Once you’ve gotten past the initial stage of Genealogy, getting the basics from your family, comes the harder task. Finding out more. Usually the next step is going online or to your local genealogical society or public library and see what you can find. But the question then becomes what do you look for?
It is important to use original documents, but most starting genealogists find it difficult to access that sort of thing. Some genealogists rely on census information, but that can be scattered at best, and often it can be difficult to determine who you’re looking for and where to find them this early on in your pursuits.
It’s a generally accepted rule that using other people’s family tree sites to add to your own is bad, though contacting those who post such trees is a good idea if you feel your trees interconnect. These trees can also act as a guide to give you ideas where to look next. But just because it’s written on the web doesn’t make it correct. Always look for your own proofs in genealogy and never assume that something you see is correct until you prove it yourself. Even if it came from Grandma herself.
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Here’s a list of source documents to look for, both online (try familysearch.org and Ancestry.com, though there are plenty of other sites out there) and offline.
Birth Certificates – these are great sources, and can provide extra information on the parents of the child, sometimes including addresses, former addresses, and any siblings the child might have. Other good birth records include announcements (cards or newspaper accounts) but also christening, baptism and confirmation records (see next).
Confirmation or Baptism records –not quite as accurate as the birth certificate, but good for parentage and location, as well as religion (keep in mind, several churches dealt with these things, not just the Catholic church).
School records – yearbooks, report cards, scholastic achievements; all of these can provide insight into your ancestor’s life, as well as give you a better idea of where they came from. May not exist for older generations, but still worth looking into.
Military records – difficult to find for anyone who was living outside the US, but another great source of insight into an ancestor’s life.
Immigration records – Ellis Island is a great source, but not the only one. Whether your family came over 50 years ago or 300, there is a chance the ship passenger log exists online somewhere.
Naturalization/Citizenship records – more difficult to find, but not impossible, and definitely worth looking into for more secondary birth information. Keep in mind, a British citizen moving anywhere in the commonwealth would already be considered a citizen.
Marriage records – this includes not only the marriage certificate, but also the banns, articles about the wedding, invitations, and other miscellaneous documents.
Death records – these often include some great secondary information like parents’ names and birth location. That sort of information should be treated with a grain of salt, as things are often misspelled or partially incorrect, but can still give you information you did not have before to help in your search. Records to look at: death certificate, obituary, burial record, grave markers and funeral programs.