Genealogy Room

The Genealogy Room in the Algona Public Library is maintained by the Kossuth County Genealogical Society. Contact: kossgensoc@gmail.comcreate new email for information.
Recommended Genealogy Sites
USGenWeb Project - A cooperative effort of volunteer genealogists from around the country who provide Internet websites for genealogical research in every state and county of the United States. Organization is by county and state.
American Indian Digital History Project - A Digital History Cooperative founded to recover and preserve rare Indigenous newspapers, photographs, and archival materials from all across Native North America.
Cemetery Records Online – A free online library of cemetery records from thousands of cemeteries across the world.
Chronicling America - Select digital access to American newspapers.
Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System - Information on over 6 million soldiers, who served on both sides during the Civil War. Also includes information on battles, regiments, prisoners, and medals of honor.
Cyndi’s List - A comprehensive, categorized & cross-referenced list of links that point you to genealogical research sites online.
Death Indexes & Records – Directory of links to websites with online death indexes.
FamilySearch - Genealogical site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The search engine looks through records of over 35 million names in its Ancestral File, over 360 million names in the International Genealogical Index, and the Family History Library Catalog with records from more than 2 million rolls of microfilm, plus thousands of indexed Web sites.
Find A Grave - Directory of the locations of graves for thousands of famous dead people as well as for over 2.5 million "non-famous memorials." Browsable by name, location, and claim to fame. Includes photographs of many of the graves.
Iowa Gravestones - Search gravestone photos from across Iowa.
National Archives and National Archives Genealogy Page - Research tools, finding aids, and links to other genealogy sites as well as articles about how to search for your family history. Contains some searchable databases including casualty and prisoners of war lists from WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War.
The Statue of Liberty — Ellis Island Foundation - 65 million searchable records.
U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 (ancestry.com)
Veterans Nationwide Gravesite Locator - Burial locations of veterans and their family members in VA National Cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries, various other military and Department of Interior cemeteries, and for veterans buried in private cemeteries when the grave is marked with a government grave marker.
Where to Write for Vital Records - Addresses and price information for obtaining vital records (birth, death, marriage).