Heritage Quest is a genealogy database available through NC Live. NC Live is available at all the county libraries or you can use it at home. To log in at home, choose "Gaston-Lincoln Regional" from the drop-down and type in your library card number. The resources in Heritage Quest include:

• Actual images of all the available population census schedules, 1790-1930.
• Indexes for some censuses.
• A collection of over 20,000 books of local history and genealogy with full-page images.
• PERSI, an index to articles in genealogy magazines.
• Revolutionary War pension records from the National Archives.
• Records of the Freedman's Bank (1865-1874).
• U. S. Congressional Serial Set, selected Congressional documents, 1789-1969: private relief actions, memorials, and petitions.

Note for all searches -- you can type names in all small letters; capitalizing won't affect your search results.

The Census.

• To read the census frame by frame (just like reading the microfilm), click Browse.
• To search the census indexes, click Search.

The following census indexes are included in Heritage Quest:

• 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820. These census gave only the names of the heads of households.
• 1860 and 1870. The census lists everyone in a household, but the only names indexed are the head of the household and anyone with a different surname from the head of the household they live in.
• 1880. There is an index for 23 states plus Dakota Territory. That leaves 23 states not indexed. (Hint, a complete free 1880 census index is available at www.FamilySearch.org.)
• 1890. Most of this census was lost in a fire. HQ indexes every name on the few pages that remain.
• 1900, 1910, 1920. Indexes all states by head of the household and by anyone with a different surname from the head of the household they live in.
• 1930. Indexes 5 states by head of the household and by anyone with a different surname from the head of the household they live in.

Other Sections

Each of the other sections has its own search screen. Follow the directions and examples for each one.

Some tips:

• The Freedman's Bank had account holders of all races, not just African Americans.
• The indexes to the Freedman's Bank records include the names of all family members mentioned, not just the account holder.
• Searches in the Freedman's Bank records have an option for Soundex. (This is the only Soundex index in HQ.)
• When searching the Books section for a particular title, don't use "a", "an", or "the" at the beginning of the title. Example, "Hamilton Family", not "The Hamilton Family".
• When using PERSI, for best results, use the navigation tabs at the top of the page rather than the "back" button.

A) To print the complete page:

When you have pulled up the page with both the image and the complete index reference along the top, you will see a button that says “Print” at the top left of the page.
1. Click on that button. This will give you a new screen with an image of the whole page with your index information at the top.
2. Use the print command in the file menu or the printer icon on the toolbar to print this.

Note: Entries on the image may not be large enough to be legible.

Note: If you have not searched for a particular name but are browsing the images, the information along the top will be the census year, county name, page number, etc.

B) To print a portion of the image:

1. Click on the button that says “Download” on the left side of the page.
2. When the next page comes up,choose Download to Disk as a PDF file.
3. A box will ask if you want to open or save. Click the "Open" button.
4. Your page will open in the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Caution: this may load slowly. You may need to maximize the page and increase the %age for better viewing.
5. Go to the "Edit" menu on the Adobe toolbar. Choose "Take a Snapshot" from the menu.
   (In some older versions of Adobe reader the Snapshot Tool may be on the toolbar.)
6. Now go to the part of the image you want to print. Hold down the left mouse button, click and drag the crosshair pointer to outline a section of the census page to print.
7. If the computer flashes a message “Selected area has been copied to the clipboard”, just click “OK”.
8. Click on the Print button in the Adobe toolbar.
9. Choose “Fit to printable area” in the dropdown menu at “Page Scaling”.
10. Click “Ok”.