Women's History Month 2019: Business Directories

Business directories can be a great resource to find the business your ancestor owned or where they worked. In some cases the listings are combined with residential listings in a city directory, but not always.

Consider this 1855 Buffalo (NY) Business Directory available from Google Books. 

As you seek out business directories for the place your ancestor lived, consider not just searching by name (and remember to search by her married name. Notice the women below are listed by their first and middle initials) but learn more about what business existed near her that she or her family may have worked at. 

Studying these directories helps us get to know her FAN (Friends, Associates, and Neighbors) Club better which can lead to additional records.