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In 1926, the Pioneer Historical Publishing Company published the two volume History of Snohomish County, Washington. Volume II contains over 800 biographical entries for the "leading citizens of the area". While full of flowery phrases extolling the virtues of the subject, each biography contains much information that could be of use to a family historian.The 1926 BIOGRAPHIES Project now contains references to over 1000 individuals. Because of the size of the data base table, the information has been uploaded to four separate pages.
The History of Snohomish County, Washington has been microfilmed by LDS, and can be ordered at any Family History Center. In fact, the FHC in Mountlake Terrace just happens to have a copy of that microfilm (look in Marge Reid's stash of films - one of the talented and good-looking staff members can tell you where that stash is!) The 1926 History is also available at many county libraries.
Now, just how "reliable" is the information in the biographical section of this (or ANY) "local history"? I wouldn't be willing to bet the farm on ANY of it! The data can, however, give valuable clues, and might provide a boost over the dreaded "brick wall" in YOUR research.
A few "samples" have been uploaded - these samples will give you an idea of what kinds of information may be found in the biographies.
On a personal note, I've enjoyed working on this project. In fact, one of the "biographical subjects" MIGHT be related to my DOCKENDORFF line from Maine (or maybe not). I've also wondered if newspapers ever used this 1926 History to prepare obituaries for local citizens when they passed away...
About the table headings...
A married woman is listed under both BIRTH NAME (if given) and MARRIED NAME (with a "see ---" reference back to her birth name. If the surname is highlighted, the individual's complete biography is on the SAMPLE PAGE. | |
The page in Volume 2 of the SnoCo History | |
The place where the individual lived or worked. In many cases, the person's LOCALITY is given as "SnoCo", because a specific place could not be determined from the biography itself. | |
Year of birth. The History gives complete dates of birth for many individuals. | |
Place of birth. Birth locality information varies in completeness. | |
Father's given name. Where the given name differs from that of the individual, the father's FULL name was entered. | |
Mother's surname and given name. ??? indicates that the birth name was not given. | |
If the individual was married more than once, that person has a separate listing for each spouse. | |
Year of marriage. Some complete dates are given, as well as places of marriage. |
Included in the Biographies are descriptions of local businesses and associations - some of these articles contain extensive biographical information. If anyone is interested, I can include the articles in this project.
ARLINGTON COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION | 378 |
BELL AUTO FREIGHT CO. | 585 |
CONCRETE PRODUCTS CO. | 721 |
EVERETT FRUIT PRODUCTS CO. | 305 |
EVERETT MARINE WAYS INC. | 6 |
EVERETT PUBLIC LIBRARY | 140 |
EVERETT PULP and PAPER CO. | 524 |
FIRST NATIONAL BANK of EVERETT | 163 |
INDEPENDENT TRUCK CO. | 769 |
MERO ART SHOP | 226 |
NEW ENGLAND MANUFACTURING CO. | 405 |
PUGET SOUND TELEPHONE COM. | 161 |
SNOHOMISH CO. FRUIT GROWERS ASS'N | 332 |
WAGNER LUMBER CO. | 358 |
WASHINGTON STOVE WORKS | 117 |
WEST COAST DAIRY | 334 |
WEYERHAUSER TIMBER CO. | 222 |