Here is today’s question. You are researching your family and come across information maybe in a census report giving you the name of a state from which your family was in previously. Maybe that state was Kentucky? What do you do next?

Remember in an earlier blog entry we talked about why you are doing this work. If you are just looking for lineage, perhaps you look at the big cites and try to find death, marriage, birth records that could give you the basic information. But what if you want more or what if you can’t find the basics?

That is where our April classes might come in handy. The class yesterday is a key to unlocking the information you might be looking for in Kentucky. I will say this again, even if you aren’t looking for information about Kentucky, knowing what one state provides can help lead you in the right direction in any state in which you might be searching. Maybe not always, but generally. 

What did we take away from Debra Dudek’s class? Wow! My head is full of places to look. Debra filled us with information and unique places to research, some familiar but interesting places within them. Check out Fold 3 at HQRL for newspapers not just military records. I can’t begin to cover everything she shared with us.  Check out her website at http://www.debradudek.com. 

All these individual state and country classes also tell us that history is an important part of the search. Knowing who tended to settle in the areas, why and when can give us a hint into what our family might have been doing there. Were there conflicts in the area that your people might have been a part of or did they leave to avoid the conflicts, and what side were they on. That information can connect you to the correct sites to find more information. 

History is not just about battles, but it could be the land boundaries. For example: before 1776 Kentucky records might be found in Virginia state government records as it was part of the Virginia Territory. And do you know the migration routes your family might have taken to get into and out of Kentucky? By land or by water? History could be about the weather. My grandmother had to leave Colorado because of her asthma and the arid conditions in her location. Be open to thinking about all sorts of reasons people might have moved into an area or out of an area. What did they do for a living? Did they move for jobs. 

The 2nd class in April is about Indirect Evidence. If you are challenged in your search, perhaps looking at brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, neighbors, cultural groups in the last know vicinity or hint of a location might be the ticket. Check out the class on April 17th. 

Heidi Geise, education@hqrl.com