Records In Genealogical Research

From GeneaWiki - English

To keep track of their citizens, governments began keeping records of persons who were neither royalty nor nobility. In much of Europe, for example, such record keeping started in the 16th century. As more of the population was recorded, there were sufficient records to follow a family.

Major life events were often documented with a license, permit, or report that was stored at a local, regional or national office or archive. Genealogists locate these records and extract information to discover family relationships and recreate timelines of persons' lives.

In China and other Asian countries, genealogy books are used to record family members' names, occupations, etc. Some books have been kept for hundreds or even thousands of years. In India, in the eastern state of Bihar, there is a written tradition of genealogical records among Maithil Brahmins and Karna Kayasthas called "Panjis", dating back to 12th century AD. These records are still consulted prior to marriages. A Survey of the Panji of the Karan Kayasthas of Mithila.

In Ireland, genealogical records were recorded by professional families of senchaidh (historians). This continued until as late as the mid-17th century, when Gaelic civilization died out. Perhaps the most outstanding example of this genre is Leabhar na nGenealach/The Great Book of Irish Genealogies, by Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh (d.1671), which was published in 2004.

Records that are used in genealogy research include:

• Vital records
  • Birth records
  • Death records
  • Marriage and divorce records
• Adoption records
• Biographies and biographical profiles (as in Who's Who, etc.)
• Census records
• Church records
  • Baptism or christening
  • Confirmation
  • Bar or bat mitzvah
  • Marriage
  • Funeral or death
  • Membership
• City directories and telephone directories
• Coroner's reports
• Court records
  • Criminal records
  • Civil records
• Diaries, personal letters and family Bibles
• Emigration, immigration and naturalization records
• Hereditary & lineage organization records, e.g. Daughters of the American Revolution records
• Land and property records, deeds
• Medical records
• Military and conscription records
• Newspaper articles
• Obituaries
• Occupational records
• Oral histories
• Passports
• Photographs
• Poorhouse, workhouse, almshouse, and asylum records
• School and alumni association records
• ship passenger lists
• Social Security (within the USA) and pension records
• Tax records
• Tombstones, cemetery records, and funeral home records
• Voter registration records
• Wills and probate records

As a rule, genealogists begin with the present and work backward in time. Written records have the property of hindsight in that they only tell where a person might have lived and who their parents were, not where they and their descendants might subsequently reside. Two exceptions are when genealogists interview living relatives as to who and where their children and grandchildren are, or try to locate relatives who may already have traced their families back to an ancestor they have in common.

LDS collections

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has engaged in large-scale microfilming of available records of genealogical value. It has also compiled indexes of the submissions of its members. This has resulted in several major databases: the International Genealogical Index, or IGI, which includes both data extracted from filmed civil and ecclesiastic records from various worldwide locales and member-submitted information; the Ancestral File, or AF, which includes the contributions of church members; and the Pedigree Resource File, or PRF, compiled from member and non-member submissions. The IGI contains hundreds of millions of records of individuals who lived between 1500 and 1900, primarily in the United States, Canada and Europe. The AF and PRF often contain numerous duplications of IGI records.

LDS resources include the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, which houses the original microfilm and microfiche, its over 4,000 branches worldwide (called Family History Centers, where films and fiche can be rented for on-site research), and FamilySearch, an interactive Internet site that provides free access to the International Genealogical Index, the Ancestral File, the Pedigree Resource File, an 1880 U.S. federal census index, an 1881 British census index, an 1881 Canadian census index, the U.S. Social Security Death Index, research guides, and genealogical word lists.