Original entries reviewed October 23, 2026. Eel River Township collection links and selected original images checked October 28, 2026. Additional collection descriptions and dates checked November 4, 2026. No staff confirmation or onsite inspection. Confirm access before visiting.
Several doors lead into the same library.
The Genealogy Center hosts several distinct collections featured below. Choose the record type that fits your question, then follow its source references. An index is a route to evidence, not a substitute for the full record.
STOP 01 / Fort Wayne / libraryThe Genealogy Center: plan a focused visit
A national collection with a very local doorway.
Use the dedicated Fort Wayne and Allen County resources directory alongside the library catalog. It separates court, church, school, cemetery, institutional, and community collections.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Begin online with your township, congregation, employer, or person. Save titles and references, then contact the Genealogy Center to check access to originals or microfilm before visiting.
A question you can ask
Which original or microfilm source should I request for this index entry?
Keep in mind
Free online indexes, digitized documents, and onsite databases offer different levels of access. A catalog hit is not a scanned record.
STOP 02 / 1836–1949 / death investigationsAllen County coroner abstracts
A missing death certificate may lead to an investigation.
The Genealogy Center hosts Al and Maureen Gaff’s abstracts from surviving Allen County coroner records. The search supports exact, fuzzy, and Soundex name matching.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Search surname variants, save the record reference, and use the collection’s explanatory notes to pursue the underlying document.
A question you can ask
Where can I consult the original record behind this abstract?
Keep in mind
Coverage is uneven: there are no records for 1859–1878, and only four for 1916–1932. A failed search cannot establish that no investigation occurred.
STOP 03 / 1926–1950 / funeral-home indexMcComb & Sons funeral records
Follow the index back to the funeral record.
ACGSI volunteers transcribed and indexed funeral-home microfiche; the Genealogy Center provides a searchable version. The original records may contain more information than the index.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Search a surname, retain the entry details, then follow the database’s instructions for asking the funeral home about additional information. Confirm current copying arrangements before requesting.
A question you can ask
Does the original record contain additional names or burial details omitted from this index?
Keep in mind
The earliest records for 1925 and part of 1926 were not located. The database describes originals and microfiche as remaining with the funeral home.
STOP 04 / 1853–1939 / institutional recordsAllen County Poor Asylum registers
The next sheet can matter as much as the name entry.
The searchable index points to registers filmed in four parts. The library identifies its local Microfilm No. 81 and Family History Library film 1616628.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Keep both part and page references. For Part 1, ask for the name sheet and the following information sheet. Check current film or digital access with the repository.
A question you can ask
Can I obtain both sheets associated with this Part 1 index reference?
Keep in mind
Part 1 page numbers were supplied by the indexer, not the original book. Parts 2–4 use stamped numbers. Historical institutional labels should be quoted with context, not adopted as present-day descriptions of a person.
STOP 05 / Black community history / memorials and diariesHana L. Stith Collection
Community memory can preserve people missed by standard indexes.
The African/African American Historical Society & Museum collection portal offers obituaries and memorials, including the Josephine Williams Obituary Collection, and William E. Warfield diaries.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Choose a collection from the portal, browse or search its items, and preserve the item title, contributor, date, and page reference.
A question you can ask
Are there related memorials or diary entries for this family, organization, or neighborhood?
Keep in mind
A memorial or diary reflects its creator’s information and perspective. Verify family relationships and dates against other sources.
STOP 06 / Local records / volunteer preservationAllen County Genealogical Society of Indiana
Search a business, church, or small settlement as well as a surname.
The records directory includes funeral cards, congregation records, local enumerations, and a Churchward blacksmith ledger for Poe, 1921–1923. These can help connect a person with a community between census years.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Browse the directory by subject. Check the page’s access key before selecting a collection; it identifies password-protected members-only links in red.
A question you can ask
Which collection and original source support this entry, and what access is available?
Keep in mind
Some material requires membership. Transcriptions and indexes need checking against their cited sources; the blacksmith ledger link is in the members section.
STOP 07 / Fort Wayne / artifacts and digital galleriesThe History Center
A workplace, object, or street can open a different research trail.
The Allen County–Fort Wayne Historical Society presents museum artifacts and digital galleries with scans, photographs, and descriptions. Its collections page links to the PFW Helmke Library collection.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Begin with the digital collections link, save an item identifier, and contact the History Center with a focused question about related material or a research visit.
A question you can ask
Is there related documentation for this object, business, or place beyond the online description?
Keep in mind
An exhibition is a selection of holdings, not a complete archival inventory. An object or unnamed photograph supplies context without proving an ancestor’s identity.
STOP 08 / Allen County township / roads, schools and accountsEel River Township record books
Follow a road petition or school expenditure into the original township pages.
The Genealogy Center hosts township books labeled 1850–1860 and 1861–1905, advisory-board volumes labeled 1933–1946, 1946–1953 and 1954–1962, and separate financial, justice-docket and teacher-contract records. A June 8, 1850 entry records a road petition and defers further consideration; it does not establish that the road was approved or opened. A September 5, 1933 advisory-board entry discusses the 1934 budget and school funding. These records can connect local places, officials and community decisions.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Open the Eel River collection directory, select a record type and volume, then choose a year or subject in its table of contents. The two sample image links below opened without sign-in when checked October 28, 2026. Use Previous and Next to follow continuation pages; the viewer also offers a printer-friendly view. Save the volume title, meeting date, manuscript or printed page number and image URL. Contact the Genealogy Center through genealogy@acpl.info for help with other formats, original-record custody or copying arrangements.
A question you can ask
Which township, school or road account covers this place and year, and are there continuation pages or related records that explain the outcome?
Keep in mind
These are Eel River Township records for Allen County, Indiana. The 1861–1905 volume description explicitly says not all years occur in all reports and most material dates from the 1860s. The 1850–1860 contents page has no separate 1854–1858 headings; that alone does not prove records for those years were lost. Other volume ranges were checked as directory labels, not audited page by page. Digital hosting does not establish custody of the originals. An expenditure or shared surname does not by itself prove a family relationship.
STOP 09 / ACPL Genealogy CenterAboite school enumeration and trustees
The ACPL inventory lists school enumerations, 1866–1895, and school trustee records, 1867–1893. Use the two series together to investigate a family and its school district.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Open the Aboite links in the free county database directory. Contact the Genealogy Center if the individual viewers fail.
A question you can ask
Which item covers my person, place and year, and how can I consult the underlying record?
Keep in mind
Inventory verification only: both individual viewers failed during this review. The listed spans do not establish annual completeness.
STOP 10 / ACPL Genealogy CenterPleasant Township road tax, 1880
An alphabetically organized 1880 road-tax volume offers a township-level alternative to a census search.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Browse the surname-letter sections and inspect the original page images.
A question you can ask
Which item covers my person, place and year, and how can I consult the underlying record?
Keep in mind
Single year, not a continuous road-tax series. A tax listing alone does not establish a family relationship.
STOP 11 / ACPL Genealogy CenterFort Wayne fire-run books
Digitized books: 1919–1923; Station 8, 1946–1964; Station 10, 1937–1958; Station 11, 1929–1940.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Choose a station volume on the free collection page and browse its pages for an event date.
A question you can ask
Which item covers my person, place and year, and how can I consult the underlying record?
Keep in mind
Selected station books only. Do not describe the combined span as complete citywide coverage.