You can search through more than 40,000 digitized genealogy and family history books from the archives of seven important family history libraries in the United States. Best of all, it is available right now and all of it is free of charge. Every word in every book is searchable. No, this isn't on Google Books. It is FamilySearch.org, the same web site that hosts the huge databases online at the same site: FamilySearch.org.
You can perform a search at http://books.familysearch.org or click on the links to the individual libraries themselves. They are Allen County (Indiana) Public Library, Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University Hawaii Joseph F. Smith Library, Church History Library, Family History Library, Houston Public Library’s Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, and the Mid-Continent Public Library’s Midwest Genealogy Center.
The materials in the collections include family histories, county and local histories, genealogy magazines, how-to books, gazetteers, and medieval histories and pedigrees. Not all the books in all libraries have been digitized just yet. It is an on-going effort. If you don't find what you want in a search today, come back in a few months and try again. The book you seek may have been added by that time.
You can search easily by entering a name in the search box. That operates in more or less the same manner as Google or most any other search engine. However, I'd suggest you first click on "Advanced Search" and then enter a more focused search in the form shown below.
Using the Advanced Search will usually result in "hits" that are closer to your exact area(s) of interest.
This has to be one of the greatest online sources available to genealogists today. I am surprised at how little publicity has been generated about this valuable resource.
Try it yourself at http://books.familysearch.org.
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