Historical U.S. Draft Registration and Enrollment Rules

Especially when trying to search the content-rich documents, such as World War I and World War II draft cards, it is often puzzling why a specific person cannot be found. Beyond tricky names and such, it is often difficult because the rules for who needed to register changed several times during each of those wartime […]

Are You Using Mortality Schedules from the Census Records

What’s a mortality schedule you ask? Well, the U.S. Census Bureau, starting in 1850, began preparing special Non-population Schedules. Population schedules are the ones that we are always using and we tend to call them just “Census Records”. There have been several Non-population schedules, including Agricultural Schedules, Manufacturing Schedules, Social Statistic Schedules, Business Schedules, and […]

Obituary Search FAQs

Are you trying to find Obituaries for a relative, friend, or ancestor? People will tell you that it is easy – just look in old newspapers, or if it is a recent death, just Google the person’s name to see if there is an online obituary, tribute, or memorial. Here are several questions that you […]

How to Use the United States Federal Non-Population Census Schedules

Non-population schedules were census schedules that were created as an adjunct to the “normal census” that was gathered every ten years and still is. Essentially they were gathered to obtain information on special subsets of the population for the government to determine what resources needed to be applied to these special subsets and to obtain […]

Alternatives for the Missing 1890 U. S. Federal Census

A person who starts researching their family history very quickly runs into the question – ”What Happened to the 1890 Census? In summary, there was a fire at the U.S. Commerce building in Washington DC, which destroyed a very large percentage of the population schedules from the 1890 federal census. Either fire or water damage […]

Why You Should Research Coroner Records and Where to Find Them

Did you know that about 20% of deaths in the United States are investigated by a Coroner or a Medical Examiner? I first got interested when I accidentally found a Coroner’s Report for my Great Aunt, who died in 1911. Her cause of death was accidental and very sad. So I began researching Coroner Reports […]

How to Get the Most From the Social Security Death Index (SSDI)

One of the first databases new family history researchers use is the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). Why? Because it is online and it is free. However, the SSDI has some distinct drawbacks because of some of its inconsistencies. This Quicksheet explains the background of the SSDI, what data is in it, the inconsistencies, and […]

Did Your Ancestor Complete an Alien Registration Affidavit?

One of the best documents for information about your ancestor is an Alien Registration Affidavit. It only was completed by about 500,000 people starting in November 1917. It was to identify German people in the U.S. who were not naturalized and hence may have allegiance to Germany rather than the U.S. It was required of […]

20 Tips for Using Google Search for Genealogy

Google Search has become so ubiquitous that “Google it” is a part of our everyday language. Searching using Google has a variety of options that many researchers are not familiar with. Here are 20 different ways to use Google to search; some are especially helpful when doing genealogy research. Download the Quicksheet PDF To obtain […]

Easy Cousin Relationship Chart

Determining a “Cousin” Relationship between two people is quite easy if you have a proper chart. Many of the charts can be confusing. Download the Quicksheet PDF To obtain a one-page Quicksheet pdf of an Easy Cousin Relationship Chart, download it by clicking on the Download button: For all the previously published Quick Reference Guides, […]