This lecture will give a brief history of the often-complex legal system in the United States starting with the colonial times. We will discuss how to understand the laws specific to a region and time period, examine the types or format of records you’re likely to find (dockets, minutes, orders, case files, etc.), and explore the ways your ancestors may appear in the records.
During the War of 1812, New Hampshire provided nearly 6,000 soldiers. This lecture will review the different federal, state, and local resources available to research your War of 1812 ancestor.
The 18th century was a transformative and foundational period for Massachusetts: continued colonial conflicts, movement westward, revolution, the abolition of slavery, and ultimately statehood. This lecture will look at just some of the many records of the era—pre and post American independence—including military records, tax lists, census records, newspapers, city directories, and more.
During the Great Famine in Ireland (1845-1849), thousands of Irish families and individuals fled Ireland seeking a better life. This lecture will review the different resources to find your Irish emigrant ancestors in Canadian records including shipping records, quarantine databases, and online collections.
Towns recorded a wide range of information in the process of maintaining the financial health of the town and its residents. Town records in this category include ear and cattle marks, pauper and orphanage records, indenture agreements, payments by the town, mortgage records and dog licenses. Tax records name single males and property owning individuals. Depending on the jurisdiction, the tax records may provide important detail about the land and personal property being taxed.
The Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged mass settlement of federal lands in the frontier, resulting in millions of records documenting the transfer of public land to private ownership. Learn how these land entry case files can assist in researching your homesteading ancestors.
Much of New York City’s history in the 18th-century is closely tied with that of conflict: from the base of British operations during the French and Indian War to the center of the New York Campaign during the American Revolution. This lecture looks at just some of the many records of the era—pre- and post-American independence—including military records, tax lists, census records, newspapers, city directories, and more.
Did you know that American Ancestors members can access databases published by other organizations for free? Discover external databases, an under-utilized yet invaluable resource for conducting your online family history research.
This lecture will cover civil death records—what information they include, how to find them, and how to follow clues to ancestral stories. Our genealogist will also discuss how to interpret and evaluate the information provided by considering the informant listed, cause of death, and more.
A discussion of the different record sets for WWI and WWII will be discussed including draft registration cards, enlistment records, official military personnel files, muster rolls, and more. There will also be a discussion on alternative records to be used for Army and Air Force records destroyed in the 1973 fire.
