Sources checked October 24, 2026. Additional local collection descriptions and dates checked November 4, 2026. Earlier valid guide content retained. Dates describe selected holdings, not complete coverage.
Start with one connection.
Bring a person, a place, approximate years, and one question. A township, congregation, school, or employer may reveal records a surname search misses. The custodian can be outside the county.
STOP 01 / Marion · Grant CountyMarion Public Library: Indiana History and Genealogy
Use county indexes to narrow a specific record request.
The department provides local databases for births, deaths, marriages, obituaries, cemeteries, and the Orphans' Home. It also lists Grant County histories and funeral-home abstracts.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Start with the local databases linked from the department page. Ask staff which source stands behind a result and whether the original or a fuller abstract is available.
A question you can ask
Which original record supplied this Orphans' Home or funeral-home entry?
Keep in mind
The library says all available cemetery information is already in that database. Funeral-home coverage is incomplete; an Orphans' Home reference alone does not establish that both parents had died.
STOP 02 / Fairmount · southern Grant CountyFairmount Public Library: Indiana and Genealogy section
Look beyond the county-seat newspaper.
The reference collection includes a Park Cemetery transcript, donated family histories, local yearbooks, and microfilm of the Fairmount News, Fairmount News-Sun, and Summitville Sun. James Dean materials form a separate special collection.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Ask the library for the newspaper title and issue range needed. Yearbooks and special materials are available by request.
A question you can ask
Do you hold the Fairmount or Summitville newspaper issue closest to this family event?
Keep in mind
The page does not give complete newspaper or yearbook runs. A cemetery transcript should be checked against a burial record or monument when possible.
STOP 03 / Indianapolis · county-specific holdingsIndiana State Library: Grant County research guide
Identify a record series before requesting an original.
The guide lists an index to citizenship petitions covering 1907–1913 and 1929–1958 (ISLG 977.201 G761p Index), alongside other county research routes.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Use the county guide to copy the title and call number, then search the State Library catalog or use its Ask-a-Librarian service to confirm access.
A question you can ask
Does this petition index lead to a declaration, arrival detail, or original court file?
Keep in mind
These are selected library holdings, often indexes or abstracts. The guide does not promise every original record or online images.
STOP 04 / Marion Public Library, Indiana History and GenealogyFairmount News beyond an obituary search
The library lists indexed Fairmount News microfilm for 1888–1910, except 1893–1895.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Contact the Indiana History and Genealogy department with the name, date and series. Use its record-request form for copies; the posted service is $2 per record, up to ten records.
A question you can ask
Which item covers my person, place and year, and how can I consult the underlying record?
Keep in mind
The missing years are excluded from matching. An index hit is a pointer to the issue, not the article itself.
STOP 05 / Marion Public Library, Indiana History and GenealogyWills and local naturalization records
Listed holdings include wills, 1893–1923, and naturalization records, 1856–1958.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Contact the Indiana History and Genealogy department with the name, date and series. Use its record-request form for copies; the posted service is $2 per record, up to ten records.
A question you can ask
Which item covers my person, place and year, and how can I consult the underlying record?
Keep in mind
These are separate series. Confirm the book, petition and page; listed bounds do not establish every document survived.
STOP 06 / Marion Public Library, Indiana History and GenealogyVeterans speaking in their own words
The Community History Project includes the Roland L. Auble Grant County Veterans Oral Histories.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Follow the library’s oral-history link to the digital collection. Note the narrator, interview date and recording identifier; ask staff about unlisted interviews.
A question you can ask
Which item covers my person, place and year, and how can I consult the underlying record?
Keep in mind
No complete interview or service-date range is established. Recollections need comparison with contemporary records.
STOP 07 / Marion Public Library, Indiana History and GenealogyHistoric photographs of workplaces and neighborhoods
More than 5,100 Marion and Grant County photographs are described as digitized and indexed.
Research details & a question to ask
How to begin
Use the library’s Historic Photo Collection link, searching businesses, places and surnames. Ask about reproduction permission before reusing an image.
A question you can ask
Which item covers my person, place and year, and how can I consult the underlying record?
Keep in mind
No inclusive date range is stated; absence from an index does not prove absence from local photographic holdings.
Leave a trail another researcher can follow.
Save the repository, collection title, dates, volume, page or item identifier, link, and the date you consulted it. Follow an index to the original record when possible. Keep uncertain names and inferred relationships visibly separate from what the source states.
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