Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources

The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy is a reference book published by Ancestry Publishing. The first edition was published in 1984 and was edited by Arlene Eakle and Johni Cerny. A revised edition, edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, was published in 1997. The current edition, the third, was published in 2006 and was also edited by Szucs and Luebking.

Critical Reception

When Ancestry published the first edition of The Source in 1984, it quickly became a standard reference in the field of genealogy and family history. That same year, it received the coveted 'Best Reference' award from the American Library Association. The 1997 edition, built upon the foundations laid down by its predecessor, sold more than 100,000 copies. A poll of librarians placed The Source, sometimes referred to as 'the genealogist's bible,' at the top of the 'Top 10 Genealogy Books' for the wealth of information it offers to beginning and experienced genealogists ('Top 10 Genealogy Books,' Family Chronicle 3, no. 3 (January/February 1999): 27'28).

The Source Online

In 2010, Ancestry.com digitized the content of Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources along with The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy and made it available in wiki format as one of the foundational sources for the Ancestry.com Wiki. Each chapter has been broken into one or more series of articles, links to which are found below:

Third Edition Table of Contents

Alabama Family History Research

Alaska Family History Research

Arizona Family History Research

Arkansas Family History Research

California Family History Research

Colorado Family History Research

Connecticut Family History Research

Delaware Family History Research

District of Columbia Family History Research

Florida Family History Research

Georgia Family History Research

Hawaii Family History Research

Idaho Family History Research

Indiana Family History Research

Iowa Family History Research

Kansas Family History Research

Kantucky Family History Research

Louisiana Family History Research

Maine Family History Research

Maryland Family History Research

Massachusetts Family History Research

Michigan Family History Research

Minnesota Family History Research

Mississippi Family History Research

Missouri Family History Research

Montana Family History Research

Nebraska Family History Research

Nevada Family History Research

New Hampshire Family History Research

New Jersey Family History Research

New Mexico Family History Research

New York Family History Research

North Carolina Family History Research

North Dakota Family History Research

Ohio Family History Research

Oklahoma Family History Research

Oregon Family History Research

Pennsylvania Family History Research

Rhode Island Family History Research

South Carolina Family History Research

South Dakota Family History Research

Tennessee Family History Research

Texas Family History Research

Utah Family History Research

Vermont Family History Research

Virginia Family History Research

Washington Family History Research

West Virginia Family History Research

Wisconsin Family History Research

Wyoming Family History Research

External Links

• Buy Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third Edition