posey County are available on microfilm:

  • 1820 – 1900
  • 1900 – 1920
  • 1920 – 1930
  • 1930 – 1940

Census data from the 1920s and 1930s is also available for Gibson and Vanderburgh Counties in Indiana, White and Gallatin Counties in Illinois, and Henderson, Union, and Webster Counties in Kentucky.

Histories

  • Historical Sketch of Posey County by Alvin P. Hovey, 1876

Additionally, family and county/regional histories — often locally compiled — are available on microfiche from those states from which many Posey County settlers migrated, including Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

Newspapers

An alphabetical listing, giving the date ranges available, follows:

  • Cynthiana Argus, 1893-1917
  • Mt. Vernon Daily Democrat, 8/17/1891-2/16/1894
  • Mt. Vernon Democrat, 12/21/1887-4/15/1871, 11/4/1875-4/1878, 4/1879-12/29/1892, 1/2/1940-present
  • New Harmony Times, 1914-1950
  • Posey County News, 1972-1984, 1997-present
  • Poseyville News, 1882-1930
  • Republican, 1943-1966
  • Unafraid Republican, 1925-1926
  • Western Star, 1877-1948
  • Wochenblatt (German language), 1878-1880

Obituary Records

  • Browning Obituaries 1920 – 1993

Posey County Courthouse Records

  • Books I – XI (1816 – 1934)

WPA Records

  • Index to Birth Records for all Indiana Counties
  • Index to Death Records for all Indiana Counties
  • Index to Marriage Records for all Indiana Counties

Records, Directories & Indices

Cemetery Records

  • Bellefountaine Cemetery Index
  • Posey County Burials Missions Accomplished, vols. 1-3, 1996
  • Posey County Cemetery Records by Carroll O. Cox, 1979

Census Indices

  • Indiana, 1807 – 1850
  • Posey County 1850 – 1880, 1910, 1920, 1930

City Directories

  • Mt. Vernon, Indiana: 1899, 1909/1910, 1914/1915, 1921, 1925, 1927, 1939, 1942, 1949, 1952, 1955, 1963, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1980-1981, 1983,1985, 1987-1988, 1990-1991, 1993-1996, 1998-present

Local Histories

  • History and Directory of Posey County, 1882
  • Goodspeed’s History of Posey County, 1886
  • History of Posey County, by John C. Leffel, 1913
  • Mount Vernon, Indiana: 175th Birthday, 1816-1991
  • Mount Vernon Sesquicentennial, 1816-1966
  • Posey County Indiana: 175 Anniversary History, 1814-1989

Obituary Records

  • Mt. Vernon Democrat Obituaries, annual compilations, indexed: 1990 – 1998
  • Index of Mt. Vernon Democrat Obituaries, 1975 – present

School Yearbooks

  • Mt. Vernon Hoop-Pole: 1912-1930, 1934, 1939-1981, 1983, 1985, 1988-present
  • Various local elementary school yearbooks

WPA Records

  • Index to Birth Records, Posey County, 1882 – 1920
  • Index to Death Records, Posey County, 1882 – 1920
  • Index to Marriage Records, Posey County, 1882 – 1920