genealogy records

Use these  7 best practices to successfully find ancestry records.

Being a history researcher comes with the need to learn and understand how to research records, find the key information and develop a plan that will take you to all available information.  Every time I conduct research in a new location, I feel like I have to learn/relearn how to conduct historical research.  Why? I need to learn where the records are kept, what is available, develop a plan of how to research this location and so much more.  In this article, I want to share the 7 lessons of history and genealogy research that I use over and over again to continually have research success.

7 Lessons for Finding History and Genealogy Records
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Build an Identity Profile About Ancestors

The identity of the ancestor is more than a name in history and genealogy record research. It is every known detail of human life, including information about the individual, their relationships, and origin. Begin by targeting your research location. Search for any document created during the time your ancestor lived. Make sure you understand the circumstances under which every document was created, continually comparing, contrasting, and questioning details. From this analysis, you will be able to do the following:

Build a profile about the individual. This is not just about collecting birth, marriage, and death data. Consider all aspects of their life that make them unique such as their name, education, occupation, religious and civic associations, social and financial status, precise locations of residences, personality traits, and signature. Next, place the individual in their family, neighborhood, and cultural context. Search for and identify individuals from the same place and time with the same name and sort out their identities.

Learn about their relationships. Relationships are proven by linking people through known interaction, the proximity of where they lived, joint ownership, migration patterns, naming, and so forth. Knowing these things will give you a fuller picture of your ancestor’s life and provide ideas for sources to find additional records.

Determine their origin. Origin can be established from statements and documents associated with the person and by identifying migration patterns of associates and family.

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Focusing on One Ancestor at A Time

When searching history and genealogy records, it’s essential to focus on one ancestor, one question and one record at a time. I refer to this as the “Power of One.”

Conducting genealogy research means finding answers to questions. When I first started researching my ancestral lines, I found myself overwhelmed with questions I wanted to answer for each ancestor, such as the following:

  • What was his name?
  • When and where was he born?
  • When and where did he marry?
  • Whom did he marry?
  • How many children did he have?
  • What were the names of the children?
  • Where did he live?
  • What type of work did he do?
  • To what religion did he belong?
  • Was he in the military?
  • Did he belong to any other organizations?
  • What did he look like?
  • When and where did he die?
  • What was the cause of death?
  • Where was he buried?

How can you simplify when overwhelmed by all these questions?

Here’s where the Power of One is so helpful. Start by realizing that genealogy research is a project, and a genealogy project is completed one individual, one question and one task at a time. Below, I have outlined the steps I took as I worked on my first family history research project, which is the basis of the process I follow today:

Choose one individual, family or generation to focus on ancestry records

Use pedigree charts and family group sheets to help identify problems to resolve, such as:

  • Missing information: names, dates or places.
  • Incomplete information: part of a name, date, or place is missing.
  • Unverified information: information cannot be traced to a credible source (someone who would have known the information firsthand).
  • Conflicting information: facts from two sources do not agree.

Then, develop a list of questions and tasks associated with the project, review the list and pick the essential item to complete.

As I begin, I then outline the task in detail by asking myself questions such as the following:

  • What is my goal for the task?
  • What information do I have already?
  • What resources will provide the answers I am looking for?
  • Do I have the desired information in my records already?
  • Do I know to complete the task? If not, what do I need to learn about? Where can I find the answers?
  • Do I need help from others? If so, who?
  • Do I need to conduct Internet research?
  • Do I need to go to the library?
  • Do I need to contact another family member or genealogist?
  • I will then work on the task until it’s complete.

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Learning Begins with A Question

Questions and answers are the foundation for exchanging and searching history and genealogy record information. We have many ways to learn, but by simply asking questions, we set the stage for learning and sharing what we know.

Narrow the focus of your questions. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the number of questions that need answers. It’s been my experience with a genealogy that the further back I go, the more questions I ask.

The key is to identify one person or a few individuals of the same family. Research efforts move forward faster if you focus on one individual and one question at a time. Use your pedigree charts and family group sheets to help identify questions. Make a research plan listing the questions you want to research.

Here are some examples of initial questions and follow-up questions I have created to guide my research plan development, personal skill development, and research process:

What information do I want?

It’s not uncommon to read and hear questions from new genealogists that appear to be asking the responder to provide answers to every question the asker will ever need now or in the future about a given family line or individual. The questions you ask determine your research path. Know what you want to learn. Identify the information you are seeking.

How do I prepare for a library visit?

What does the library have that will help me with my genealogy? What is a good book for beginners? How do I do research at a distance? What are some valuable tips for successful genealogical research?

When searching for information, I ask: What records do I search if I want to find birth records? Death records? Immigration records? Adoption records? Maiden name? City or parish of a foreign country?

Concerning immigration, I ask: How do I locate passenger lists? Where do I find information on immigration and naturalization? What is available on the Internet? Where was my ancestor born? His parents? What language did they speak in the home? What language was their newspaper printed in? What year did they immigrate? What language did they speak before they came to the United States? What is their status — AL (alien), PA (papered, or applied for citizenship), or NA (naturalized or received citizenship)?

When developing an ancestor profile, I ask: Where was my ancestor born? Was my ancestor married? Single? Widowed? Divorced? Married more than once? Where do I find vital records? Did my ancestors own a home or rent? Was it a farm or a house? Was it mortgaged or owned free and clear? Homesteaded? How much was the mortgage payment or the rent? What was their occupation, profession, or trade? Did they own their own business or employ others? Work for someone else? What was the type of business or trade?

Concerning record repositories, I ask: What resources are available at the local library? The county or regional library? What about university libraries and archives? State archives? Local, county or state historical societies? Is there a local, county or state genealogy society? What is available in the homes of family members?

For census records, I ask: Which census enumerations were taken during my ancestor’s life? What maps exist for the period my ancestor lived? Where can I find blank census forms to help me record my information?

And for ancestors in the community, I ask: Were there relatives in the community where my ancestor resided? With whom did my ancestor do business? Where did his children find their spouses? Was it an ethnic community? If so, what language did they speak at home? When was the community founded? What records were available? What disasters had the community experienced? How had wars affected the community and its records? What churches were in the community? Are records available?

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Search the US Census, Vital Records, and Other Records

US Census records are available for 1790-to 1950 and can include names, dates, locations, and occupations. You can also discover and verify vital information through the Social Security Death Index and birth, marriage, and divorce records. Additional life information can be found in immigration, naturalization, and military records.

I like to start with the most recent event of the individual I am researching, which is usually their death. Death certificates are usually the first source in which an official written account will reveal an exact place and date of death. The record also includes additional genealogical details, such as the date and place of birth, name of the father, maiden name of mother, name of spouse, social security number, name of a cemetery, funeral director, and the name of the informant (often a relative of the deceased).

The clues found in the death record usually provide ideas for my next steps. These clues often include the following:

  • The exact place and date of death known for a person
  • Funeral record
  • Cemetery record
  • Newspaper obituary
  • Social security death record
  • Place where birth, marriage, church, military, occupation, or court records can be found

The first United States census was taken in 1790. Since then, census records have become a significant source for locating where an ancestor lived, which opens the door to many more discoveries. After 1840, census records also list age, place of birth, occupation, personal wealth, education, spouse, children, hired hands, and even immigration information. The government doesn’t release census data for seventy-two years after the census is taken to protect individual privacy. The 1940 census is the latest census to be made available.

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Learn to Analyze the Documents You Find

The first time I searched my mother’s vital records (birth, marriage, divorce, and death records), I copied names and dates and put the records aside. Several years later, when I re-examined her vital records, I found over fifty data points that were instrumental in learning about my ancestral lines. I’ve learned a series of questions that helps me analyze and extract available source information. The questions include the following:

  •  What is the source citation of this document?
  • Is this an original document or a derivative?
  • Where did the document originate?
  • When was the document written?
  • Who is the primary individual listed in the document?
  • Who are the other individuals named in the document? What are their roles?
  • What relationships are stated?
  • What is the purpose of the document?
  • What is information directly stated within the document (such as dates or places)?
  • What information is implied (indirect) by this document?
  • What information is not stated ( name of wife, children, and so on)?
  • When was the document recorded?
  • Who had jurisdiction over the document then? Who has current jurisdiction over the document?
  • What other document(s) partner with this one?
  • What hints are contained within the document, suggesting additional research?

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Learn to Recognize and Use Sources in Your Research

You have many sources available to you in your history and genealogy record research. Sources are considered people, documents, publications (all media), artifacts, etc. We find sources in the original or derivative forms. Derivative forms include abstracts, transcripts, narrative histories, and any other secondhand account of information. Sources provide information from which we select evidence for analysis that leads to a sound conclusion, which we refer to as proof. Information is considered to be the words (oral or written) used by the sources, which can be either primary (firsthand) or secondary (secondhand). Evidence is information that is relevant to resolving a research question. Direct information explicitly states an answer to our question. In contrast, indirect information does not explicitly state an answer to a question but can be combined with other information to build a case.

Tip: Are document copies okay to use? Image copies are derivatives but are acceptable evidence when originals are unavailable and traditional agencies make the images. Record copies made by civil and clerical authorities are derivatives but are considered “best evidence” when originals are destroyed or not open for public examination. Both original and derivative works can have errors, and derivatives have a higher margin of error.

Tip: How do you determine the quality of information? Information quality cannot be determined unless you can identify the informant and the nature of their involvement with events. Both firsthand and secondhand information can contain errors, and firsthand information is generally more reliable.

Tip: What if the direct evidence does not entirely answer my question? Direct evidence does not have to answer all aspects of a question, and it’s not uncommon to have direct evidence answer only part of a question. The critical point is that it does make a direct statement in answer to the question. Keep in mind that indirect evidence, when it’s assembled well, can be more accurate than direct evidence.

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Use Multiple Sources to Correlate Information

Never take anything at face value in researching history and genealogy records. Finding your ancestor’s name does not guarantee finding the correct ancestor. Remember that nothing is genuinely fact until you can back it up using more than one resource. I have found the records I need in the same location or area in which my ancestor lived when searching multiple sources. Always ask yourself, what records were created in this location when my ancestor lived here?

Learn what resources contain the needed data to further your research (or to document data) and where they are available such as in societies (genealogy and historical) and libraries (public, college, private, and governmental). Census, birth, marriage, divorce, death, probate, land, school, military, fraternal, and obituaries are all records that can contain similar data—names, dates, places, family structure, and names of family members. Some might be easily found and available, and others might require travel costs or other fees. Start with the closest and most economically available records.

Searching multiple resources often reveals family relationships and personal information that, when viewed collectively, provide a complete picture of the family and its members. For example, when I go to cemeteries, I always take a camera and a tape or digital recorder. I have often found places where there are graves of children who may have only lived a few days or months and were never listed in census records, or perhaps other family members did not know of or forgot about. Sometimes the child will be buried by parents but not listed in family records, and visiting the cemeteries is the only way you would know of their existence.

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Detailed and Exhaustive Research

Use all appropriate finding aids and sources, recognizing that differences exist in each history and genealogy record. One of my favorite places to start is FamilySearch.com. To be thorough, examine each record or record set for flaws, quirks, and strengths. As you identify information, create a complete citation, noting the source of information and when you accessed it. Look for clues, placing all new information into a geographic and legal context. You will extract as much relevant information from that source as possible, looking for crucial details that might require an immediate revision of your research plan and marking anything that needs subsequent study. You’ll conduct follow-up research on all family and associates whose records might shed light on the person of interest.

Careful correlation, analysis, and reporting

Correlate all pieces of information that you find—no matter how small—looking for connections and patterns. Summarize your findings and analyze what you’ve learned. Does your analysis warrant a conclusion, or does the information lead you to expand your original plan? Prepare a conclusion or proof statement for ongoing research and reference.

Stay Focused on the Research You Start

Once you have a clear picture of the specific individual, couple, or family group, it’s time to define your objective. Do you want to prove a statement? Do you have a question to answer? Do you have a theory or hypothesis you want to test?

It’s a good idea to create a brief timeline of events for your ancestor to help you determine what questions you still need to answer and what information you hope to find (such as date of birth).

At this point, you can build your research plan

This plan identifies what you want to search, where you will search, and what resources you will search.

As you follow the plan you’ve created, keep a research log, which will keep you focused on your goals and help you document where you’ve been and where you want to go.

Remember the Power of One

It’s straightforward to start researching one line of thought, become interested in another, and change direction, all in a few minutes. Soon you’re surrounded by papers, documents, names, dates, and locations and are left with a head full of swirling questions.

You will find your research more productive if you identify your research goals, develop a research plan and focus on their completion. The following are some ideas for keeping your research on track and manageable.

Focus on specific sections of your genealogy at a time. This can include the following:

  • A specific family line or surname,
  • A specific time and place,
  • A specific family unit, or
  • A specific question to solve.

Make an Appointment with Yourself

If you have a hard time finding the time or are spending too much time researching, schedule time with yourself to conduct your research. Make your appointments start and end on time. There is something about a deadline that helps keep you on track.

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