Seward County Directories.

These are Seward County Nebraska Pictorial Atlases compiled and copyrighted by the Title Atlas Company, Minneapolis, MN. The 4 shown are for the years of 1962, 1977, 1986 & 1996. The ’86 version that I looking at is listed by the company at $79.50 (if available). They contain Maps, Plats of the Townships, Rural Directory, Pictures of Farms and Families, Articles about History, etc. They also contain such personal information  on each farm family as the names of the husband and wife's father, mother (with maiden name), if they own or rent the farm, it’s location, what they raise, their children and if children are married, the names of spouses, where they live, how long the husband and wife have lived in Seward County, what organizations they are affiliated with including their Church. I assume the personal information was furnished to the company on a volunteer basis since there are a few with only the name of the head of the family and their location.

I don’t know how some of this information compares with today's social media but it is most interesting to some of us. While Elaine and I were both born and raised here is Seward County, we moved away in 1958 and returned in 1980 missing out on a whole generation. Through our jobs and social activities, we knew a high percentage of the people in the County when we left and never have been able to catch up on family relationships. This has been a big help. We also have a 1990 booklet of Plat maps  of Seward County copyright by R. C. Booth Enterprises of Harland, IA and a Booth booklet of 2006 & ’07 showing Plat maps of the County by Township showing both ownership and residents. County-wide Directory L.L.C. of Larchwood, Iowa, also publishes a Directory showing land owner & rural residents by Township as well as Telephone Directory. It also has an alphabetical list of land owners and the location of their property. We have duplicate copies of the ’62 & ’77 Pictorial Atlases and will hope to trade for other issues.