Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about researching African American ancestors in United States federal records using land and military records. We discuss laws that impacted free black people and freedmen in the reconstruction era. Many records were created because of the Homestead Act of 1862 and Southern Homestead Act of 1866. We go over a brief history of African American involvement in wars beginning with the Revolutionary War up until the Vietnam...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about researching African American records in U.S. Federal government documents. This is part one in the series. We discuss the Freedmen’s Bureau, the Freedmen’s Bank, and the U.S. Federal Census. Join us as Diana shares what she learned from the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in Deborah A. Abbott’s course, “Researching African American Ancestors: Government Documents and Advanced Tools” and from exploring these record sets....
Do you have African American ancestry and wondered how to begin researching those lines? Perhaps you have an ancestor who enslaved African Americans and you have discovered documents mentioning their names. If you help others with their family history research you may eventually come across either of those scenarios. Many resources are available to aid in African American research and this series will outline those created by the United States Federal Government. I recently attended...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss how to analyze a census record, and the example of George W. Dillard in the 1850 Census. We go through the steps of making an abstract of all the census information, asking questions about the information on the census, making a hypothesis, then making a list of records to search that could answer the questions. We also discuss the non-population schedules and then what to do...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss U.S. Federal Census Records from 1790-1940. We talk about what you might find in a census record, where you can access them, the instructions given to the enumerators, which questions were asked on each census, and more. We also talk about books and resources to help you learn more. Don’t forget to download our free Census Cheat Sheet packed with all the information we talked about...
Which census records are the best to search? All of them! Each census of an individual’s life provides valuable information. The trick is in learning to evaluate and analyze the data. You don’t know what you don’t know, so today I’ll be sharing ideas for how to use the censuses that you’ve already located. I’ll also share my favorite links for census research, and demystify the non-population schedules. If you missed it, in Back to the...
What are you missing in your research in the United States census records? Have you really analyzed all of the information? Do you know why the census was taken and how? In conjunction with our Research Like a Pro series, I’ll be sharing several posts on basic record types. The more we learn about the records that we use for finding and documenting our ancestors, the better genealogists we’ll be. Finding your ancestor in every...
Are you sure you’ve found all of the clues in the census records for your family? After you look at the names, ages, and birthplaces, do you pay attention to the rest of the questions and answers? Census records are one of the most valuable tools for a researcher, not only for the information reported, but for the clues to other records. I recently revisited the 1910 census looking for clues on my great, great...
Did you know that the individual giving the family’s information in the 1940 census is marked with an X? Or how about the estimated 1.2 million Southerners missing in the 1870 census? These are just two of the fascinating and helpful discoveries I made last week as I studied more about the history and details found in U.S. Federal Census records. In working toward my Accreditation goal, I am studying each major record group suggested...
