Genealogy & Local History

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Online genealogy library resources:

Genealogy 101
If you’re just getting started researching your genealogy, take a look at our webpage Welcome to Genealogy for helpful tips, forms, and links. We also have this information in a packet that you may request at the Service Center on your next visit to the Library.

One-on-one help
Do you have genealogy or local history questions? Consider requesting a Book an Expert appointment with our Genealogy & Local History Librarian, Nancy Gaynor.

Additional online resources:

• Family Search – A free personal account is needed to search thousands of worldwide databases. While many records are viewable from home, some have restricted access. CAPL is now an Affiliate Library and many of those records are accessible in the Library.
• Find A Grave – Volunteers worldwide have contributed to this collection of gravesite memorials.
• McHenry County Genealogical Society, including their Free Online Indexes
• McHenry County Historical Society Digital Newspaper Collection
• Illinois Genealogical Society

Local history collection:
Items in our local history collection include Cary-Grove High School yearbooks (years 1968, 1972-present), Cary veteran photo compilation, Cary Garden Club records, Cary Cemetery gravestone photos, and more.