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How to Find Descendants in the United States (view source)
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The goal of descendancy research is to find descendants of an ancestral couple. While ancestral research starts with you and goes back in time, descendancy research starts with an ancestral couple you have identified and comes forward to the present time. Before you can do descendancy research, you must first identify a starting ancestral family. To find that family, you may need to do some traditional family history research and then move to descendancy research. | The goal of descendancy research is to find descendants of an ancestral couple. While ancestral research starts with you and goes back in time, descendancy research starts with an ancestral couple you have identified and comes forward to the present time. Before you can do descendancy research, you must first identify a starting ancestral family. To find that family, you may need to do some traditional family history research and then move to descendancy research. | ||
One great advantage of descendancy research is the number of names you can find. For example, if you search from you to your grandparents and then to your great-grandparents (doing ancestral research), the number of direct-line ancestors you can find is 14 people. However, if you begin your research with your great-grandparents and locate all their descendants (doing descendancy research), the number of people you can find can be in the hundreds. The results of descendancy research can be amazing. | One great advantage of descendancy research is the number of names you can find. For example, if you search from you to your grandparents and then to your great-grandparents (doing ancestral research), the number of direct-line ancestors you can find is 14 people. However, if you begin your research with your great-grandparents and locate all their descendants (doing descendancy research), the number of people you can find can be in the hundreds. The results of descendancy research can be amazing. | ||
Descendancy research can lead you to important clues, contacts, or records you might not find if you researched only direct ancestors. These clues and contacts can often help you get past dead ends in your ancestral research. | Descendancy research can lead you to important clues, contacts, or records you might not find if you researched only direct ancestors. These clues and contacts can often help you get past dead ends in your ancestral research. | ||
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'''Census records.''' Many governments have taken regular censuses of their citizens. In the United States, these censuses have taken place every decade since 1790. Many census records are available in a digital, searchable format. If you have census records available, you should search them for a record of your family. This record will guide the rest of your research by placing your family in a particular place at a specific time. Census records can be searched free of charge at any Church family history center with an Internet connection. | '''Census records.''' Many governments have taken regular censuses of their citizens. In the United States, these censuses have taken place every decade since 1790. Many census records are available in a digital, searchable format. If you have census records available, you should search them for a record of your family. This record will guide the rest of your research by placing your family in a particular place at a specific time. Census records can be searched free of charge at any Church family history center with an Internet connection. | ||
'''''Expert Tip<nowiki>:&amp;amp;amp;nbsp;</nowiki>'''''<nowiki>Starting in 1850, U.S. census records listed the names of each person living in the household. This census and those that followed are an effective resource for finding the names of an entire household.</nowiki> | '''''Expert Tip<nowiki>:&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;</nowiki>'''''<nowiki>Starting in 1850, U.S. census records listed the names of each person living in the household. This census and those that followed are an effective resource for finding the names of an entire household.</nowiki> | ||
Here are some hints for searching through census records: | Here are some hints for searching through census records: | ||