Question: How do I know what records I can find for my ancestor?

Answer: When searching for information on your ancestors in the US, it is important to remember that each state recorded information differently, and the way they record information and what they recorded tended to change over time.

One of the best places to start investigating what any state might have recorded over the years is in the Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources that has been published on the Ancestry.com Wiki.

If you go click on the link to the Table of Contents, you’ll see each state has it’s own page.

Let’s use Kentucky as an example.

The first page gives you a brief history of the state.

On the right hand side, you’ll see a list of pages specific to different types of records:

One of the most common questions I get is, “Why can’t I find a birth record, or marriage record for my ancestor?” Well, it may not exist.  Make sure you check out the Vital Records to see when certain events wererecorded.

If you look at the Kentucky Vital Records page, you’ll discover that vitals were sporadically recorded over time.  So if you can’t find that birth record that should exist for your ancestor in 1881, it maybe because it wasn’t recorded.

The list on the right hand side, gives you a good overview of other types of records you may want to find.

Sometimes we forget to go beyond the census and vital records.  Land, Probate, and Court records can have a wealth of details about dates as well as interesting information about what our ancestor’s were upto.

Happy Searching!

Ancestry Anne