The Leon S. Hollingsworth Card File

by Mic Barnette, February 1995

Overview

Leon S. Hollingsworth (1896-1974) was one of Georgia’s eminent professional genealogists, known throughout the Southeast as a speaker, teacher, author, and researcher. His research for clients from all over the country led him to repositories and libraries in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and other states, and he kept, in conjunction with these research activities, a “tickler” file. This file eventually grew to some 45,000 index cards on which Hollingsworth recorded informational notes about people and places he thought worthy of recall in his future research. Through the efforts of the R. J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation, the Hollingsworth Card File was later microfilmed and made available for purchase. Clayton Library owns a copy of this microfilm.

Location

A published guide to the Leon S. Hollingsworth Card File Collection is located on the first floor of Clayton Library in a report binder in the Georgia book stacks. The call number is 975.8 H741. This guide is essentially an index to the surnames on the index cards. It also provides information regarding the number of cards that exist for each surname. The microfilm of the card files is contained on twelve rolls of microfilm. They are numbered as rolls 1 through 12. They may be found in the second floor microfilm area of Clayton Library, cabinet 29, drawer 5. The title on the drawer is “Georgia (State) Records.”

Features

The collection is divided into two parts:

Part 1 of the collection is on eleven rolls of microfilm and part of a twelfth. Each roll contains Hollingsworth’s 3x5 note cards arranged alphabetically by surname. Each index card contains notes concerning one or more individuals of a particular surname. Given names are in no specific order; therefore, all cards for a particular surname should be checked for instances of a particular given name. Index cards that concern a particular surname are consecutively numbered. Roll 1 contains introductory information and a name index (the same index located in the first floor Georgia stacks noted above). The alphabetical name index indicates how many index cards for a particular surname are in the collection. It also suggests variable spellings that should be cross-checked. Each card in an individual surname set is numbered consecutively. Cards concerning family cemeteries are arranged within that surname.

Most surnames in Part 1 have only one or two cards. Some have many more. To illustrate the type of information on the cards, the surname Brawner was consulted. There are 25 cards. There is also a cross-reference under Brawner to see the surname Brenner. There is one card for Brenner. Similarly, there is one card for Brennen, which is not cross-referenced. Cards in the Brawner surname list include references to marriages; deeds; jury lists; tax returns; church records in Pennsylvania and Virginia; cemetery records; Brawners who were grantors, grantees or witnesses to deeds in Virginia, South Carolina as well as Georgia; wills of Brawners and Brawners who were legatees in wills of others; military service records; land lottery records; and other miscellaneous references.

Part 2 of the collection can be found on Roll 12. It consists of alphabetically arranged place and topic cards. No typed inventory has been prepared. Cross references to family cemeteries filed in the name file (Part 1) have been interfiled in Part 2. The place names in Part 2 are arranged alphabetically and covers Georgia as well as Alabama, South Carolina, and other states. There is information about the formation and settlement of different counties, towns, post offices, forts, churches, academies and schools, missions to Indians, military forts, ferries, named plantations, lists of medical doctors published in newspapers in 1826 and 1833.

Listing of Contents

(by roll number)
  1. A - Bowen
  2. Bowers - Collield
  3. Cockburn - Easterling
  4. Easterling - Greshon
  5. Gribbon - Hudnal
  6. Hudson - Lowder
  7. Lowe - Morriset
  8. Morrison - Prather
  9. Pratt - Saxon
  10. Saxon - Swanson
  11. Swanzey - Whiddon
  12. Wigham - Place Names / Zoar Meth Church

END


Originally published as:

Mic Barnette, "The Leon S. Hollingsworth Card File,"
The CLF Newsletter IX (February 1995): 5, 8.

All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Return to Clayton Library Friends page
Return to Clayton Library home page