Article 3: advanced research tips
In our last article, we looked at the most popular genealogy websites and other online lineage resources. These are a great way to get started, but most allow you to go only so far in your research.
If you've searched fruitlessly for an elusive relative, you'll want to join us as we explore some lesser-known resources. We'll also discuss the most frequent mistakes people make when researching their heritage, mistakes that send them climbing up the wrong family tree.
A map of lesser-known records
After checking records at home and online, the next logical place to go is right to the source: the records in the city or town where your family lived. From these you can work up to state, county, and then federal records.
Here's what you can expect to uncover:
- City records
The most likely sources of information will be church and city directories, city and county histories, hospital and mortuary records, newspapers, cemeteries, obituaries and tombstones.
Cemetery records usually indicate where someone is buried, who is buried in the plot, who owns the plot, and sometimes the cause of death. Tombstones often have information not recorded in the cemetery records, such as who is buried next to whom.
- County records
These are often found in the county courthouse and may include birth and death records, wills, deeds and mortgages, marriage licenses, voting lists, and court records.
Court records are some of the most underused genealogical resources available. They are not the easiest records to research, but those who take the time to pore over them will reap many rewards.
- State records
Most of these are housed in state archives and in state and public libraries. Items found at the state level may include birth and death records, censuses (federal and state), land records, and military records.
- Federal records
Federal records can be found in several places, but many are available in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., or in its regional field offices.
- National archives: http://www.nara.gov/
The federal archives are a rich source for ancestry researchers. Officially known as the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, it is the archival arm of the federal government. NARA acquires, preserves, and makes available for research many wonderful sources for genealogists. The most commonly used are census, military, and naturalization records, and passenger/immigration lists. The agency maintains two archives in Washington, D.C., and regional archives in several states. Today's researchers can study the holdings of NARA through its website.
The Guide to Genealogical Research, an excellent resource for learning exactly what is available in the National Archives, can also be found on the NARA website.
- Library of congress: http://www.loc.gov/
The Library of Congress is one of the largest and most complex libraries in the world. Once you've traced your family back several generations, you may have many names to research, and it is usually at this point that this library's genealogical collection becomes most useful.
Like the National Archives, the Library of Congress provides a guide to its extensive holdings.
Expanding your research vision
Many vital records and other sources at the state or local level will be difficult to locate online. They are more often found in town and county clerks' offices. For this reason, your local library may be one of the best places to begin your research.
If you're going to be successful in tracing your roots, you must learn how to use libraries. Not only do they hold important information that you can't access online, but they also provide a way to confirm previously researched Internet information. For example, if you find your ancestor's date of marriage in an index on the Internet, you can get a photocopy of the marriage record from the library.
Of course, much of the most valuable material is not going to be labeled and filed in a card catalog under "genealogy." Here are a few library sources that often hold keys to family histories:
- Newspapers are a great source of local, national, and international family information. The New York Times, for example, is available as far back as 1851. Other Civil War-era newspapers are easily found, as are some early-American periodicals dating back to the beginning of the 18th century. There are also numerous foreign publications, for those seeking their overseas roots.
- Telephone books can sometimes be helpful, and many libraries carry a national selection from past decades.
- Directory of Directories (yes, there really is such a thing) is the master file of directories, among which you'll find the International Cemetery Directory, listing more than 8,000 cemeteries and their addresses.
Combatting common research mistakes
You're not alone. Everyone who is sifting through records of yore runs into the same roadblocks. Here's how to surmount the research challenges that all family researchers face.
- Not everyone with your last name is a relative. It seems like common sense, but once you get online and a wave of information is coming at you, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of making connections.
Be wary of ready-made family trees that you can order. They are usually full of people with your last name, people who may not have any connection whatsoever to you, which makes them little more than phonebook entries.
- Always confirm information by looking at the individual source. There are mistakes everywhere in genealogical records. Many documents have been transcribed numerous times, or orally handed down, providing fertile ground for spelling errors and other inconsistencies.
Remember the telephone game you played as a kid? You would whisper, "A lazy dog jumps over a brown log" into someone's ear. And by the time the message has passed through a dozen people, it has changed to, "A hazy fog went over the downed log." Mistakes should be expected. Again, be wary.
- Compare data gathered from different sources. You will invariably find discrepancies, and you'll need to determine what is fact and what needs further research. All this double-checking is time consuming, but not as much as pursuing a false lead.
- Reading old records, what to watch for
Finding family information is only half the battle. Once you locate old records, you have to read them. And the older the evidence, the harder it is to translate. Inconsistent spelling and unclear handwriting can make this a difficult task.
Watch for outdated word meanings, terminology, location names, and boundaries. If you assume that county lines and city boundaries have remained the same since the 1850s, for example, you're likely to wind up looking for information about the wrong places. Check out, Cyndi's List, (below) for some Internet tools that help researchers access old maps, medical-term explanations, and other keys to understanding the past.
The last word
With over 100,000 links, Cyndi's List (http://www.CyndisList.com/) is a virtual card catalog of genealogical information on the Internet. If you can't find what you're looking for on this list, then it probably doesn't exist online. It's a great tool for ferreting out some of the lesser-known resources. And it has plenty of links to local, state, and national archives.
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