Select Records to Search: Difference between revisions

== '''Jurisdictions''' ==

Most records you search have jurisdictional limitations. That is, they apply only to a certain geographic area and to certain events and/or families. For example, marriage records in the United States are usually recorded by each different county. Many different jurisdictions exercise authority over what records are created or kept about our ancestors. For example, in the United States, naturalization records were kept by the federal, state, city and county jurisdictions. You must know which jurisdictions kept the records you are seeking in order to select the best records.<br>  

|+ '''Jurisdictions'''  

'''''Jurisdiction''''' is—<br>  

*The power, right, or '''''authority''''' to legislate, interpret, and apply civil and religious laws or social habits and traditions.<br>  

*The '''''physical boundaries''''' of an organization's authority. For example, a probate court may have jurisdiction over a county.

'''''Jurisdictions may have several levels'''''. Large jurisdictions (such as churches or governments) may be divided into smaller ones: a nation is divided into states: a state into counties.  

'''''Geographical features''''' such as rivers, mountains, and lakes affect jurisdiction boundaries.  

'''''Jurisdictions overlap'''''. People usually live in many overlapping jurisdictions at once, such as school, church, or town boundaries.  

'''''Jurisdictions change over time'''''. Today's boundaries may have changed many times since your ancestor lived there.  

'''Records of Jurisdictions'''<br>Those jurisdictions create or keep records useful to the genealogist:  

*''Governments''. These are the most common jurisdictions. They often keep records of birth, marriage, death, land ownership, court decrees, military experience, population counts, taxes, and so forth. There are usually several levels, such as national, regional, district, local, and municipal. See [[Select Records to Search#Some Modern Government Jurisdictions|Modern Governental Jurisdictions]].

*''Religious Organizations''. Churches usually have a local jurisdiction, such as a parish, congregation, or ward. Several local groups usually belong to a conference, association, diocese, synod, or stake. Religious orders or fraternal groups may also have jurisdictions. They keep records of those events that are considered sacred or essential to their members' salvation, such as baptisms, christenings, and meeting minutes.

*''Families''. This fundamental unit of society is usually informally organized into immediate, extended, or ancestral families. They keep family Bibles, journals, letters, and other records.

*''Business/Employment''. Commercial companies, unions, and professional associations keep records of commerce, personnel, pensions, and so forth.

*''Institutions''. Libraries, archives, and other repositories generally collect records for a specific jurisdiction, but also create some records such as catalogs or inventories. Other institutions such as hospitals, prisons, businesses and schools keep records of people they served.

*''Societies''. Groups based on similar interests or goals (including ethnic, patriotic, fraternal, and genealogical societies) often keep valuable records and membership lists.

 

 

 

All records have a limited scope that defines their coverage. The scope is usually limited by time and geography with a topical consideration (such as a list of Union officers in the U.S. Civil War.) As you select specific records to search, you will need to learn the different jurisdictions that may have kept a record, and the scope of the records they kept.<br>  

After selecting one or more record types that may contain the information you are seeking, consider which jurisdiction(s) are most likely to have kept those records. The research outlines for various states, provinces and countries can help you determine the most likely jurisdiction.  

'''''Locality Analysis.''''' As you select records to search, it is important to learn about the localities where the family lived. In addition to the present jurisdictions that may keep records about the family, try to learn—  

*about previous jurisdictions to which the locality belonged.  

*nearby localities and jurisdictions that may have been more convenient for the family.  

*some of the history of the place where they lived.  

*the specific place the family lived within the jurisdiction, such as the township within a county or the street or ward within a city.

Several sources can help you analyze the locality, including maps, gazetteers (geographic dictionaries), local histories, city directories and some genealogical handbooks.  

=== '''Some Modern Government Jurisdictions''' ===

| bgcolor="#66ffff" | '''''Nation<br>'''''  

| bgcolor="#66ffff" | '''''Regional'''''<br>  

| bgcolor="#66ffff" | '''''District'''''<br>  

| bgcolor="#66ffff" | '''''Local'''''<br>  

| bgcolor="#66ffff" | Canada<br>England<br>France<br>Germany<br>Italy<br>Ireland<br>Poland<br>Russia<br>United States<br>  

| bgcolor="#66ffff" | Province<br>—<br>Département<br>Staat or Land<br>Regione<br>Province<br>Województwo<br>Oblast<br>State<br>  

| bgcolor="#66ffff" | County<br>County or Shire<br>Arrondissement<br>Bezirk<br>Provincia<br>County<br>Powiat<br>Uyezd<br>County<br>  

| bgcolor="#66ffff" | (Township)*<br>(Hundred)*<br>Canton<br>Kreis<br>Comune<br>Civil Parish<br>Gmina<br>Raion<br>Township<br>  

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