What Happened to My Family?

            Federal census records are wonderful things.  They list family relationships, ages, dates of naturalization and immigration, and where your ancestors lived. But they were only done every ten years. What about the time in between? Lives can change dramatically in ten years – births, deaths, marriage, divorce, relocation, occupation change.  You may look for your ancestor in the same place as the previous census and not find them. You may wonder what happened in their lives during that time. There are actually many resources available to search for your ancestors during these years.  Here are just a few to get you started:

            State Census Records – Did you know that some states took their own census? FamilySearch Wiki lists the states that took their own census and the years it was done. There were also specialized census records taken, such as veterans and Native American census’.

            City Directories – City Directories have a wealth of information available  They list names, addresses, and sometimes occupations and family relationships. The ads on the pages are a great way to understand your ancestor’s lives at the time.

            Newspapers – Historical newspapers can fill in the gaps with current events, and even list births, marriages, and deaths that you may not find anywhere else.  Newspaper archives contain newspapers as far back as the 17^th century.

             Local Histories – Learning about the history of the area your ancestors lived in can tell you a lot about their lives.  Local histories will usually document natural disasters they may have experienced, such as famine, drought, floods, earthquakes, or wars or other turmoil or hardship that would have motivated them to leave the area.

            Maps and Gazetteers – maybe the boundaries changed for your ancestor’s town, county, or even state in those ten years. You may be looking for them with the wrong residence information. FamilySearch Wiki is an excellent resource. If you search for a specific geographical area, it will usually trace the boundary changes over time for the area you are researching.