The study of U.S. Southern States research and sources, old style handwriting, strategies, and how to locate and use the records to identify your ancestors. In-depth analysis, historical understanding, and using the correct jurisdictions are critical to your research success. How much data you extract from the records, how carefully you study that information, and your level of understanding of the records and the context of the facts they hold dictates your research success. This research guide will give you some great resources, strategies, and instruction helping you with your Southern...

Census research leads to additional sources. This in-depth look at censuses taken in the United States gives you detail on many different census types and how to find them. We also teach you to read old-style handwriting, how to develop research strategies specific to your family, and how to locate and use the records to identify your ancestors. In-depth analysis, historical understanding, and using the correct jurisdictions are critical to your research success. How much data you extract from the records, how carefully you study that information, and your level of understanding of the...

War has been part of the mortal experience since the beginning of time. Even before time began as the Holy Scriptures declare in Revelation 12:7, "And there was a war in heaven..." Such is the history of our world as told by the scribes and historians. Looking back over the vast history of the American continent we see the Eighty Years War (also known at the Dutch Revolt) of 1568-1648 that English men learned the art of war and became soldiers in the warfare that was prevalent in Europe. Men such as Captain John Smith, who was vital to the survival of Jamestown in its early years, and Miles...

Marriage documents are among the best sources available for family history research. Marriage affects land and property rights for both the man and the woman. There is more than one way to locate marriage data. It is important to remember there are at least 16 official records created at the time a marriage occurs. You have more than one chance to find it. This research guide gives details helping you learn how to accurately prove and document your family history starting with the most valuable records available, the marriage documents. You will also learn how the marriage may lead you to...

Probate is a set of court or government procedures established for the orderly transfer of property from a deceased person to his or her heirs and/or assigns. Records kept in the course of a probate action are valuable sources for information for genealogists about the deceased and the deceased's family. As an editorial comment, unfortunately in recent years, probate has become overlaid with so-called "estate planning" which, for all but the very rich, is an excuse for selling either an insurance product or associated services. Since the most ancient times, the motivation for some kind of...

The words, "the courthouse burned," or "the family Bible was lost coming West," or "the church house was torn down when the Mall was built," can strike terror to a genealogist's heart. You finally have what you need to begin your research in Virginia sources-when you discover that the courthouse burned in the county where your ancestors lived. Not to worry-genealogists, and those who support their efforts, have been at work for generations, reconstructing official marriage records from originals in private hands and collecting substitutes: newspaper announcements, court and estate files,...

The study of New England research and sources, old-style handwriting, strategies, and how to locate and use the records to identify your ancestors. In-depth analysis, historical understanding, and using the correct jurisdictions are critical to your research success. How much data you extract from the records, how carefully you study that information, and your level of understanding of the records and the context of the facts they hold dictates your research success. This research guide will give you some great resources, strategies, and instruction helping you with your New England research...