By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COVINGTON - Just in time for Memorial Day, the Kenton County Public Library system has put World War I records online.

WWI RECORDS

Go to Web site. Click on Northern Kentucky genealogy bases. To research a particular soldier, type in the last name. For information on local history or how to use the Kenton County Public Library system's online databases, call (859) 962-4071.

Researchers from throughout the world can now access more than 2,500 World War I records by visiting Northern Kentucky genealogy databases.

"Anything that's online certainly helps," said Karl Lietzenmayer, a member of the Kenton County Historical Society. "I've seen genealogists in the library from California, Alabama - all over the place."

Kenton County war historian Shelley D. Rouse donated the records to the library more than 20 years ago, said Dave Schroeder, local history librarian for the county public library system. However, for many years, the records were in book form and not accessible to the public.

The WWI records list the soldier's name and address, date and place of birth, where the soldier was inducted, branch of service, name of company in which the soldier served and the date and place of discharge, Schroeder said. Genealogists, history buffs and students are expected to be the primary users of the new online resource.

Besides WWI records, the library system's searchable database will retrieve records from multiple databases. Those include church and census records, hospital admissions, city directories and war records from the Mexican War and the Civil War Union burial list. By summer's end, the library system also plans to make 25,000 Linden Grove Cemetery records dating back to 1868 accessible online, Schroeder said.

The WWI records also contain hard-to-find information for the growing number of African-American genealogists, Schroeder said.

E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com