Online Search Checklist
Keep a cheat sheet for each family that includes:
Who: Family members - allied/cluster families – Variant spellings and nicknames
Where: States, counties, towns, creeks etc.
Map showing the area
County map of the state so you can easily see neighboring counties
or state lines
If the family is on the move show where they were during time eras:
ie. Babcock: 1800 New York > 1820-1830 Hamilton Co. OH >
1840 Clay Co. IN
Google the county page at Wikipedia for the county you are
researching
Think in terms of what kind of record you need. Below are main starting
points/suggestions of the core websites
Start with previously done research
–
Gedcom Databases: people upload their family trees at places like
WorldConnect,
Ancestral File at
FamilySearch,
Ancestry
World Tree
Queries: Ancestry message boards,
RootsWeb message boards,
GenForum
Personal Web pages – Google finds them best – start broad with something
like
Babcock family Illinois and add more specific terms if
you get too much junk
Primary Documents / Source Records
(records generated during your ancestor’s lifetime).
Sometimes previously done research includes source records.
If it does not that research is not solid and you need to find supporting
evidence before moving backward.
births
Social Security Death Index
County GenWeb Pages
Google – early birth records were usually recorded in churches or family
bibles unless
your family came from New England where they were recorded by the TOWN
Google using terms like baptisms, christenings, bible records, vital
records
marriage
Ancestry, IGI at
FamilySearch, County GenWeb pages
Google: using terms that are both broad like Virginia Marriages and more
specific like
“Frederick County” Virginia
State archives
Google Books has many marriages – particularly in New England
Google the county courthouse site
Write a local library - find it at Switchboard
Don’t forget that anniversary stories also appeared in newspapers – see
newspaper
resources and search them using anniversary “golden wedding” etc. as terms
court
County GenWeb
Google – use terms like “Hamilton County” Ohio court records
other terms: “court minutes” “court orders”
census / tax
U.S. Census 1790 -1930 – first to name every family member was in 1850. 1890
census burned.
Ancestry – if you have access their
indexing is extremely good despite errors
FamilySearch Pilot at
Family Search has many census and will have all census in the next year or
so
HeritageQuest – has all U.S.
Census but only some are indexed and most
indexes are head of household only.
Google – search by simple terms like “1850 census” “Stokes County” “North
Carolina”
biography
Google & Google Books – try name searching but also try finding county
histories
use terms like “Williamson County” Illinois history and search within the
book for
family members or neighbors or allied families.
church records
County GenWeb
Google – start broad with terms like Kentucky Methodists history
also add geography Quakers Guilford “North Carolina”
immigration
Ancestry is the best all-round
resource because they have so many passenger lists
and even some naturalizations
County GenWeb
Google using added terms like “passenger lists” “declaration of intent”
immigrants
immigration “Irish immigration” with the place they went to
land warrants/patents
County GenWeb
BLM Patent Search – if you are
in a state granted land by the U.S. government
State Archives (google to find them)
Google using geographic terms along with words like “land records” deeds
patents
“land warrants” “bounty land” homestead
military record
All military pensions for the American Revolution are at
HeritageQuest
War of 1812 onward are only held by the National Archives (no online access)
Draft registration cards for WWI are at Ancestry by subscription
Pension application index and many soldier indexes are at Ancestry
Google using terms like “Civil War” Indiana – other good military search
terms might be
pensions, rosters, soldiers etc.
history
County GenWeb pages
State Archives
Local libraries
Google – use broad terms like history “Jefferson County” “New York” or
history “Entiat Washington” –
other helpful terms might be settlement pioneers specific happenings
(“influenza outbreak”)
to get maps include terms like the locality and “historical maps”
State Archives
Local libraries
Google – use broad terms like history “Jefferson County” “New York” or history
“Entiat Washington” – other helpful terms
might be settlement pioneers specific happenings (“influenza outbreak”)
newspapers
Ancestry
State Archives
State and Local Libraries
Google using terms like Colorado historical newspapers or Colorado digital
newspapers
death
Vital Records.com
County GenWeb Pages
Ancestry
FamilySearch Pilot at
FamilySearch
State Archives
Google “Missouri Death Records”
obits
use the resources listed for newspapers
search newspapers using terms with your surname like death, cemetery,
interred, funeral,
Google using terms like “Barry County” Missouri obituaries
or obituaries “Brownville Daily News”
contact funeral homes using
FuneralNet
wills-probate
County Genweb
Google places or people with added terms like probate wills estates
guardianship was usually part of the probate process
In early days if father’s died while children were still “infants” (under
18) they were often
“bound out” to indentured servitude or apprenticeship.
County GenWeb Page
Google: Most of these are still in courthouses or on film but sometimes
people have
transcribed them. Use terms like guardianship “Nelson County” Kentucky
cemetery record
Find a Grave
County GenWeb
Genealogy Societies - Google the county with the term "genealogy society" or
"historical society"
Local Libraries
Google – “Clark County” Washington cemeteries” “Douglas County” Washington
cemetery
Cemetery Cashmere Washington – other good keywords: tombstone, “funeral
records”
OUTSIDE THE U.S.
Look for the country GenWeb page
Look for archives ie Canadian Archives, British Archives
Look for museums, historical sites etc. that often send you to other sites
mizliv@yahoo.com or alivingston@wvc.edu Anne Livingston