Church records can fill in the gaps caused by non-existent vital records. Even when we do have civil vital records, church records often contain different pieces of information. They can be invaluable to our genealogy research. But to get into these records, it helps to know what church your ancestor attended. Here's how you can find your ancestor's church.
Probate records are created to settle a person's estate after they die. They can have tremendous amounts of information in them. However, there are some misconceptions about what some of them mean. Here are 5 things you need to know when looking at your ancestor's probate records.
Finding your ancestor in the census is a great way to extend the family tree, but what do you do when you just know he should be there, but he isn't turning up in your searches? When that happens, it's time to stop searching and start browsing old school style. Here's how to browse the census by location in both Ancestry and FamilySearch.
Wills can be invaluable to our genealogy research. But if your ancestor didn't leave a will, don't fret. There are still tons of clues in the estate papers. In fact, you might find even more than if he or she left a will. Here's how to spot the children when your ancestor didn't leave a will.
Newspapers are an incredible resource for genealogy. But with all of the mergers of newspapers over the years (not to mention those that have gone out of business), how can you find what newspapers were published in your ancestor's hometown when he or she lived there? Fortunately, there's a directory to help us out with finding old newspapers. Continue Reading