CHECKLIST FOR BEGINNING GENEALOGISTS

PART FIVE

Potential Useful Information about People You Are Researching

Knowing any of the following types of information about an ancestor can often help us acquire further information about that person:

Age at time of death
Awards/decorations
Baptism/christening date
Birthdate
Birthplace
Children
Churches/Synagogues/Mosques
Clubs/associations
Country of birth
Criminal history/incarceration
Death date
Ethnicity
Health
Immigration date
Maiden name
Martial status
Naturalization date
Occupation
Parents
Physical description
Place of death
Place(s) of residence
Professional associations
Real estate/home ownership
Religion
Siblings
Schools/colleges
Spouse(s)
Unions (labor organizations)
Veteran status

Have questions? Ask a Librarian!

CHECKLIST FOR BEGINNING GENEALOGISTS

PART FOUR

Places Where Records/Documents/Photographs/Artifacts Can Be Found (continued)

Items of potential interest can turn up in many different places:

Library of Congress
Map stores
Military museums
Military record centers
Museums
National Archives
National Personnel Records Center
Newspaper offices
Public libraries
Regional branches of the National Archives
Schools
State archives
State libraries
Union (labor organization) offices
Your house/houses of relatives

Have questions? Ask a Librarian!

CHECKLIST FOR BEGINNING GENEALOGISTS

PART THREE

Places Where Records/Documents/Photographs/Artifacts Can Be Found

Items of potential interest can turn up in many different places:

Antique shops
Archives
Boards of Education
Bookstores
Businesses
Cemeteries
Churches
City halls
Clubs & associations
Colleges & universities
Coroner's office
County courthouses
Courthouses
Department of Corrections
Family History Library
Family reunions
Flea markets
Funeral homes
Genealogical societies
Genealogy workshops & conferences
Government agencies
Highway departments
Historical societies
Houses of relatives
Internet

CHECKLIST FOR BEGINNING GENEALOGISTS

PART TWO

Records/Documents with Potential Significance for Genealogists (continued)

The following types of record can provide valuable information for the person just beginning his/her genealogical research:

Holiday cards
Homestead land records
Hospital records
Immigration records
Insurance records
Jail/prison records
Labor union records
Land records
Letters
Licensing board records
Lineage societies
Manuscripts
Maps
Marriage records
Medical records
Mental institution records
Military discharge papers
Military enlistment papers
Military service records
Militia records
Mortality schedules
Naturalization records
Newspapers
Obituaries
Orphanage/foundling home records
Passenger records
Passports
Patriotic society records
Pension records
Personal property records
Phone books
Photo albums
Photographs
Plantation records
Poor farm records
Professional association records
Railroad records
Regimental histories
School records
Scrapbooks
Ship photos
Social Security records
Tax records
Trade catalogs
Veterans' organization records
Will and probate records
WPA (Works Progress Administration) records
Yearbooks

Have questions? Ask a Librarian!

CHECKLIST FOR BEGINNING GENEALOGISTS

PART ONE

Records/Documents with Potential Significance for Genealogists

The following types of records can provide valuable information for the person just beginning his/her genealogical research:

Account books
Adoption records
Address books
Animal bounty records
Alien internment records
Alien registration records
Almshouse/asylum records
Apprenticeship/Indenture records
Baby books
Bank records
Bankruptcy records
Baptism records
Bible records
Birth records
Bounty land records
Cattle brands/estray records
CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) records
Cemetery & burial records
Census records
Christening records
Church records
City & county directories
Class photos/class reunions
Club records
College & university records
Confirmation records
Coroner's records
County histories
Court records
Deeds & mortgages
Diaries
Divorce records
Dog license records
Draft registration & conscription records
Employment records
Family histories
Family photos
FBI/police records
Financial records
Fraternal organization records
Funeral cards
Government agency records
Graduation records
Guardian records

Have questions? Ask a Librarian!