A Plain-English Guide to Genealogy Records

Why Records Matter

Your family's stories give you the color. Records give you the facts. Together, they build a picture of who your ancestors were and how they lived.

But the world of genealogy records is vast, and it's easy to get lost. This guide breaks down the most useful record types in plain English.

Census Records

Every ten years, the government counts everyone in the country and records basic information about each household.

What you'll find: names of everyone in the household, ages, birthplaces, occupations, immigration year, whether they could read and write, property ownership.

Why they matter: census records are snapshots of families at specific moments in time. By following a family through multiple censuses, you can track where they lived, who was born, who died, and how their circumstances changed.

Where to find them: FamilySearch.org (free) and Ancestry.com have digitized US census records from 1790 to 1950. The 1950 census was released in 2022.

Vital Records (Birth, Marriage, Death)

These are the bread and butter of genealogy — official documents recording life's major events.

Birth records confirm parentage and birth location. Marriage records show both families coming together and often list parents' names. Death records sometimes include birthplace, parents' names, and cause of death.

Where to find them: state vital records offices (US), General Register Office (UK), civil registry offices in most countries. Many historical records are also on FamilySearch.

Immigration and Naturalization Records

If your ancestors immigrated, these records can be goldmines. Ship manifests often list the person's hometown (not just country), age, occupation, and who they were going to meet in the new country.

Naturalization papers sometimes include physical descriptions, photographs, and detailed biographical information.

Where to find them: Ellis Island records (free at libertyellisfoundation.org), Ancestry.com, National Archives.

Military Records

Military service records, draft cards, pension applications, and unit histories can provide extensive biographical detail — physical description, next of kin, places of residence, medical history.

Where to find them: National Archives (US), Fold3.com, state archives.

Church Records

Before civil registration existed, churches were the primary record keepers. Baptism records, marriage registers, and burial records often predate government records by centuries.

Where to find them: contact individual churches, diocesan archives, FamilySearch (which has digitized millions of church records worldwide).

Where to Start

Don't try to search everything at once. Start with census records to get the basic framework of where your family lived and who was in the household. Then fill in details with vital records. Use immigration and military records to answer specific questions.

And always, always note where you found each piece of information. Your future self will thank you.