The Research Process
The Research Process
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Gather records your family has
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Choose what you want to learn
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Find the records
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Evaluate the information found
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Share what you learned
Following the Research Process and searching the records in order of priority will produce more effective research.
Step 1 – Gather the Records your Family Already Has
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Search all the storage areas of your home
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Start talking with your extended family to find out who might have family documents and keepsakes
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Visit and/or interview relatives
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Record what you find
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Be willing to share back
Step 2 – Choose What you Want to Learn
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Choose an ancestor to research
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Don’t choose someone at the end of the line unless you have verified that line
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Decide a specific question you want answered about this person
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Example: What year did my ancestor arrive in the U.S.?
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Create a place to save information for that individual
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Start a Research Log for that family
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Benefits:
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avoid repetitive searches
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create abstracts for copying into family history software
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analyze sources when weighing evidence
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Record both positive and negative searches
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Step 3 – Find the records
The order of priority when searching records:
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Search for easy-to-find records on FamilySearch, Ancestry & FindMyPast
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Search already compiled trees and histories
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Understand the locality where your ancestor lived
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Search for additional census and vital records
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Search the Internet
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Search other major record types such as land, tax and probate records
1. Perform a general search for your ancestor on FamilySearch, Ancestry and FindMyPast for easy-to-find records
2. Search already compiled trees and histories
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These are sources authored by someone else, they are not original records
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This means the information needs to be verified!
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Just because you can find the same tree many times, does not mean it is correct
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A. Find compiled trees (genealogies) on:
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Invitation-only family trees such as:
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B. Check for county/town histories and family histories (compiled sources)
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County histories are available for most U.S. states
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(In New England look for town histories)
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Check the surname for family histories, printed genealogies & biographical works
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Find through Google, the Family History Catalog and WorldCat
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3. Understand the locality where your ancestor lived
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State, county & town boundaries changed over time
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This impacts where you look for records
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Many vital, land and probate records are on the county level
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New England records were kept on the town level
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Find maps relating to that time period
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Search Google - example: Cinncinati, Ohio Map 1850s
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Use the Newberry Library’s county boundary change maps
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4. Search for additional census and vital records
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This is a more focused search to find additional census and vital records that were not found when looking for easy-to-find records
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Use details found about the locality and the information from compiled sources to narrow down your search
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Search a specific record type in a specific place
Example: Nancy Pawley marriage in Trumbull County, Ohio
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Use the information you are finding in census, vital and compiled records to find more census, vital and compiled records
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CENSUS: Find the person in each census year they were alive
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The original census record has more information than the index
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If you cannot find a person in the census you are looking for:
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Narrow the search down to a specific census, i.e. 1860
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Search by their middle name or just list their initials
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Remember that spelling was not standardized – check all variants
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Use a wildcard along with three or more letters
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Birth dates can be off several years for multiple reasons
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Search for his/her spouse or children (especially those with unusual names)
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Use multiple sites which have the census
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VITAL RECORDS:
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Consistent birth and death records in the U.S. started in the early 1900s
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Most marriage records began when the county was formed
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Use record substitutes such as church, newspaper, obituary & cemetery
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Where do I find vital records?
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FamilySearch Records: they are indexing many vital records first
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The FamilySearch Wiki: The “Vital Records” page for each state lists many sources and the dates records started for that state
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Cyndi’s List (look up the state and then “Birth, Marriage, Death”)
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PERSI (Periodical Source Index – found on FindMyPast)
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5. Search the Internet:
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Google (or other search engines)
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Google specific people: “Thomas * Watt” obituary
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Google the name backwards too - “Watt, Thomas”
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Google specific records: Ohio Prebyterian records
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USGenWeb
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Cyndi’s List
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Linkpendium
6. Search other major record types
Use the “United States Record Selection Table” in the FamilySearch Wiki to determine which records contain what you need
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Probate Records (wills and estates)
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Land Records
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Tax Records
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Church Records
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Military
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Ethnic Records
Step 4 – Evaluate the Information you Found
Thoroughly look at every piece of information in each document
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Compare the information with previous records found - does the information agree or disagree?
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Was the information recorded by someone who had first-hand knowledge of the event? This is more likely to be reliable
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Remember even original records can have incorrect information
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What clues did you find for further research?
Step 5 – Share What you Learned
Sharing information is a great way to return the favor
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Share your research in online databases:
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FamilySearch
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Ancestry
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Etc.
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Share with family or family organizations
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Write a family history
Summary
Following the research process will produce more effective research
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It will help you stay focused and search the records in the most efficient order
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You will repeat the research process many times on one family group sheet