Civil WarSpringfield-Greene County Library District
Hall’s Index & Items of Genealogical Interest from the Springfield, Greene County, MO Newspapers
Search Pre-1924Search 1924 - Present
Introduction
William K. Hall, M.D. spent many years creating an index and "scrapbook" of the vital records that appeared in the Springfield, Greene County, Missouri newspapers beginning in 1865. This material has proven to be an invaluable resource for genealogical and historical research concerning southwest Missouri. Life events -- obituaries, deaths, probate notices, marriages, births, divorces, engagements, anniversaries and scattered historical items -- are included.
Dr. Hall became interested in creating an index to the Springfield newspapers while a high school student in Springfield. Later, he continued the project to keep in touch with hometown news and to support his own research. The original scrapbooks were created with columns and articles clipped from the newspapers. Dr. Hall created an index of personal names to accompany the scrapbooks. Dr. Hall has donated bound photo facsimile volumes of all work to the Springfield-Greene County Library District, where the 45 linear feet of material stands as the most used volumes in the library system.
The Collection
The content of the originals vary somewhat through the years covered; some volumes are simply an index to the life event date and page of the newspaper, some consist of an index and typed abstract of records found, while others include an index, abstracts and clippings. Later versions feature a detailed index stating the name, life event and date that an item appeared in the newspaper as
well as a copy of the actual item.
Dr. Hall's explanation, in the 1934 Index, contains helpful information about the collection:
It was my intention to make the index as complete and useful as possible. If it was uncertain whether a name was Heese or Hesse, I included both. If George Peterson married Sarah Grant, I included the name Sarah Grant Peterson in the index. If Mrs. Laura Banfield died leaving a daughter Mrs. Ada Toliver, in the index I included the name Ada Banfield. In some cases this led to errors. Perhaps Mrs. Banfield had been married twice and Ada was a child of the first marriage.
Digitization began in 2007 with the 1894 index and scrapbook. The collection currently contains scrapbooks for 1894 and 1921-1925. Additional years will be added as they are completed.
Rights and Reproductions
All photographs are the property of Springfield-Greene County Library District. Publication or reproduction in any manner is prohibited without written consent of the Library. To request a copy, call the Local History and Genealogy Department at (417) 616-0534, or email a librarian at: http://thelibrary.org/asklib.cfm.
How to Use This Collection
Search for a person's name in the Name field. The life event associated with that person for that date will be displayed in the Event field. Sometimes Dr. Hall indexed the names of other people, such as the survivors in an obituary. These names will not have an event listed in the Event field. Also displayed on the Search Results page are the name and date of the newspaper containing the record. Use a combination of name, newspaper date, and event to select the record you want to view. Clicking on the name of the person will present you with a more detailed page about the record, and a link to the digitized scrapbook page which contains the newspaper clipping of the person. If there is more than one scrapbook page for the particular newspaper and date that the person was listed in, there will be a record for each one. Keep in mind that while viewing the scrapbook pages, you may need to navigate to the page(s) preceding or following in order to locate a particular person.
Additional Resources
Springfield-Greene County Library also hosts the Ozarks News and Historical Index [ http://198.209.8.2/screens/opacmenu.html ], a substantial historical subject index to the Springfield Newspapers and other regional publications and resources.
Springfield newspapers are available on microfilm: Library Center, Springfield-Greene County Library; State Historical Society of Missouri: 1844 to present; many gaps prior to 1880. Meyer Library, Missouri State University: 1960 to present.
Portions of the Hall Collection are available: Springfield-Greene County Library: 1865 to 2007; State Historical Society: 1865 to 1934; Polk County Genealogical Society: 1943 to 2007 (partial); Allen County Public Library 1865 to 1930 partial.
For additional genealogical resources, including death certificates, church records, and military records, please see the Family and Faith section of this site.
