What are the Best Records for Ancestry Research?

Essential records to find and use in ancestry research.

As you search the Internet and record repositories like libraries and historical/genealogical societies for your family, you will be presented with the records your family left behind. Be prepared to conduct an exhaustive search and look for reliable sources, and make it a practice to track each key piece of information back to its source. Be prepared to search documents that are photocopies, digital images, and handwritten. Documents will be complete or partial transcripts, condensed abstracts, or partial abstracts. This article will help you understand what types of records are available and where you can find specific types of information for ancestry research.

Ancestry Research and Historical Records

Where can I learn more about how to trace ancestry?

The following is a list of articles on BeginMyStory.com that go into greater depth about different historical records, what you will find and how you can use the information for ancestry research.

• Introduction to Ancestry Research and Historical Records
• Why Search Multiple Records in Historical Family Research
• 5 Step Ancestry Research Process for Historians
• How to Use Naming Patterns in Ancestry Research
• How to Cite and Verify Ancestry Research
• How to Conduct Detailed Exhaustive Historical Research
• How to Use the Soundex Coding System
• 15 Strategies to Find Ancestor Names in Historical Records
• Keep Ancestry Research Focused with These 28 Simple Tips

Where can I learn more about records to trace ancestry?

The following is an overview of 15 types of vital, government and historical records I have found constantly valuable in my individual, family, and narrative research. These records provide vital and biographical information on individuals and families. When I mastered researching these resources, I could quickly expand my research to other records to help me connect the pieces for writing narratives and other historical research.

For each record type, I have included what you will find, how to use the resource, and research insights for each record type. I would encourage you to use this article as a starting point from which you can search out and find other record tutorials guides and help to provide deeper insights.

• Cemetery Records
• Census Records
• Certificates of Naturalization
• Church Records
• Civil Vital Records
• Court Records
• Diaries and Journals
• Directories
• Immigration Records
• Land Records
• Military Service Records
• Historical Newspapers
• Periodicals
• Photographs
• Probate Records
• Social Security Death Index
• Township, City, and State Histories and Biographies

Individual and Family Ancestry Research

Individual and family ancestry research is a process, a methodology, for finding all you can about their lives. There are many research tools are records available, but knowing what to use and when makes the most significant difference.

As a writer and researcher, I have experienced the frustration of writing a story and not gathering enough information in my case, Johannes Schreiber, from the late 1700s. I sought to learn their connection to a country before immigration to develop a story and understand the period as it might have related to Johannes. As I have consulted with other historical and ancestry family researchers, I have been in awe at length they have gone to find his roots, but to no avail.

I have searched online, collaborated through the message boards, and traveled to his beginnings in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia. I have found and developed an extensive paper trail of the family and did find essential clues. But I did not come close enough to where I felt ready to jump my search over the sea to my suspect homeland. I researched

• Methodologies, what others have done and suggested.
• Records/artifacts that have revealed important clues that pinpoint or narrow the scope of one’s search.
• Immigration/migration patterns.
• And much more.

My search took me through hundreds of internet sites, books, and oral discussions. I was overwhelmed by the massive amount of material that exists. I understood how documents, immigration patterns, and research methodology would combine to find individuals when I finished. I had clarity of how to re-evaluate what I had, see the gaps and opportunities for further research, and renewed hope that I would find the answers.

Events Create Records

The most important concept I learned about searching for records is to think of events, not records. Rather than searching only for birth or death certificates, ask yourself what other types of records the event would generate in the period that the event took place.

For example, in the case of my birth, there was an announcement in the paper, a baby shower, a baby book, a birth certificate, a record of my Church blessing, hospital records, and, later, a one-year-old picture in the local paper.

In the case of my mother’s death, there were cemetery and sexton records, a funeral book, funeral home records, hospital records, memorial cards, an obituary, a video of the funeral services, and her will.

The following important concept I learned was to search the records of siblings. Think about the families. When I have not been able to find any information in my family’s vital (birth, marriage, divorce, death) records, I have usually been able to find the information or clues needed in the vital records of the siblings of the ancestor I am researching.

Use multiple sources to correlate information

Never take anything at face value. Finding your ancestor’s name does not guarantee to find the correct ancestor. Remember that nothing is genuinely fact until you can back it up using more than one resource. When searching multiple sources, I found the records I needed in the same location or area where my ancestor lived. 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 cemetery is the only way you would know of their existence.

US Census, Vital Records, and Other Records

US Census records are available for 1790-1950 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:

• 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.

Search in County and Date Records

If you’ve located an ancestor on a census, you know their county of residence. Now you’re ready to search for the records at the state and county level to find written evidence of that person’s life. Documents may include newspapers, county histories, special genealogy collections, tax lists, voter registrations, court records, probates, wills, estate papers, etc.

Use the Ancestry Records Selection Table on the following pages to help you decide which records will help you fill in missing pieces in your pedigree chart and family group sheet. This table is most helpful for searching post-1800 records.

Ancestry Records Selection Table