Project Gutenberg

Photo by Ed Robertson on Unsplash

​As we explore resources for our family history, books remain a valuable part of our research. Increasingly we can access books as eBooks, digital transcripts as well as audio books. As genealogists, often the books we are interested in are older, out-of-print editions. Let’s see how Project Gutenberg can help us.

Project Gutenberg is an online library of free eBooks that doesn’t require registration or special apps. According to their site, they have over 70,000 eBooks. On the home page, you can search for whatever kind of book you are interested in by Title, Author, or topic. I searched for “Wisconsin” and received several items, including these.
The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Volume 1, 1917-1918 by Various | Project Gutenberg  You can choose to read this online, via your kindle or whatever you usually read your eBooks.
With the Rank and File by Thomas J. Ford | Project Gutenberg This is a memoir of someone who was a noncommissioned officer in the War of Rebellion. If you had an ancestor who had a similar experience or fought in the Civil War, you could learn more about their experience by reading such a memoir.
 
Do you have any ancestors who lived in Chicago during the Great Fire? Here’s a memoir: Personal Experiences During the Chicago Fire, 1871 by Frank J. Loesch | Project Gutenberg
 
You get the idea. Most of the books available are in public domain and more information about usage and copyright is available. And maybe you need a break from research and just want to read some classic American literature like Mark Twain: Books: Twain (sorted by popularity) - Project Gutenberg.  If you look in the audio section, you also can listen to Mark Twain’s writings.
 
Once in a while it is good to look outside the usual resources and see what else is available. While you might not find historical records specific to your ancestors, there might be nuggets of historical accounts that help place your ancestors in a particular place in history. Have fun exploring!