In addition to these records, I should like to mention a number of
other sources our patrons use in finding ancestors who died or are buried in
Bibb County. We have interment records for Rose Hill Cemetery (1840-1871
and 1896-1915), Riverside Cemetery (to 1940) and Riverside Cemetery (Old
Section to 1972), and Macon Memorial Park Cemetery (1935-February 2000). We
also have records of Rose Hill Cemetery based on a gravestone survey of
1959. We have records for Cedar Ridge Cemetery and a partial list of Hart's
Mortuary burials in Evergreen Cemetery. We also gravestone survey records
of a number of smaller Bibb County cemeteries.
Moreover, we have several indices for obituaries in local newspapers. We have Willard Rocker's book abstracting marriage and death notices from the Macon Messenger (1823-1865), Jean Ard's multi-volumed index of funeral notices from the Macon Telegraph (1870-1910), and the library's index of Macon Telegraph obituaries (1907-1994).
Before closing, I should also mention the Georgia Death Index, which began in 1919. We have the index for the years from 1919 to 1998.
Finally, I think your list users will be excited to know that our book catalogue will soon be on line. We are now in the process of moving the catalogue to a computerized format in the PINES system, which is accessible to users in their homes. Once we are on board, it will be possible for any one of our patrons to check for a particular book from his or her home computer. This without having to wait for us to open and without having to call or drive to the library. (The microfilm catalogue will not be available through this system immediately, but we hope to include it eventually).
Thank you for your interest in our collection. I hope this information will prove useful to GABIBB rootsweb list users and that many will visit us, or if they are too far away to visit Washington Memorial Library, that they will write or e-mail us.
Patrons may e-mail directly to
the Genealogical and Historical Room (Our e-mail address is
washingg@mail.bibb.public.lib.ga.us) or write to us at the address
belowlisted. ( I should caution that we can not accept research inquiries
over the telephone, but of course will answer questions about our hours,
holiday closings, and holdings over the telephone).
Christopher Stokes, Ph.D.
Washington Memorial Library
Genealogical and Historical Room
1180 Washington Avenue
Macon, Georgia 31201-1790