How History Creates Records for Genealogy
Genealogists have a practice of looking at a historical event and seeing what records this created for genealogy purposes. Looking at history with a genealogical perspective is an important skill. We have been going through some major events in 2020, haven’t we? What records do you think will be created because of COVID and other events?
Let’s look at some historical events and practice what records they created.
Wars and History
Wars create many different records that share lots of information. Here are just a few of the records that can be found.
- Military Records
- Hospital Records
- Pension Records
- Draft Cards
- Censuses
- Newspaper Accounts
- Obituaries
- Birth and Marriage Records
Do you know where to find each of these records to see if your ancestor is in them? Most of them can be found on the major genealogy websites such as Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, FindMyPast.com, and MyHeritage.com. But there are websites that have specific records such as Fold3.com. This website focuses on military records, pension records, and draft cards. They are starting to include other records, such as newspaper accounts, but they are still a military website. Findagrave.com is focused on cemeteries, headstones, and some obituaries. In addition, Newspaperarchive.com focuses on newspaper accounts and obituaries. My point is don’t just check the major websites. Instead make a focused effort to look for specific records on other websites.
Natural Disasters and History
Do these events create records for genealogists? Think about the recent earthquakes, fires, and hurricanes we’ve been having. What records would those create that we can use? History books are full of major natural disasters that affected your ancestors. Here are some examples of where to look for your ancestor.
- Newspaper accounts
- Death records
- Social Media
- Hospital Records
- Census Records
- Journals/First-hand accounts
- Historical books
- Maps
- Museum records
COVID and History
COVID will one day be in our history books. What records do you think this event would create? We don’t have some of those records yet, such as census records. But we do have…
- Newspaper accounts
- Social Media accounts
- Hospital Records
- Obituaries
- Family Histories
- Journals/First-hand accounts
- Photos
- Religious Records
- Maps
- Birth, Marriage, Death Records
- Cancelled Social Events
- Business Records
Conclusion
Every historical event has created records around that event. It’s our job, as genealogists, to make sure we are using those records. We may not find our ancestors in each record group, but we do need to search those records. It’s what we call an exhaustive genealogy search. So make a list of the records that you’ve already searched. Then make another list of the records you still need to search. This way will help you stay organized. You will also fill in more of your ancestor’s story and learn their history.
So in the meantime…good luck and happy hunting!
Tiffany
P.S. If you want to learn more about genealogy record types, then click on the links below…
census records, historical newspapers, historical records, history, military records, newspapers, pensions, vital records