Court records are among the richest, yet most overlooked, sources for genealogists. They can reveal names, relationships, occupations, property details, and even glimpses into your ancestors’ daily lives. These records go far beyond criminal cases — they document the legal, financial, and social fabric of a community. Download the Quicksheet PDF To obtain a two-page […]
Category: QuickSheets
Fraternal orders, benevolent societies, and community clubs were a cornerstone of American life from the mid-1800s through the mid-1900s. If your ancestor wasn’t listed in a census or newspaper that year, there’s a good chance they were recorded in the membership rolls of a lodge, union, or club. 20% of men in 1900 belonged to […]
Land records aren’t just about who owned a piece of ground. They can reveal family relationships, migration paths, neighbors, and even financial trouble. If you’re skipping deeds and property records, you’re missing a major part of your ancestors’ lives. Get the hidden clues by downloading the Quicksheet PDF. Download the Quicksheet PDF To obtain a […]
When searching old newspapers and census records, we are often faced with unusual names of occupations, and we have no clue as to their meaning because the terms are not in use today. I have collected a list of about 360 old occupations and their meanings from a variety of sources. Dan Burrows and Jan […]
Funeral home and Mortuary records often pick up where obituaries and death certificates stop. They can provide personal details, informant names, addresses, burial locations, and clues about religion and finances Download the Quicksheet PDF To obtain a one-page Quicksheet pdf of this information, download it by clicking on the Download button below: For all the […]
When doing our genealogy research, whether looking at death certificates, newspaper articles, or other sources, we are often faced with different terminology for things. Nowhere is that more evident than in medical terminology. Whether the term is written in an old letter, a newspaper article, or an official document, we are often faced with the […]
For generations, women were documented everywhere in records — but often not under their own names. They might appear as “Mrs. John Smith,” “the widow,” or “the daughter of….” Learning how to spot these patterns opens new doors in your research. Learn the tips for locating women in records and the naming conventions that obscure […]
The Sanborn Map Collection is available via the Library of Congress. There are maps available from all 50 states in the US, and DC, as well as Canada, Cuba, and Mexico. From the website: “The Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Online Checklist provides a searchable database of the fire insurance maps published by the Sanborn Map Company […]
Access Genealogy is an aggregation site, which means that it has a number of genealogy categories for all of the United States. Its primary feature is links to other collections on other websites. Most of these are free, but there are multiple links to subscription databases, such as Ancestry. It does have an abundance of […]
Death Indexes is one of several very useful websites provided by Joe Beine, and probably the most visited. From the Website: “This website is a directory of links to websites with online death indexes, listed by state and county. Included are death records, death certificate indexes, death notices, and registers, obituaries, wills and probate records, […]