Finding Ancestors Before Statewide Vital Records
Most states didn't require birth and death certificates until the early 1900s. Here's where to look instead.
Wills, Probate & Court Records
Wills, estate files, guardianships and court minutes, which name relationships outright.
Land Records: The Paper Trail of Property
Deeds, patents and surveys survive when other records burned. Learn the difference between state-land and federal-land states and how to use them.
Naturalization Records: How Immigrants Became Citizens
How the two-step citizenship process worked, why 1906 is the dividing line, and where to find the papers that can name a hometown and ship.
Wills and Probate: Proving Who Belonged to Whom
Probate files name heirs, wives and children, sometimes in a single page. Learn how probate worked, what's in the file, and how to find it at the courthouse.
Reading Old Handwriting and Dates in Early Records
The long s, Latin abbreviations, "inst." and "ult.", and double dates like 1731/2. How to read 18th- and 19th-century documents with confidence.
Researching Enslaved Ancestors Before 1870
How to work past the 1870 census, identify a likely enslaver, and find enslaved people named in probate, tax, Freedmen's Bureau and military records.
When the Courthouse Burned: Researching in Burned Counties
Fires, floods and wars destroyed records in hundreds of counties. These are the substitutes and alternate copies that still survive.
Finding a Woman's Maiden Name: 15 Places to Look
Women's maiden names are among the hardest facts to find in American records. These are the record types most likely to reveal one, and how to use them.
Planning an Archive or Courthouse Research Trip
Most records still aren't online. How to find out what an archive or courthouse holds, prepare before you go, follow reading-room rules, and come home with everything you need.
Full-Text Search: Finding Ancestors in Handwritten Deeds, Wills and Court Records
Computer handwriting recognition has made millions of unindexed pages searchable for the first time. How FamilySearch's full-text search works, how to search it well, and its limits.
Finding Birth Family: Adoption Research with Records and DNA
How adoptees and their descendants can search for birth family using original birth certificates, court records, registries and, most powerfully, DNA.
Divorce Records: Finding Marriages That Ended
Divorce was more common in the past than many families admit, and divorce files can be rich in detail. Where divorce records are kept, how to find them, and what else to check.
Orphans, Guardianships and the Orphan Trains
Children who lost a parent often left a trail of court, orphanage and placement records. How to find guardianships, apprenticeships, orphanage records and orphan train placements.
Other topics
Getting Started 21Census Records 16Birth, Marriage & Death Records 15Church Records 12Cemeteries & Burials 2Newspapers & Obituaries 3Land & Property Records 7Wills, Probate & Court Records 13Tax Records 3Military Records 5Immigration & Naturalization 12DNA & Genetic Genealogy 9Libraries & Archives 8Research in the Old Country 10African American Research 2Research Methods & Evidence 31Brick Walls 11Organizing Your Research 7Online Sites & Family Trees 11