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What is a city directory? |
Who
is listed in the 1859 Nashville City directory? |
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A
city directory is a publication that lists persons living and/or working
in a city. You also may find lists of churches, businesses, members of
government and schools, and an advertiser section. City directories have
been in use for over 200 years. They are similar to our modern-day telephone
books because individuals are listed alphabetically. The occupations,
business addresses, and home addresses are usually included. City directories
can be invaluable resources when you cannot find an individual in a census
or, in the case of the federal census year of 1890 or censuses later than
1930, when most census records are unavailable. City directories can provide
additional information about your ancestor. For instance, sometimes the
description of “widow” or the death date of an individual
can be found in a city directory. If an individual was consistently named
in city directories for many years and wasn’t listed in a following
year, you might pursue this hint that the individual died or moved away.
If you find several individuals with the same surname living or working
at the same address, you may wish to pursue these clues that these individuals
are related in some way. |
According
to the introduction in the city directory, "to secure a correct list
of names for the body of the Directory, he [the publisher] visited in
person every office and dwelling within the corporate limits of the city".
"Within the corporate limits of the city we have 25,113 inhabitants
as a total. Of these 5,885 are blacks, and of these 1,758 are free. Of
19,728 whites, 10,757 are males, and 8,971 are females. Edgefield has
a population of at least 2,500; North Nashville, 1,200; West Nashville,
1,000; and Southfield 2,000. All of these villages belong to Nashville,
which gives us a grand total population of 31,813." |
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Why
can't I find who I am looking for? |
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As
I compiled the alphabetical index of the images of the city directory
pages, I noticed many names were not in alphabetical order. They were
grouped in general order (all the surnames beginning with "A"
were in the "A" pages) but not always in strict alphabetical
order. You should view every page of the same alphabet letter. Also, be
sure to check the appendix for your individual. The appendix is a list
of names added later by the publisher. |
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Where
can I find Nashville city directories for other years? |
The
image is too fuzzy for me to read. Can you help me? |
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The
Metropolitan Archives of Nashville & Davidson County, TN, has the
following years:1853-2002. Archives staff will provide copies of pages
for a specific surname for a specific year. A copy of the record from
microfilm is $3.00 (up to 10 pages). You will be notified if there is
a fee for additional pages. If they do not have a directory for the year
specified, they will copy from the directory closest to the specified
year. http://www.nashville.gov/metro_archives/index.htm |
The
process of preparing an image for the Internet involves compressing the
file size by reducing the details. If you need help reading a particular
line, email me and I'll view my original image for you. My email link
is on the home page. |
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Where
can I find the answer to a question that is not listed here? |
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Please
feel free to contact me. My email link is on the home page. |
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