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Genealogy
Genealogy
About the Genealogy Digital Collections
The Digital Collections include Colorado obituary, mortuary and cemetery indexes, census and tax lists, naturalization files, military, pioneer, marriage and divorce indexes as well as biography listings.
Read more about the entire Denver Public Library Genealogy Collection and the resources that are not available through the Digital Collection
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Genealogy related collections by general subject
African Americans
Biography Indexes
Census Indexes
Hispanics
Marriage Records
Military
Mortuary and Cemetery
Naturalization
Obituaries
Photographs
Pioneers
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African Americans
American Woodmen Insurance Index
Index to life insurance files of insured and beneficiaries 1901 to 1907. American Woodmen’s Life was founded in Denver, Colorado in 1901 as a Fraternal Benefit Society established to provide life insurance for the “un-insurable” Black Community. The register shows in chronological order the name of the insured, “camp and state” of residence, age, name of beneficiary or beneficiaries, and their relationship to the insured. States covered in this first ledger include Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indian Territory [Oklahoma], Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas, and Washington, D.C. This register represents the first of 40 ledgers. The company went out of business in 1993.
Colorado Statesman Index
Index of funeral notices, obituaries, and news articles from the leading weekly newspaper serving the African American community from 1904 to 1954.
Colorado World War I Draft Registrations – Minorities
Index to World War I draft registration cards on microfilm.
Biography Indexes
Bromwell Colorado Portrait and Biographical Index
Henrietta Bromwell, noted local historian and genealogist, indexed local, county and regional Colorado histories, newspapers, magazines and early land records. In 4 volumes and 2 supplements.
Real Pioneers of Colorado
List of some 1400 names of pioneers who arrived in Colorado prior to February 26, 1861. Names are organized alphabetically and include short biographical sketches.
Sons of Colorado Index 1906 - 1908
Index of articles including biographies and obituaries of Colorado pioneers which appeared in the pages of the Sons of Colorado. This was published by the pioneer society, Sons of Colorado. The title was changed to The Trail.
Trail Index 1908 – 1929
Index of articles including profiles and obituaries of pioneers that was published 1908 - 1929 by the Sons of Colorado.
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Census Indexes
1885 Colorado State Census – Arapahoe County
Schedules of population, agriculture, manufactures and mortality for Arapahoe County, Colorado, which later became Denver County.
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Hispanics
Families of New Mexico
This register reports 142 pioneer Hispanic families of New Mexico and southern Colorado. Created by LaDeane W. Miller, many of these compiled family histories detail generations stretching from the early twentieth century back to European progenitor ancestors in the 15th and 16th centuries.
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Marriage Records
Colorado Marriages 1858-1939
A special project of the Western History/Genealogy Department of the Denver Public Library and the Colorado Genealogical Society. Volunteers have generated an index to over 456,000 marriages cross listing the names of both bride and groom, the date and place of marriage and the license number.
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Military
Civil War Grand Army of the Republic - Colorado
Listing of Colorado veterans who served in the United States military during the Civil War.
Record of U.S. Soldiers for the Suppression of the Rebellion
Members of the Grand Army of the Republic from Colorado who were buried in the G.A.R. burial ground at Riverside Cemetery. Includes those buried and later removed from Calvary [Catholic], Hebrew, and Old City [Mount Prospect] cemeteries, Denver.
Roster of General Henry W. Lawton Camp No. 1 United Spanish War Veterans
Digitization of these directories is ongoing, and they will be made available as they are completed.
Colorado World War I Casualties in Europe
Location of the burial place of each fallen soldier is given.
Colorado World War I Draft Registration Cards
Index to World War I draft registration cards on microfilm.
Colorado World War I Draft Registration Cards-Minorities
Index to World War I draft registration cards on microfilm.
Counties Outside of Denver Draft Quotas 1917
Names of men who were drafted for active service for World War I from Colorado counties, except Denver.
Fallen Heroes of World War I from Denver, Colorado
Names of men and women from Denver who lost their lives during WWI. List taken from the article, "Hail, Heroes! Hail!" which appeared in the Denver Post, November 11, 1920.
Nebraska Civil War Veterans Records
Lists of members of the Grand Army of the Republic and the name of their post in Nebraska.
Composed of 2 files:
- Nebraska Civil War Grand Army of the Republic, A-D; E-K; L-R; S-Z
- Nebraska Civil War Veterans' Data A-F; G-L; M-Q; R-Z
Nebraska WWI Draft Registration Cards 1917 - 18
Alphabetical index of draft registration cards for men living in Nebraska.
World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing; State of Colorado
Listing of Colorado's war dead and those missing in action during World War II.
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Mortuary and Cemetery
Farmer and Hale Mortuary Index 1889 – 1909
Index to registers by the Farmer and Hale Mortuary.
Horan Burial Index 1900 – 1956
Index to registers of burial by the Horan Mortuary.
Rogers and Nash Mortuary Records 1873 - 1979
Index to registers of burial by Rogers and Nash Mortuary.
Fairmount Sexton Records 1891 - 1953
An index of Sexton [grave diggers] ledgers microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1959. The index includes name of deceased, date of burial and location within the cemetery. Additional notes detail cremations, removals from other cemeteries or shipments to other sites.
Riverside Cemetery African-American burials, 1876 - 2004
Index to over 5000 African-American burials in Riverside Cemetery 1876-2004.
Calvary Cemetery Listing
Index to lot purchases in Denver’s first Roman Catholic Cemetery from 1889 to 1893. Calvary, also known as Mount Calvary was the catholic section of Old City Cemetery located on the site of the current Denver Botanic Gardens. Listings include name of purchaser or deceased, date, lot and plot. Most famous listing is Horace Tabor.
Arapahoe County Coroner’s Reports, 1876 - 1891 Index
The ledger contains entries for deaths examined by the coroner that occurred in Arapahoe County, Colo. and the city of Denver 1876 - 1891.
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Naturalization
Denver and Pueblo Naturalization Records
Naturalizations created in the Denver and Pueblo, Colorado Federal District Courts. Declaration of Intentions, 1877 - 1952; Denver, Colorado. Naturalizations, 1906 - 1950; Pueblo, Colorado. Declarations of Intentions, 1906 - 1949; Pueblo, Colorado. Naturalizations, 1912 - 1949; and Pueblo, Colorado Soldier's Petition for Naturalization, 1918 - 1928.
More Resources:
- Researchers may request a copy of the full-text obituary through the Western History and Genealogy Department.
Obituaries
Denver Obituary Indexes
Index of obituaries and funeral notices that appeared in the Denver Post or Rocky Mountain News in 1900, 1918 - 1919, and 1928 through 2010.
Colorado Obituary Project
Statewide index of approximately 50,000 non-Denver obituaries mostly from the 1970s through 1990.
Colorado Statesman Index
Index of funeral notices, obituaries, and news articles from the leading weekly newspaper serving the African American community from 1904 to 1954.
Intermountain Jewish News Obituary Index
Index spans October 1918 to June 2011 and includes names of deceased, date and place of burial, age, date and place of birth, surnames of relatives, notation of photograph in obituary and if obit is available online.
Search Tips for Genealogically Related Photographs
Primary source materials come in many formats. Documents help in telling the story of our ancestors but not all resources are documents. Photographs are a case in point. The library has tens of thousands of photographs. We may not have photographs or portraits of your people but chances are we have photographs that will paint a portrait of the life as lived by your ancestors.
Scattered among the thousands of images both digitized and in folders are photographs that record the daily lives of ordinary and extraordinary people. Farmers and their families eking out a living from the soil, the mechanic with grease up to his elbows as he repairs an automobile from 1910, Railroad engineers or Pullman porters as they were captured in the lens of a noted photographer or a candid snapshot, children in classrooms or roller skating at Mammoth Gardens. These events record the lives of people as they moved about in their domestic realms, official lives, or at play.
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Pioneers
Bromwell Colorado Portrait and Biographical Index
Henrietta Bromwell, local historian and genealogist, indexed local, county and regional Colorado histories, newspapers, magazines and early land records. In 4 volumes and 2 supplements.
Sons of Colorado Index 1906 - 1908
Index of articles including biographies and obituaries of Colorado pioneers which appeared in the pages of the Sons of Colorado. This was published by the pioneer society, Sons of Colorado. The title was changed to The Trail.
Trail Index 1908 – 1929
Index of articles including profiles and obituaries of pioneers that was published 1908 - 1929 by the Sons of Colorado.
1885 Colorado State Census – Arapahoe County
Schedules of population, agriculture, manufactures and mortality for Arapahoe County, Colorado, which later became Denver County.
Clear Creek Pioneers Index
Index of pioneers taken from Annals of Clear Creek County, Colorado by J. S. Randall. Listing includes the pioneer’s name, place and year of birth, residence or place and date of death.
Colorado 1861 Territorial Election Index
List of Colorado voters, boundaries, and poll locations in the 1861 territorial election.
Real Pioneers of Colorado
List of some 1400 names of pioneers who arrived in Colorado prior to February 26, 1861. Names are organized alphabetically and include short biographical sketches.
59ers’ Directory – Colorado Argonauts
A directory of prospector arrivals, removals, deaths, marriages, children, property, mines, and ranches, with names of old towns, mining camps, gulches, mountains, rivers, creeks, and other matters relating to the setting of their lives in the Pikes Peak Region.
McGrath’s – Men and Women Who Arrived in What is Now Colorado Prior to January 1, 1861
Lists of miners, farmers and ranchers, builders, teachers and students; people who were the first arrivals in what became Colorado Territory.
Genealogical Index to the Records of the Society of Colorado Pioneers
Abstract of names including dates of arrival, occupations, geographic location and interests of men and women who joined the Society of Colorado Pioneers and other pioneer associations.
Ladies Relief Society Index
Ladies must own one good black dress and be of high moral standards. Index to residents of the old ladies home from 1897 to 1980.
Colorado Tax Assessment Lists 1862 – 1866
Federal Internal Revenue Assessment Lists for the Territory of Colorado 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, and 1866. Listings include resident and absentee property holders. A useful resource for those who invested in Colorado with their time and energy or financial resources.
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