Template:AR Goal Parents
Here are a few tips for learning the names of a person's parents:
| Tip: Check death related records of your ancestor first |
- Why?
- More records were created around a person's death
- Death related records usually give birth and marriage information which can lead to parents
- Death certificates ask for names of parents
- Obituaries usually identify the parents
| Tip: Search marriage records for your ancestor |
- Why?
- Marriage records -- especially those after about 1900 -- often give names of parents
- Marriages were recorded from the time the county was formed
| Tip: Find your ancestor in every census taken while he/she was alive. |
- Why:
- Relatives, such as parents, brothers, sisters, an aunt, or uncle, may live with them
- Censuses 1880 and later tell the state or nation of birth for both the father and the mother
- They may live with or near relatives
| Tip: Search records of your ancestor's siblings |
- Why?
- Brothers and sisters had the same parents. Their records may have your answer.
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