A directory is an alphabetical list of the adult inhabitants of a locale, usually including their addresses and occupations, or a list of members of a particular organization. A directory specific to a locality may cover a city or an entire county and may be a general directory of citizens or a more specific directory of farmers, Civil War veterans, members of a specific religion or profession, or students attending a particular college. The best known publishers are William H. Boyd, the R.L. Polk Company, the John F. Trow Company, the John Doggett Company, and the firms of George Adams, Damrell & Moore, and C.S. Williams. Directories were often printed in the 1700s; most were discontinued by the 1930s.

In large cities, directories are generally published annually and may include maps and addresses of churches, cemeteries, and courthouses. For genealogists whose ancestors lived in large cities, directories can be an invaluable research aide. They can help to locate a family in a census that has not been indexed or in a partially-indexed census such as the 1880 enumeration in which only families with children ten years old or younger are indexed. Using street names and ward maps, the researcher can determine the ward within the city which should be searched, thus saving hours of time. In the absence of census records-perhaps because a family was missed while moving from place to place, because their residence during census years is unknown, or because census data is lacking for the 1890 period-directories can help to reconstruct family groups. The addresses of newly-appearing young adult children and widows can be matched to men by the same name at the same address from earlier years. In the absence of death records, especially if several sequential directories are available, the new designation of "widow" after a woman's name can help determine her husband's date of death. Directories can also be used to help locate an address of a more recent ancestor. When occupation is listed, the information can help differentiate multiple people of the same name and can lead to other sources such as licenses or records of professional organizations.

Some directories provide additional information which cannot be obtained from the federal and state census enumerations. These directories show when a person arrived in the area and may note removals to other places and death dates. This information can narrow time periods, allowing the researcher to make a more educated guess concerning approximate years to search for naturalization, land, and probate records. A person's disappearance form yearly directories, however, does not necessarily mean that the person died. If he or she was not home when the compilers came, the person may have been missed, even for several years; older people may have gone to live with their children. Directories can also help determine the church which the family may have attended and the cemetery which was likely used for burial. The family 's religion can sometimes be discovered by locating a minister's name on a marriage certificate and then finding the name in the directory.

Most directories are printed in alphabetical order; however, some early books grouped everyone by the first initial of the surname and did not alphabetize each individual name. Others grouped similar names such as Meyers, Meyer, Myers, and Myer. Some, such as professional directories, required a fee for inclusion. Your ancestor may or may not have paid the fee, and if he or she was late in paying, may be listed at the front or back of the book in a special section for those who were (almost) too late to be included. Spelling variations, variations in the areas covered, or poor quality microfilming of deteriorating books may also make it difficult to find an ancestor in a particular year.

Some smaller cities and counties produced only one or two directories over time, while larger cities often produced yearly directories for many decades, some for more than a century. In any case, it is wise to follow your ancestor through any and all directories which are available for the place of residence, as you may very well find new information which will tell you about your ancestor's life and family.

E. Kay Kirkham, A Handy Guide to Record Searching in the Larger Cities of the United States, 1974.

Maps with 1880, 1900, 1910 census enumeration district boundaries-Washington-National Records Service, 4205 Suitland Rd., Suitland, Md.

Research Publications, City Directories of the United States, 1860-1901, 1983.

Spear, Dorothea N., Bibliography of American Directories Through 1860.

Ethridge, James M., ed., Directory of Directories, 1980.