Patrick Family History

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Guide to Beginning Research

Begin with yourself. Work from known facts toward the unknown.

There are four key points of identification in genealogical research: names, dates, places, and relationships.

Home: Family records, old letters, family bibles, journals, scrapbooks, diaries, biographies, photographs, birth-marriage-death records, newspaper clippings, school records.

Relatives Interviews and correspondence (same as above), newspaper obituaries and other clippings, military records, announcements, family histories, diplomas, certificates.

Local Depositories:
Public libraries: family histories, biographies, town histories and county histories.
School or University libraries.
Historical Societies: all types of records.
Schools: records of admission, attendance, etc.
Churches: birth, marriage, and death records, admissions, dismissals, memberships.

Town Records:
Town Clerk: vital statistics, tax lists, meeting minutes, land records (in some), court records
Cemeteries
Sextons
Morticians
Hospitals
Newspapers

County Records:
County Clerk: land records, wills, birth, marriage, and death records, tax lists.
County Court: probates, divorces, naturalizations, guardianships.

State Records:
Department of Health: vital statistics
Libraries and archives: military, land, state census, etc.
State Land Office: deeds, grants

Federal Records:
National Archives: Military records (service and pension)
Census records, 1790-1880
Land records
Shipping and passenger lists
Naturalization records

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LAST UPDATE: Sunday, June 05, 2005
WEB AUTHOR: Larry Patrick, Jr.