Plan Your Search

The third step in the genealogy research process is to PLAN YOUR SEARCH!

You’ve got a burning question about your family. Now where are you going to get the answers you seek?

An effective search begins with a review of what you already know.

This is a key principle in genealogy research, so I’ll say it once more just to be sure it sinks in:

Move from what you KNOW to what you don’t know

Plan Your Search Step 1

Take a little time to review the information you have about the ancestor in question. Better yet, review the sources for that information. As you review, make a list of what you know. Do you know this person’s…

• Birthdate? Or approximate birthyear? (it could be important to note your confidence level in this information!)
• Birthplace?
• Father’s name?
• Place of residence in x year?
• Spouse’s name? etc

If all you know is a person’s name and you want to answer the question, “Did so-and-so ever get married?” I can tell you how that search will go. Surely you will find a marriage record listing so-and-so as bride or groom! In fact, you will probably find dozens of such records.

But how will you know that any of those marriage records are really for your person?

You need other details to line up to confirm that the new record pertains to your subject. Where did the marriage take place? Was that a place your ancestor was ever known to live? How old was the bride/groom when they married? Does that fit with your ancestor’s birth year?

See what I mean?

Again, you’re going to

Move from what you KNOW to what you don’t know

Once you have a good grasp on what you already know, your search for NEW information can be guided by these two questions:

• What record types could possibly contain the desired information?
• If those record types exist for my ancestor’s place and time, where can I access them now?

Covering the breadth and depth of these key questions is far too much for one blog post. I have taken university courses devoted entirely to these subjects and still only scratched the surface.

But I do believe that if I can set your gears in motion with an example or two, then your imagination and persistence in hunting down pertinent resources will take you the rest of the way.

So let’s consider record types!

Plan Your Search Step 2

Let’s say your question is, “When and where did my ancestors get married?” Ask yourself, “What record types could possibly contain the desired information?”

Our 21st-century context immediately brings to mind a marriage certificate. And this is a good answer.

But is a marriage certificate the ONLY record that provides evidence of a couple’s marriage date and place?

Nope! Not by a long shot!

Marriage information may also be found in:

• a church book (as record of marriage banns and/or actual wedding ceremony)
• an application to marry (i.e. marriage license)
• a family Bible
• a court record such as a divorce record
• a newspaper obituary
• a newspaper article listing recent marriages
• a tombstone inscription
• a military pension record
• a US naturalization record (created after 1906)

Note: these sources are what come to my mind when I think of places where a specific date of marriage (and possibly also place of marriage) may be listed. But if the question you are asking is “Did So-and-So marry?” then the record types that may answer your question can be expanded even further.

For example, a probate record such as a will may speak of the deceased’s relationship to a spouse by naming his/her surviving wife/husband as an heir/administrator of the will. It’s not super likely that the will explicitly spells out the date and place of their marriage. But the mention of a spouse is certainly evidence that the deceased was married, right? Census records, birth records of children, land deeds, death certificates, draft registration cards and more can also be places to find evidence of a marriage relationship.

I hope you are now listing out all of the records that may contain answers to your questions! And when I say records, I also mean photographs, personal journals, and yes, a living relative’s memory bank. Those may be the best – or only – sources of information to answer some of your questions!

Tip: One Aid to brainstorming record types that may answer your question could be the FamilySearch Research Wiki’s page, “Choose a Record Type.”

Plan Your Search Step 3

Now that you have a good list of record types that may answer your question, you need to figure out if those records exist for the place and time in which your ancestor lived.

For example, it’s all well and good to want to find a civil birth record for an ancestor born about 1860 in Dodge County, Wisconsin

BUT there was a fire in that courthouse in 1877 so…

You’ll have to go down your list and try searching for your answers in a different record set!

Here are some of my favorite ways to learn about record availability:

• Ask genealogists with more experience in that locality! Genealogists tend to be very generous with their knowledge and excited to help a newbie get the lay of the land 🙂
• Visit a genealogy society library, attend a webinar or a workshop, or email archival staff. Or try a FREE virtual genealogical consultation offered by FamilySearch!
• Search for a locality in the FamilySearch Research Wiki
• Browse the catalog of a database like FamilySearch or Ancestry. Use a place name to do a keyword search, or start by looking at a very broad location and refine your search one jurisdiction at a time
• Contact the public library in your locality of interest. Just the “normal” public library, not a genealogy-specific library. Reference librarians often know the resources in their town or city pretty well – or if they don’t know the answer themselves, they can point you to others who do.

Of course if the record type you are after is maintained in a private space – say your aunt’s attic – you know what you’ll have to do. Make or renew that family connection and start a family history conversation 😀

To recap:

#1 Review what is already known about your ancestor(s) in question.

#2 Brainstorm the record types that may contain the information you desire.

#3 Find out if those records exist for your ancestor’s place and time and if they do, how you can get your hands on them.

Then get ready to LOOK for your family members!