Washington Research Tips and Strategies

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Research Tips and Strategies

Washington Research Strategies

Below are links to different research strategy pages to help you locate your ancestors in Washington

• Washington Online Genealogy Records
• How to find Washington Birth Records
• How to find Washington Marriage Records
• How to find Washington Death Records

Washington Research Tips

These tips will help you as you research your ancestors in Washington:

• Statewide registration: The state began registering births and deaths in 1907, with full compliance of registration by 1917.
• County registration: Although a few counties began recording births and deaths several years earlier, most Washington counties began keeping records in 1891 until 1906 when the state took over.
• Access to records: See Washington Vital Records for more information about birth, marriages, and deaths in Washington.

Substitute Records:

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• Secondary source: Substitute records are used when primary sources do not exist for an event, such as birth, marriage, and deaths. Secondary sources list information about the event but they were not recorded at the time of the event and they are not an official record of the event.
• Accuracy: Because the information about an event in substitute records was not the official recording of the event (such as, cemetery or obituary records) inaccuracy may occur. Use other substitute records to help verify information.
• List of substitute records: See Washington Substitute Records for more information.

Finding Parents:

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• Death records: Death records as early as 1891 and after 1907 when the state took over registration, all required information about the deceased's birth and parents' information. Information was not always provided and the accuracy of the information was limited by the grieving relatives' memory.
• Obituaries: Official obituaries can also include the names of parents and other family members. See Washington Newspapers and Washington Obituaries for more information.
• Church records: Knowing the denomination of the church the family belonged to helps in locating information about the parents. See Washington Church Records for more information.

Census Records:

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• Check all census years: Always look for your ancestor in every possible census to learn more about them and their family members. See Washington Census Records for more information.
• Clues to other records: There are clues in censuses regarding immigration, naturalization, and occupation that can lead to other records.
• Finding families: Starting in 1850, all members of the household were listed in the census. By 1880, relationship to the head of household was added.

Further Washington Research

• Remember, for a more complete Record Finder, covering additional research needs, see Washington Record Finder.
• For online record collections, go to Washington Online Genealogy Records.
• For more research on Washington, including research at the county level, visit the Washington page on the Research Wiki.
• Search all of the Washington record collections at FamilySearch.