Genealogy Research

For those family members that are not familiar with genealogy research, I'll mention the major sources that were used to compile the family history. The records available varies by state. Some states have stricter privacy policies governing the release of records, such as birth, death and marriage certificates. There is normally a gap between the time a state was settled and when organized record keeping began. In general, records were first kept by churches, then at county courthouses and many historical records were later sent to a central state repository or archive. Various natural disasters, such as floods and fire, may have destroyed records.

The number one source for anyone doing genealogy research is Ancestry.com. You must subscribe (pay) to use Ancestry.com. One of the main sources that I used at Ancestry.com is the U.S. Census. The 1790-1930 censuses are available (The 1940 U.S. Federal Census release date is scheduled for April 1, 2012). The 1890 census was destroyed in a fire, so a 20 year gap exists between 1880-1900. Different questions were asked on each census, so the information available varies with each. The 1850 census was the first to include the names of ALL family members. Prior to 1850 only the heads of household were listed by name. In 1880 the birth place of parents was added to the list of questions. Ancestry.com has MANY sources available, too numerous to list here.

Many libraries offer free access to Ancestry.com and/or HeritageQuest.com.

Another excellent (and free) genealogy web site is FamilySearch.org. The site is owned by the Mormon Church, the real powerhouse behind accessible genealogy records in the U.S.A. (in fact, they also own Ancestry.com). They have numerous projects underway to add even more records to the site. The Mormon Church also has many Family Search Centers located all over the U.S.A. and they are an immense help when doing genealogy research. To find the closest Family Search Center to you, go to https://library.beta.familysearch.org/ and enter your zip code.

Social Security Death Index (SSDI): The first Social Security card was issued 1 December 1936. As marvelous a finding aid as it is, the SSDI does not include the names of everyone, even if they had a Social Security number (SNN). If relatives or the funeral home did not report the death to the Social Security Administration, or if the individual died before 1962 (when the records were computerized) then they probably will not appear in this database. If you do find an entry in the SSDI, you can send away for the person's original application for a social security card. On the application you will find their parents names - to include the mother's maiden name.

Genealogy Message Boards: Rootsweb and Ancestry.com (along with a few others) have message boards dedicated to specific surnames and/or locations. I often post my brick walls (person I just can't find information on) and sometimes get helpful replies. I also search the message boards as someone else may have asked about the same person in the past.

FindAGrave.com is an excellent source for finding burial information. The burial listings there are all submitted by volunteer members (like myself) and you may find someone willing to go a local cemetery to look up records or photograph a grave. It was through a FindAGrave volunteer that the pictures of the Watkins graves in Deming were procured. Many county historical and genealogy societies also publish cemetery books which are an excellent resource.

NewspaperArchive.com is another paid service that I often use when searching for obits and other news stories. Through my local libraries genealogy services I also access to Newsbanks "America's Obituaries & Death Notices", which is where I search for more current obits.

Footnote.com is a subscription website that offers many historical records.

GenWeb is run by a group of volunteers who cover each county in the U.S.A. The quality and amount of information available at a counties GenWeb site varies, but I always check to see what they have.

Google - I do various searches on Google and Google Books. Often times there will be a county history that mentions family members who were early settlers to the area.

For ancestors that lived in Ohio, the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center has an excellent obit database. If the obit is listed, it can be ordered for a few dollars.

The One World Tree and member contributed family trees: Many genealogy web sites (such as Ancestry.com) encourage members to share their genealogy research. OneWorldTree gathers family trees and family history records for millions of people, analyzes the birth, death and marriage data and then displays the most probable matches for your ancestors. I'm sure you've all seen the Ancestry.com TV commercials where they mention "and then I got a leaf". Often times that "leaf" links to a family tree researched by others that can extend your family tree by several generations. The downside is that you don't always know the quality of research done and if it contains errors. Many researchers, myself included, put their "best guess" into the family tree in hopes of finding a source to back it up. You don't always find that source but fail to remove the guess work from the tree.

Hiring an Expert: On occasion I contract a local expert to search records. It's a lot cheaper to pay someone $50 to search for a marriage record in Ohio then it is for me to fly there.

Hitting the Road: I didn't take to the road for this project, but the thought entered my mind many times as I sat banging my head on the computer. In the past I have undertaken road trips to visit local court houses, cemeteries, etc and always found great stuff. Of course another option is bugging any family or friends that live near an area of interest and sweet talking them into doing the research.