OnGenealogy Research Strategies

Genealogy research is like a jigsaw puzzle. Lots of pieces that need to be hunted for, sorted, and connected.
 
At OnGenealogy, we’ve sorted these puzzle pieces into categories based on why the record/piece was created.

 

Birth events – these include civil registrations of births and delayed births as well as religious records of baptisms and christenings, adoptions, and more

 

Marriage events – we’ve included many record types in the marriage category because customs vary wildly: banns, intentions, bonds, consent affidavits, registers and returns, licenses, certificates, divorces, and more

 

Death events –  this category includes records created in anticipation of or as a result of death: death certificates, wills, obituaries, cemeteries, estate and probate records, etc.

 

Residence events – in this category we’ve included records created based on where your ancestor lived or records that help you identify where your ancestor lived. Censuses, immigration & emigration records, directories, maps, land records, & workhouse records

 

Daily Life events – this is the vast majority of records. These are not usually primary resource material but they’re valuable records which help place our ancestors in place and time. Daily life records at OnGenealogy include school records, religious & other organization records, court & legal records, newspapers, employment records, voting records, and so many more, including tax records, although those overlap with other categories

 

Military & War events – while military life may be a daily life event for some, we’ve included it in a separate category because the records tend to be unique and may involve the incidence of war. These records can include conscription, draft, veterans, wars, etc.

 

Modern Helps – these include tools we use today to help research the past. We’ve included DNA and all types of tutorials.

 

Research Categories and SubCategories

 

Birth

• Adoption

 

Marriage

• Divorce

 

Death

• Cemeteries
• Obituaries
• Wills & Probate

 

Residence  (records created based on where someone lived or  that help you visualize where they lived)

• Census
• Citizenship | Naturalization
• Directories
• Immigration | Emigration records
• Land Records | Property records
• Maps | Gazetteers | Atlases
• Workhouse records

 

Daily Life

• Biographies
• Books
• Charitable Organizations
• Church & Religion
• Court & Courthouse
• Employment Records
• Ethnicity & Ethnic records
• Family Bibles
• Genealogies & Compiled Histories
• Gifts, Antiques, Heirlooms
• Government & Legal
• Histories & Stories
• Letters & Manuscript Collections
• Libraries, Museums, & Archives
• Magazines & Periodicals
• Medical
• Monuments & Memorials
• Names & Surnames
• Newspapers
• Oral Histories & Interviews
• Orphans & Orphanages
• Passenger & Crew lists
• Payroll records
• Passport records
• Pension records
• Photograph Collections
• Postcards
• Prisons & Prisoners
• Recipes
• Schools & Alumni & Yearbooks
• Shipping & Merchant Marine
• Slavery & Servitude
• Societies & Lineage
• Tax records
• Theatre
• Voters
• Women & Women’s Organizations

 

Military & War

• Military
• Veterans
• Wars

 

Modern Helps

• Apps
• Blogs
• Charts & Forms
• DNA
• Family Reunions
• Genealogy Companies & Businesses
• Handwriting
• Message Boards & Forums
• Microfilm
• Podcasts, Webinars, and Training
• Research
• Software & Tutorials
• Travel & Tourism
• Videography