Places to Search
County Records Offices
- Search for
- Tax Lists
- Birth Records
- Marriage Records
- Property Deeds
- Court Transcripts
State Records Offices
- Search for
Federal Records Offices
- Search for
- Social Security Death Information - this database
is accessible through many online search sites.
- Military Involvement
Libraries
in the areas in which your family resided
- You may find information there on your family,
get the librarian to help you.
- Census Records
- If there is a Genealogical Society in your area, you may find transcriptions of many county
records in book form. Remember that these books are copyrighted, you cannot post this information
publicly without permission, but you can use it as an "index" of sorts for when you go to the
courthouse.
Churches
in the areas your family resided
- Visit the churches attended by your family members.
Some churches keep records about all their members since the church began.
Family Members
- Speak with each family member including elderly members, take a notepad and pen. Recordings
are wonderful but they usually make the subject nervous. If you don't pressure forgetful people,
they can tell you much of your history without realizing it, and most older people remember their
childhoods with ease.
- Don't ask about dates at first. Ask where they lived, where they went to school, where they went
to church, the stores where they shopped, what they did on Sundays. Instead of asking for dates, ask
for their ages when these things happened. You can calculate the dates from their ages.
- Sometimes the "obvious" is right under your nose. If you can't figure out what happened to great
great Uncle John after his military experience, ask if he was in a hospital. Even in the early 1900s
people had no way to take care of family members who had medical or psychological problems. They
were often sent to state hospitals or "insane asylums" to live out their lives. I have several of
these in my family for epilepsy and Huntington's Disease.
The Internet
Genealogy.com
Ancestry.com
FamilySearch.org
Surname Springboard Index
USGenWeb -Archives Project