records guide
Historical records for family research, catalogued honestly
Historical records for genealogy are the dated documents an authority created about a person during their lifetime — tax rolls, court entries, land patents, church registers, city directories. In US research they are what you turn to when census and vital records don't reach far enough back or don't survive.
- Federal: NARA record groups by war, by land office, by immigration port.
- State: state archive holdings, cataloged county by county.
- County: deed books, will books, court minute books — often still on paper.
- Church: diocesan archives (Catholic), presbytery (Presbyterian), monthly meeting (Quaker).
How to use this guide in real research
Begin with a specific person, place, and approximate date rather than a name alone. Record the repository, collection, image or certificate number, and access date for every result. That citation lets another researcher retrace the same evidence and helps you distinguish people who share a name.
Treat indexes and transcriptions as finding aids. Whenever possible, open the original image and compare names, ages, relationships, locations, and informants with records you already trust. A plausible match becomes a supported conclusion only when independent sources agree and conflicting evidence has been addressed.
Quality checks before adding a conclusion
- Search spelling variants, initials, nicknames, neighboring households, and a wider date range.
- Prefer records created close to the event, while noting who supplied each fact.
- Keep negative searches and rejected matches in your research log so work is not repeated.
- Mark uncertain relationships clearly until multiple independent records support them.