A question I often ask my students is: Are you doing genealogical research or are you collecting dead would-be relatives? Genealogical research requires a commitment to finding as many records as possible to document the life of each individual we are researching. And doing good genealogical research does not mean using only those records that are accessible, indexed, viewable on the Web for free, or that support our pre-conceived hypotheses. Rather, it involves digging to find every shred of evidence that might provide useful information about a person we are claiming as kin.

The challenge of finding all the evidence can frequently be formidable. But there are some strategies for "digging deeper," some practical ways to incorporate those strategies into our research practices, as well as ways to use the records we find when we do dig deeper.

Time lines provide historical context for an individual’s life. They enlighten researchers about the significant events that happened at the time and place an ancestor lived, and they entice us to ask questions about the existence of records and documents that might provide further evidence for an ancestor.

Using the time line for Samuel Woodfill, one can quickly find his date and place of birth, which will invite a search for birth and related records to document the event. Since this particular time line is oriented to Woodfill’s military career, there are many military and military-related agencies and records that can be explored. Enlistment, service in the Philippines, participation in the expedition against Pancho Villa, active duty in World War I, and service as a training officer during World War II are just some of the highlights. Taking the time to explore every record will almost assuredly net a tremendous amount of meaningful information.

Record possibilities also exist when digging deeper into Woodfill’s death and burial. The time line indicates a death date of 10 August 1951, a first burial at Hebron Baptist Cemetery near Madison, Indiana, and a reinterment with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Civil death records, church burial records, funeral home records, cemetery records, tombstone inscriptions, military pension and death benefit records, veterans’ administration records, and Arlington National Cemetery records should be explored for further data. Again, it’s the timeline that points to those record possibilities.

While there are computer programs that can assist in the task, creating a timeline can be as simple as drawing a line down the center of a sheet of paper, designating years at appropriate intervals, and writing the facts about a particular ancestor on one side and historical events on the other. Remember that historical events include wars, depressions, the founding of a town, the establishment of a church, and other events that can more directly generate records such as births, marriages, deaths, and census enumerations. Consult a Web site such as the Library of Congress’ American Memory Project for historical data.

Church records are a great example. They are among the most significant manuscript groups genealogists can use to benefit from digging deeper. First, an astute researcher will consistently use church records as complements to civil vital records. He or she will look to find baptismal and christening records to complement birth records; church marriage records to complement marriage applications and wedding certificates; and church death and burial records to complement civil death records. But there are more than christening, marriage, and burial records among church records.

Amazing discoveries can be made when researchers check the records of a church after an ancestor is found in one of the record books. The discovery of a baptismal record, for instance, may lead to the marriage record of that child’s parents and even to the marriage record of the child. If the marriage record of the child’s parents is found, their baptismal records should be sought also. Indeed, the surname in all its variant spellings should be searched in each church record book. This comprehensive search should then be followed by a search for individuals in collateral lines who may have lived in the same area and attended the same church.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church is one of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in Allen County, Indiana. Besides the expected baptismal, communion, confirmation, marriage, and death records available in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Catholic archives, a careful search of St. Mary’s will uncover a girl’s school that was in operation from at least 1898 to 1923–and the grade school record book for that time period still exists.

The record book contains the names of the students, their birth dates, their parents’ names, their families’ addresses, and the occupations of many heads of household. (The St. Mary’s grade school record book also indicates when a child or parent died, and when a particular girl entered the convent.) The date of birth can be used to search for a civil vital record and a birth announcement in the local paper. The occupation of the head of household can be used in conjunction with a city directory to determine where he or she was employed. With the street address and a careful search of a city directory, the businesses close to the home may be discovered, and those business records, too, can be searched for more data about the individual families.

Finding an ancestor in a particular geographic location should encourage researchers to seek all the records available for that area, not just the mainstream or convenient records. From our study of history and genealogy, we know that many ancestral families were not as mobile as families of recent generations. That fact alone should encourage researchers to search the records for the areas in which their ancestors lived.

Often, it’s the records we find off the beaten path that provide some of the most interesting finds. Investigating the business ledgers of a printer or printing press may reveal useful facts. A hospital or asylum ordering the printing of commencement announcements may mean there is a school affiliated with the institution. Are those school records available to be searched? Many marriages may be evidenced by print orders for wedding announcements and invitations. The printing of membership cards for various organizations evidences them. Are records available also? Print orders for subscription cards may indicate the existence of still more organizations or publications.

Often overlooked by researchers are the official records of cities and towns. While it is true that most of these records aren’t indexed, the researcher committed to digging deeper will be undeterred in exploring them. Two of the more interesting and useful city records are the annual reports and the proceedings of the city council or governing body. Sections of some city annual reports can read like vital records, with full accountings of births, marriages, and deaths. Other sections contain reports from various city departments. The 1894 report of the Fort Wayne Police Force, for example, provides the names of the officers, their ranks, politics, heights, weights, and data on where and when they were born. The fourth annual report of the city auditor of Cincinnati in 1856 has pages of citizens who made payments for services rendered to the city. A lot of data can be found in these records, but researchers have to dig to get it.

Census records are another significant record group that genealogists use. Digging deeper into this record group reveals that there are many different kinds of censuses and enumerations, and they often provide vital data about ancestors.

Many states conducted their own enumerations in years other than federal census years. These are excellent complements to their federal counterparts. The 1855 territorial census of Kansas, for example, lists everyone in the household along with ages and occupations. And while the federal census for 1850 records where each person was born, the territorial census five year later indicates where each person emigrated from before he or she arrived in Kansas–a very different and quite useful piece of information.

The careful researcher will find other, smaller enumerations when attempting to locate all the census and census-like records available to document an ancestor. Some communities had special school censuses; they may have collected taxes and might have had at least a small number of directories published. One record will lead to another–truly the best way to conduct family history.

Frequently, researchers leave ancestors undiscovered when records are not carefully or thoroughly explored. When we dig deeper, we are sure to find ancestral gold.

Curt B. Witcher, MLS, FUGA, is the president of the National Genealogical Society and is the manager of the Historical Genealogy Department for the Allen County Public Library. He is also a popular genealogical lecturer.

Return to the Ancestry Magazine January/February 2001 Table of Contents.