Before You Search: Know Your County

One of the easiest ways to make genealogy research more complicated than it needs to be is to start searching for records before understanding the place where your ancestor lived.

For each state and county I am researching, I keep a simple reference spreadsheet. It isn't fancy, but it has become one of those tools I reach for again and again.

Snippet of my county reference spreadsheet 

Why Does This Matter?

Suppose you’re searching for an ancestor’s 1850 marriage record in a particular county and can’t find it. Before assuming the record is missing—or that your search hasn’t been thorough—check when that county actually began keeping marriage records. 

If the county wasn’t recording marriages in 1850, the record isn’t missing. It was never created. 

The same principle applies to birth, death, probate, court, and other records.

And then there is the county itself.

Know Your County's History

County boundaries changed. New counties were created from existing counties. Your ancestor may have lived in the same general location for decades while the name of the county changed around them.

Two questions can save a lot of time:

• When was the county formed?
• What county was this location part of before that?

For example, you find your ancestor living in a particular county in 1840. After analyzing the record, you are ready to locate them in the 1830 census, only to discover that the county didn't exist yet. Where do you look? Start with the parent counties—the counties from which the new county was formed.

Understanding boundary changes helps you follow your ancestor through records even when the county name doesn't stay the same. 

Don't Forget Record Loss

The Notes and Loss column is a reminder to look for courthouse fires, floods, disasters, or other events that destroyed records. 

There is a big difference between not finding a record and knowing that the record doesn't exist—or no longer exists. 

If the records were destroyed, searching the same record set over and over isn't going to solve the problem. It's time to look elsewhere—perhaps in newspapers, church records, neighboring counties, land records, probate files, or records from an earlier county.

A Little Preparation Goes a Long Way

This spreadsheet isn't a research log, or a substitute for examining the actual records. It's simply a quick reference tool.

A few minutes spent learning about a county can prevent hours of searching in the wrong place—or searching for a record that never existed.

Sometimes good genealogy research begins before we ever type an ancestor's name into the search box.

Want to Create Your Own?

I've created a blank County Research Reference Sheet using the same headings shown above. The template provides the framework; you add the information you uncover as you research the places connected to your family.