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Genealogy and Ancestry.com

A guide for conducting general genealogy research, Quaker genealogy research, and using Ancestry.com for both genealogy and non-genealogy research.

Resources for Quaker Genealogical Research

Using the Hinshaw Index and and Encyclopedia

William Wade Hinshaw's Index and and Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, often referred to as "The Hinshaws," consists of six volumes, each comprising of a different region:

  • Volume I: North Carolina Yearly Meeting (and supplement) (North and South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee)2
  • Volume II: New Jersey and Pennsylvania Monthly Meetings
  • Volume III: New York Monthly Meetings
  • Volumes IV & V: Ohio Yearly Meetings
  • Volume VI: Virginia Yearly Meeting
  • Indexes

These can be searched for free on HathiTrust:

Or browsed and searched via Ancestry.com


Using the Hinshaws:

  1. The Indexes will help you figure out which volume you need to use. They are alphabetical, and there may be more than one entry per person.
    1. The result will show as "[Last name], [First Name and middle initial] [volume number, page number]"
    2. For example: "Brooke, Edna IV, 1323"
  2. Keep this information and find the volume you are looking for. The volume I am looking for is IV: Ohio Yearly Meetings
    1. Once you have your volume, turn to the page number.
    2. Search the page for the name you are searching for.
    3. For example: Edna Brooke, the daughter of William and Rizpah, was born December 22, 1876, and married Joseph A. Jolly, October 22, 1903.

 

For more information, please see this guide from Guilford College Quaker Collections: Hinshaw Index to Quaker records