Societies

What Societies Are

Genealogical societies are non-profit organizations or associations specializing in genealogical research, preserving history and historical records. The society members share knowledge of genealogical records and methodologies for specific localities, cultural groups or family surnames.
All societies are a little different in their goal and the services they provide for their members. County genealogical societies can have detailed information about previous settlers and residents of an area. They can collect, transcribe, index, and publish records to provide access for members and other individuals (sometimes for a fee). Local genealogical societies often help family history researchers contact local record searchers or copy records that mention the researcher's ancestors. Often their records contain birth, marriage, death, and other biographical information.

Types of Societies Relating to Genealogy

There are many types of societies that can help with your family history research.

• Genealogical
• Historical
• Cultural groups
• Lineage
• Veterans
• Surname and family associations
• Fraternal organizations

Genealogical Societies

Genealogical societies focus on a specific locality - country, region, county, parish, or city. Their main focus is on records for individuals of the area.

Historical Societies

Historical societies include similar focuses as genealogical societies but also focus on general area history as well as idetifying available historical records.

Cultural Groups

Cultural group societies focus on obtaining records and preserving history of people from a specific country, race, or religion. It also includes immigrants who come to other countries.

Lineage Societies

Lineage societies exist for descendants of soldiers, pioneers, and ethnic groups. Lineage societies, such as the DAR, Colonial Dames, General Society of Colonial Wars, and the Sons of the American Revolution, require members to prove they are descended from certain people, such as colonists or soldiers. The applications for membership in these societies may be preserved and sometimes available to other researchers.

Veterans

Some societies are for veterans of a specific war in a country. These societies may keep records about names of individuals and their residences at the time of membership in the society.

Surname and Family Associations

A society or association for a specific surname or descendants of an individual also exist. These societies sometimes collaborate together in research or hire professionals to do the research. They often will share the genealogical information they find with others.

Fraternal Organizations

Fraternal organizations can include Freemasonry or clubs focusing on improving the community. Records of these types of organizations may include membership information and residence at the time the individual belonged to the organization.

Joining Societies

Different societies have different requirements to join. Some only require paying membership fees and supporting its efforts provide ways to help fellow genealogists as well as assist in your own genealogical research. Some societies have lineage requirementss. Visit the society's website or social media page to find the cost of membership fees, contact information, and other details. Often the fees to join a society can be affordable and produce access to online databases and other information helpful for research.

Information Available at Societies

Types of Information

Societies can generate genealogies, biographies, histories, and indexes of local records. Many also maintain a genealogical file for families in the area.

Publications

The society may publish periodicals, lists of members and ancestors, yearbooks, or surname indexes.

They also may publish quarterly periodicals or journals. Information in these publications often include articles about history of the area, transcriptions, compiled genealogies, and indexes of records. They may also publish queries from society members and others from the genealogical community and include lists of members' and their research interests.

The Periodical Source Index (Persi) is a master index for genealogical periodicals and journals and helps access information found in society periodicals.

How to Find Societies

Genealogical related societies can be found using many resources.

• Genealogical Websites or Wikis: Some examples of these websites are the FamilySearch Research Wiki (all locations in the world), GENUKI (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland), Rootsweb (United States), USGenWeb (United States), CanadaGenWeb (Canada)
• Genealogical blogs: Popular genealogical blogs can mention different societies currently functioning
• Search Engines: Search using terms like, "genealogy" and "society" in popular search engines. Include identifying information like the name of the country, state, county, or parish to narrow down results.
• Government websites about a county, town, or parish: Societies are often advertised as resources in a location.

By Location

• Category:Genealogical and historical societies by country
• Category:Family Organizations
• Category:Historical membership societies
• Category:Surname Societies
• Category:Societies

• Specialized Societies:

*Category:African American Societies

*Jewish Societies