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.
Offers a guide to census indexes, including federal, state, county, and town records, available in print and online; arranged by year, geographically, and by topic.
This inventory of state census records is the first comprehensive list of state census records ever published. State by state, year by year, often county by county and district by district, the author shows the researcher what is available in state census records, when it is available, and what one might expect to find in the way of data.
" ... provides updated county and town listings within the same overall state-by-state organization ... information on records and holdings for every county in the United States, as well as excellent maps from renowned mapmaker William Dollarhide ... The availability of census records such as federal, state, and territorial census reports is covered in detail ... Vital records are also discussed, including when and where they were kept and how"--Publisher decription.
Genealogists and other historical researchers have valued the first two editions of this work, often referred to as the genealogist's bible."" The new edition continues that tradition. Intended as a handbook and a guide to selecting, locating, and using appropriate primary and secondary resources, The Source also functions as an instructional tool for novice genealogists and a refresher course for experienced researchers. More than 30 experts in this field--genealogists, historians, librarians, and archivists--prepared the 20 signed chapters, which are well written, easy to read, and include many helpful hints for getting the most out of whatever information is acquired. Each chapter ends with an extensive bibliography and is further enriched by tables, black-and-white illustrations, and examples of documents. Eight appendixes include the expected contact information for groups and institutions that persons studying genealogy and history need to find. ""
Genealogists can sometimes require obscure resources when in search of information about ancestors. Tracking down records to complete a family tree can become laborious when the researcher doesn't know where to begin looking. Many of the best resources are maintained regionally or even locally, and aren’t widely known. This reference work serves as a guide to both beginning and experienced genealogy researchers. The sourcebook is easily accessible and usable, featuring approximately 270 entries on all aspects of genealogical research and family history compilation. The entries are listed alphabetically and cross-referenced so any researcher can quickly find the information he or she is seeking. Each state and each of the provinces of Canada has its own entry; other countries are listed under appropriate headings. The author also provides more than 700 addresses from all over the world so that the genealogist or general researcher may contact any one of these organizations to obtain specific information about particular births, deaths, marriages, or other life events in order to complete a family tree.