You can begin with birth and death certificates and marriage records. States
began recording this information at different times. See www.vitalrec.com for
information. Better yet, visit the
United States
Genealogy Sleuth, which has an wonderful list of sites that they use when
conducting genealogy research. These are all searchable online databases or
informative tools.
Plan to read federal and state census records -- potential genealogical gold
mines. U.S. censuses from 1850 to 1920 provide individual information, including
name, age, birthplace, and occupation. To find out the existence of a person,
birthplace, family members, and other information, census records are among the
best utilized tools for genealogy research. Census records are available on
microfilm in many libraries and archives. Although many are available online at
subscription sites, many indexes exist in books, on CD-ROMs, and online at free
sites. One good inclusive source to research and read census records is at
Census Finder . Their mission is
to provide access to all available census records online. This includes both
free and paid subscriptions. They fulfill their mission well.
http://www.tedpack.org/biogd002.html#further is a great site on how to
do genealogy research. If you are new to genealogy research, browse here
and gain points and tips on getting started.
Ancestors in local and county records
In ancestral communities, genealogists get information from tombstones,
religious and educational institutions, public and academic libraries, and
newspapers. Learn about newspapers in your ancestral states at www.neh.fed.us/projects/usnp.html.
County courthouses contain fascinating records, including ancestral land
transactions, wills and estate divisions, business licenses, and debt or divorce
court records. Some records reveal whether the family owned a piano or what they
called the spotted cow!
Local and county records are sometimes available as published abstracts or as
original records on microfilm. Furthermore, volunteers sponsor genealogical Web
pages for many U.S. counties at www.usgenweb.org.
Other state and federal records
State archives (or state historical societies) may hold early county and tax
records, family and business papers, state censuses, and evidence of citizens'
interaction with the state government. To learn about state archives holdings,
you can link to their Web sites from www.cyndislist.com. Some of the sites contain indexes and
searchable databases.
Genealogists also find ancestors in other federal materials, including
military, immigration, land, and Social Security records. As you widen your
search, The following Web sites may be helpful:
 | Some military pension abstracts:
www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pensions |
| RootsWeb offers free access to the Social Security
Death Index (SSDI). This database contains several important bits of
information on the more than 78 million persons whose deaths whose deaths
were reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA) beginning about
1962. Data available include social security number, date of issuance,
state of issuance, date of birth, date of death, and last address of record.
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/
Additionally, once you are in RootsWeb, you
will see on the side of theor SSDI a place to do additional research on
Ancestry.com , which neatly puts out for you some additional names that
might connect with the person shown on the SSDI, e.g., the census records
that show the same name. |
| www.ancestry.com - Largest
collection of family history records on the web |
| www.cyndislist.com - List of
genealogical sites on the Internet< |
| www.falcon.jmu.edy - Colonial
America |
| www.familyhistory.com -
3,000 Family history databases |
| www.familysearch.org -
International Genealogical Index |
| www.gendex.com |
| www.genealogylibrary.com |
| www.historyplace.com -
American Revolution |
|
http://web.uccs.edui-history/index/151maps.html#chesapeake -
Colonial maps |
|
Rare Maps of Colonial America |
| Civil War soldiers and sailors: www.itd.nps.gov/cwss |
| Some World War I draft registrations: www.ancestry.com under
"Search>Record Type>Military Records" |
| Ellis Island passenger arrivals, 1892-1924: www.ellisislandrecords.org
|
| Federal land patents for some states: www.glorecords.blm.gov
under "Search Land Patents" |
| Social Security Death Index, 1937 forward: www.ancestry.com under
"Search>Record Type>Birth, Marriage, & Death Records" |
| Social Security history and information: www.ssa.gov |
| National Archives regional branches
and Microfilm of National Archives records
(under "Microform Catalogs and Finding Aids) |
| Library of Congress: www.loc.gov |
