Describes the kinds of population, immigration, military, and land records found in the National Archives, and shows how to use them for genealogical research.
Searching for your Alabama ancestors? Looking for historical facts? Dates? Events? This book will lead you to the places where you'll find answers. Here are hundreds of direct sources--governmental, archival, agency, online--that will help you access information vital to your investigation. Tracing Your Alabama Past sets out to identify the means and the methods for finding information on people, places, subjects, and events in the long and colorful history of this state known as the crossroads of Dixie. It takes researchers directly to the sources that deliver answers and information. This comprehensive reference book leads to the wide array of essential facts and data--public records, census figures, military statistics, geography, studies of African American and Native American communities, local and biographical history, internet sites, archives, and more. For the first time Alabama researchers are offered a how-to book that is not just a bibliography. Such complex sources as Alabama's biographical/genealogical materials, federal land records, Civil WarÂ-era resources, and Native American sources are discussed in detail, along with many other topics of interest to researchers seeking information on this diverse Deep South state. Much of the book focuses on national sources that are covered elsewhere only in passing, if at all. Other books only touch on one subject area, but here, for the first time, are directions to the Who, What, When, Where, and Why.
Census research is one of the first and most important steps in constructing a family tree. Everyone from genealogists to historians use the federal census for researching family histories. Deciphering census data, however, is not always easy. Your Guide to the Federal Census acts as a personal research assistant for the beginning genealogist. Census Basics examines the nuts and bolts of census records and the types of information available. Finding Census Records and Indexes reveals where to view the censuses online and off, and how to find most ancestors quickly and easily. Using the Census offers step-by-step instructions covering nearly every scenario for tracing family histories in census records. Also included are case studies, appendices, and a glossary of census terms. Kathleen W. Hinckley is a Certified Genealogical Records Specialist, Executive Director of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and trustee for the Board of Certification of Genealogists. She is a regular columnist for Genealogy.com, and author of Locating Lost Family Members & Friends. She lives in Arvada, Colorado.
Useful to the novice searcher, as well as the professional genealogist. Covers all aspects of research--major records, published sources, and special resources.