Local History and Genealogy resources

Learn more about our local community’s history and your own family’s history at the Martinsburg Public Library:

The C.E. Campbell Beall Room (local history and genealogy research room) contains print materials related to history and genealogy in the region including Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan, and Hampshire Counties in West Virginia, Frederick and Washington Counties in Maryland, and the City of Winchester, Frederick, Loudoun, and Clarke Counties and the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, including many birth, death, and marriage records, cemetery records, tax and census records, deeds and land records, old Martinsburg city directories, and obituary indexes.     A photocopier machine in the reference department enables users to make copies at the cost of 10 cents per copy.

The Microfilm Collection includes newspapers of Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan Counties in West Virginia from 1791 to present. Copies may be printed from a microfilm reader at the cost of 10 cents per copy or page images may be transferred onto your own USB drive at no cost.

Research databases available to library users include:

Ancestry.com (a subscription database which may be used in the research room in the main library and branch libraries in the county); 

HeritageQuest Online (a subscription database which may be used in the library or from home); and West Virginia Vital Research Records (a database of birth, death, and marriage records and actual record images available through the West Virginia Division of Culture and History).

And a knowledgeable library staff can help to direct researchers and provide family research files on different local families.

Submitted by Keith Hammersla

What's new--Ancestry.com

Find Your Past at the Library Today

The Martinsburg Berkeley County Public Library has several tools for assisting you in researching your family history. These include Ancestry.com, Biography and Genealogy Master Index, Genealogy Bank, Heritage Quest and others. Some can be used from home by getting a password from the library. Others must be accessed from the library computers. In this BLOG I will provide an introduction to Ancestry.com.

Access to Ancestry is available on computers in the main and branch libraries only. When you sign up to use one of the library's computers, ask the librarian to sign you in to Ancestry.

If this is your first time using Ancestry and you want to be able to save the results of your research in the Ancestry database then you need to create a new family tree. To do this, select Start a New Tree from the Family Trees menu on the menu bar at the top of the page. When you start a tree you will be asked to enter information about yourself, your parents and your grandparents. As you enter information about your ancestors you will begin seeing leaf symbols appear. If you click on a leaf it will take you to records such as birth, marriage, death, census and others that might provide more information about your ancestor.

If you don't want your family information available on a public computer, you can still use the library tools to do your research. In Ancestry you can use the Search menu to search for records for a particular person. The search form will allow you to enter things like the person's name, birth date, marriage date, names of other family members etc.  Enter as much or as little information as you wish. Entering more information will reduce the number of results but may cause you to miss some if what you enter doesn't exactly match what is in the record. As you find records of interest you can print copies or if you bring a flash drive to the library, you can save them there.

If you have questions please ask a library staff member. 

What's new Harold the Bear February 22, 2015

Concept picture of library snow fort. Not pictured:  Library Bear hiding inside

Harold the Library Bear prepares for EPIC SNOWBALL FIGHT!

Hedgesville, WV – I walked into the Hedgesville Public Library this morning and was surprised to see Harold the Library Bear standing over a pile of ice cubes he had poured on the carpet in the Children’s Department.

When I asked him what was going on, he said, “I’m building an ice fort of course!”

He further elaborated: “There’s a big snowball fight here at the library on Saturday February 28th at 11, so I’m getting ready now! I need a fort to protect myself!”

A snowball fight in the library? It sounded hard to believe, but after talking with the Hedgesville Library staff, everything started to make sense. They said that they are indeed planning a snowball fight, but not like the one Harold was expecting.

“It’s a special kind of snowball fight?” Harold asked, disbelieving. “An indoor snowball fight with soft snowballs that don’t make people wet or cold?”

 “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” he added, after a moment. “I guess that makes more sense. I was wondering how the books would stay dry, plus I was worried someone might get hurt! These soft, pretend snowballs are much better.”

“Of course,” he added, “I’m still going to win, even with pretend snowballs! Most people don’t know it, but out of all the forest animals, bears are the best snowball fighters!

-Harold the Library Bear is a bear, so he doesn’t have a phone, but you can leave him a message at (304)-754-3949 or you can meet him Monday-Saturday in the Children’s Department of the new Hedgesville Public Library. His column appears every week on the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Libraries blog.

What's new?--book review

Good Reads from the North!

Do you enjoy Sherlock Holmes?  He never seems to go out of style. 

From movies to public television, and now primetime, network television!  Well, there is a spinoff book by Anthony Horowitz (writer of the YA Alex Rider series and Foyle’s War on PBS) that is pretty good!  Moriarty is the second Sherlock Holmes book written by Horowitz, the first being House of Silk.  Where House of Silk followed the pursuits of Holmes and Watson, Moriarty explores what really happened at Reichenbach Falls.  Holmes fans will remember that Reichenbach Falls is where Holmes and his arch enemy Moriarty tumble to their deaths… or did they?

There are multiple twists to the plot as the adventure moves from Reichenbach Falls to the streets of London and back again.  This book is a good read for anyone who loves Sherlock Holmes or just enjoys a good mystery.

-Dana Phelps

What's new--Harold the Bear?

Harold the Library Bear makes his triumphant return!

Hedgesville, WV – After a long hiatus while he settled into his new position at the new Hedgesville Public Library building, Harold the Library Bear has announced that he will be resuming his weekly duties as the Voice of the Library.

“It’s been a long time,” Harold said, “Between running last year’s summer reading program and supervising the move into our new building, I’ve been swamped!”“But that’s the price I pay for being the official Library Bear,” Harold continued. “I’m very much in demand.”

When asked what he’d been up to the last few months, Harold had good news.

“I’ve had a great time getting everything just right in my new library,” he said, “and the staff that works out here is great! They’re always giving me new clothes to wear. I’ve gotten so many new outfits, I don’t have room in my closet!”

“Plus,” he added, “I’ve met so many new boys and girls since we moved, and I get to play with them every day!”

“But Friday is my favorite day,” Harold decided. “Friday morning at 10:30 is when we have our preschool story time, and I usually end up as a chair for the boys and girls while they hear a story! I can’t wait to see them all again!”

-Harold the Library Bear is a bear, so he doesn’t have a phone, but you can leave him a message at (304)-754-3949 or you can meet him Monday-Saturday in the Children’s Department of the new Hedgesville Public Library. His column appears every week on the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Public Libraries blog.