Step-by-Step Washington Research, 1907--Present

Washington Step-by-step research 1907--present

Step 1. Find out everything possible from living relatives and their family records.
Every good genealogy project starts with finding all the clues that can be gathered from living relatives — both from their memories and from documents or memorabilia in their homes.

What are the best questions to ask?
In order to extend research, ask for names, dates, and places. Everything about who a relative was and when and where they lived is a clue to a new record search. For ideas, see :
 * 50 Questions to Ask Relatives About Family History


 * Creating Oral Histories

What documents should be collected or copied?
Because these records cover names, dates, places, and relationships, they are a valuable source of clues. Look for them in your home, your parents' home, and ask living grandparents to check for them.

Step 2. Find your ancestors in every possible census record, 1900-1940, online.

 * A census is a count and description of the population for a given date. A census took a "snapshot" of a family on a certain day.
 * For each person living in a household (depending on the year), their name, age, birthplace, relationship to head of household, place of birth for father and mother, citizenship status, year of immigration, mother of how many children and number of children living, native language, and whether they were a veteran of the military can be listed.
 * Searching for a family in census records every ten years can identify all the children in a family.
 * Searching in earlier census records to find someone as a child can identify parents.

Using clues to lead to census record searches.


In the marriage certificate, we see that C.M Jewett and Mamie Austin were married in 1909 in Seattle, King County, Washington. We should look for them in the 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 census records of Washington. In the 1900 census we might find both C.M. and Mamie living in the homes of their parents.

Step 3: Find birth, marriage, and death certificates for ancestors and their children.
States, counties, or even towns in some states recorded births, marriages, and deaths. In addition to the child's name, birth date, and place of birth, a birth certificate may give the birthplaces of the parents, their ages, and occupations. A death certificate may give the person's birth date and place, parents' names and birthplaces, and spouse's name.

Using census clues to lead to a birth certificate.
In the 1910 census, Charles and Mamie Jewett have a newborn son, Robert. The 1920 census shows another son, Glen, born in about 1912. We can look for the birth certificates of these boys.

Using census clues to lead to a marriage certificate.
Charles and Mamie Jewett have a marriage certificate in possession of the family. But another marriage record filed with the state of Washington goes into greater detail about the couple. It gives their parents' names and birth places.

Samples of index entries
For more recent records, many of which you will send for in the mail, the certificates will be even more detailed.

Obituaries

 * Online Washington Death Records and Indexes: A Genealogy Guide for Finding Obituaries, Cemetery Burials and Death Records by county.
 * Online Washington Death Records &amp; Indexes
 * Obituaries.com
 * Washington obituaries
 * Obituaries Help
 * Washington obituary database
 * ObitsArchive.com - Washington ($)
 * The Obituary Link Page - Washington Obituary Links
 * Washington Obituaries
 * — index and images

Cemeteries

 * Online Washington Death Records &amp; Indexes
 * Washington State Digital Archives Cemetery Records
 * Washington Cemetery Records at Findagrave.com
 * Washington Cemetery Records at Interment.net
 * BillionGraves Washington Cemeteries
 * USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project
 * Linkpendium scours the Internet for resources.
 * USGenWeb Tombstone Project - Washington
 * I Dream of Genealogy
 * Washington Cemetery Records at LDS Genealogy
 * Washington Cemetery Records at LDS Genealogy

Step 6: If any ancestor was an immigrant, search immigration and naturalization records online.

 * Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1961 Index and images ($)
 * Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists of Airplane Departures, 1947-1957 Index and images ($)
 * Index and images, also at Findmypast, ($), index
 * North Dakota and Washington, Chinese Passenger Arrivals, 1903-1944, Index/images.
 * Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, Passenger and Crew Lists of Airplane Departures, 1947-1957 Index and images ($)
 * Images.
 * Index to Alien Arrivals at Canadian Atlantic and Pacific Seaports, 1904-1944 Index and images ($)

Washington Naturalization and Citizenship Online Records

 * Washington State Digital Archives On the right side of the page, select Naturalizations in the Digital Collection box under Detailed Search heading.
 * Browsable records, incomplete for all counties.
 * Browsable records, incomplete for all counties.
 * Images . Also at Ancestry.com, index/images.
 * Selected U.S. Naturalization Records - Original Documents for Washington - Superior Court for King, Pierce, Thurston, and Snohomish Counties, Washington, 1850-1974 ($)
 * Washington, Naturalizations, 1853-1980 Index and images
 * Washington, U.S., County Naturalizations, 1878-1974 Index and images ($)
 * U.S., Naturalization Records for Washington - Eastern District - U.S.District Court - Original Documents, 1890-1972 (World Archives Project) ($)
 * U.S., Naturalization Records for Washington - Western District - U.S.District Court - Original Documents, 1890-1957 (World Archives Project) ($)
 * Washington, Petitions for Naturalization, 1904-1991 Index and images ($)

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