Getting to the Roots of Your Family - RootsWeb - Ancestry.com

c. Virginia Historical Society - http://www.vahistorical.org/index.htm
d. University of Virginia - http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/genealogy/
e. College of William and Mary [Earl Gregg Swem Library]
http://guides.swem.wm.edu/genealogy
f. Colonial Williamsburg Library - http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary.cfm
g. Jones Memorial Library - http://www.jmlibrary.org/
h. National Archives - http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/
i. Library of Congress - http://www.loc.gov/index.html
j. Virginia Theological Seminary [Bishop Payne Library] - www.vts.edu
6. Burned Counties
FamilySearchWiki -
https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Burned_Counties_Research
1. A positive “track ‘em down” attitude is important.
2. Research Logs are a must.
3. A well documented family group records is your research road map.
4. A commitment to document AS YOU GO!
5. Write out a thoughtful master research plan.
Strategies – Burned County
A. Background Information
� When did the courthouse burn?
� How much of the courthouse burned?
� What records were lost?
� Was there more than one courthouse for the county?
B. Inventory of Courthouse records
� Check for published inventories of holdings
� WPA inventoried many courthouses
� Historical, Genealogical Societies or Other groups may have done an inventory of
courthouse records.
**Most jurisdictions reconstructed or re-recorded many records. Deeds handed
down in the family may not have been recorded for years after a transfer.
C. Substitute Records
� Newspapers
� Cemetery Records/Funeral Home Records
� City Directories
� Religious Records
� Title and Abstract Companies
� School Records
� Published Records – County, Town and City Histories
D. Check Other Courthouses
� Neighboring counties for deeds, probate & tax records and marriage records.
� Look in parent county might have the records you seek.
� Consult the courthouse in the county of their previous residence and the county
they lived in after the “burned county”.