Step-by-Step District of Columbia Research, 1880-Present

District of Columbia Step-by-step research 1880--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 :
 * Fifty Questions for Family History Interviews What to Ask the Relatives
 * Genealogy: 150 questions to ask family members about their lives
 * 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 ancestors in every possible census record, 1850-1950, online.
A census is a count and description of the population of a country, state, county, or city for a given date. A census took a "snapshot" of a family on a certain day. For each person living in a household you might find (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.

Using the clues to lead to census record searches.
This obituary, found in old home papers, gives some clues as to where and when to begin looking for the Higgins family in census records. Horace and Alice Higgins would be 36 (her) to 40 years old (assuming he might be slightly older) at the time of her death. Since the most recent census available was taken in 1940, we hope we can find them in that census, since the clipping has no date. They had careers with the War Department, so we might assume that they live in Washington, D.C. Alice's family all live in Washington, D.C.

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 the census clues to lead to a birth certificate.
Now, we want to try to find important birth records for the various people represented in these census records.

Using the census clues to lead to a marriage certificate.
One main purpose for locating records for is to establish the identity of the wives--their maiden names. In some cases, particularly more recent records, the names of the parents of the bride and groom are given.

Using the census clues to lead to a death certificate.
By studying the census records, and assuming that most people lived to be 65-70 years old, you can decide the time frame where you would expect to see a death certificate. '''It is very important to send for death certificates. Even though you might feel that knowing a death date is not high priority, the death certificate is important because of all the secondary data: birth date and place of the deceased, maiden name of the wife, names of the deceased's parents, birth places of the deceased's parents.

Some of the examples shown above are index entries. That means for each of them an actual, original, full certificate exists. It is highly advisable to order the original certificate. It will contain many details not given in the index. In some cases, the image of the original is found online. Instructions are given below on obtaining the original certificate in other cases.

Obituaries

 * Archives.com Obituaries for District of Columbia ($)
 * Newspaper Obituary collection for District of Columbia: about 2003 to 2011 ($)
 * Ancestry.com United States Obituary Collection for District of Columbia ($)
 * — index and images
 * ProQuest Newspapers.com Library ($)

Cemeteries

 * District of Columbia, Find A Grave Index, 1620-2011
 * Find A Grave for District of Columbia
 * Interment.net for District of Columbia
 * Billion Graves for District of Columbia
 * Washington DC Cemetery Records
 * Washington DC Cemetery Records

Here are several FindAGrave records for the Higgins family members.

Step 5: Search military records: World War I and World War II draft cards.




Step 7: Search for online wills and probate packets.

 * County probate records include '''probate proceedings, petitions, affidavits, orders for sales, reports of sales, administrators' and executors' bonds, guardianship papers, wills, and letters of administration.
 * In a will book, usually just a transcription of the will is recorded. But all of these other records are kept in a probate packet.
 * Administrations are probate proceedings that handled an estate if no known will existed.



Search these indexes and images for probate records.

 * United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search: District of Columbia
 * Washington DC Wills and Probate Records 1737-1952, ($), index and images, incomplete

Probate Information in County Wiki Articles
Each District of Columbia county Research Wiki page lists additional probate sources, including where to write for records: District of Columbia Counties

For more information, see District of Columbia Probate Records and United States Probate Records.

Step 8: If any ancestor was an immigrant, search immigration and naturalization records online.
The census records may show that an ancestor was born in another country. It will be necessary to try to find the town or city they were born in to continue research in the country of origin. Searches of immigration records (usually passenger lists) and naturalization (citizenship) records would be the next step.



District of Columbia Immigration Records

 * United States Immigration Online Genealogy Records

District of Columbia Naturalization and Citizenship Online Records

 * United States Naturalization and Citizenship Online Genealogy Records
 * U.S. Naturalization Records Indexes for District of Columbia, 1802-1909 - U.S. Supreme Court ($)
 * Washington D. C., Military Naturalization Petitions, 1918-1924 ($)

For more information, see District of Columbia Emigration and Immigration and District of Columbia Naturalization and Citizenship.

Local Histories

 * Published histories of towns, counties, and states sometimes contain biographies and accounts of early or prominent families.
 * Here are several websites that feature online copies of printed county histories: District of Columbia; that will bring up too many hits. Just use the name of the county and "county": for example, "Hyde County"
 * Google Books. Use keywords "District of Columbia" and the county name. Hits will list online readable books, lists of libraries that carry the book, and purchasing opportunities.
 * Family History Books
 * Internet Archive.Use keywords "District of Columbia" and the county name.
 * Ancestry.com, ($). In the Card Catalog search box, use District of Columbia and the name of the county.

FamilySearch Collected Local Histories

 * Local histories are extensively collected by the FamilySearch Library, public and university libraries, and state and local historical societies.
 * If you have access to the FamilySearch Library or a FamilySearch center, you can find local histories by:
 * Go to the FamilySearch Catalog.
 * In the "Place" field, type the name of your county and click "Search".
 * A list of subheadings for the county will appear. Local histories containing genealogies and biographies will be found under Biography, Genealogy, History, or History - Indexes.

Biography Collections

 * American biographical directories, District of Columbia : concise biographies of its prominent and representative contemporary citizens, and valuable statistical data, 1908-1909
 * Official register of the United States containing a list of persons occupying administrative and supervisory positions in each executive and judicial department of the government including the District of Columbia
 * Official congressional directory

Step 10: Contact a county historical or genealogical society.
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 * County historical societies have collections that are frequently little known and often overlooked.
 * Many have a surname file, where they have collected genealogies, newspaper clippings, old photographs, etc.
 * Many have a sort of "pioneer ancestor" program, where people can submit pedigrees to prove they are the descendants of an early resident of the county.
 * Most keep track of queries about families that once lived in the area from other distant relatives who may actually have more family memorabilia than you.
 * Most keep track of queries about families that once lived in the area from other distant relatives who may actually have more family memorabilia than you.


 * If you can find the society on the internet, they may list their holdings. Or call them on the phone, find out what they have, and find out what arrangements can be made to search their collection. Frequently, you can hire one of their members to search the collection for you.

This online directory by GenealogyInc. lists historical and genealogical societies by county: Click on the map to select a county, then scroll down to the historical or genealogical society listings. Here is an example of an internet website for a local genealogical society.

Historical Images
Records collected and digitized by FamilySearch can all be found through their Historical Images feature.
 * District of Columbia, United States Historical Images, New Version
 * District of Columbia, United States Historical Images, Old Version

District of Columbia Online Genealogy Records
Search any other online records listed in District of Columbia Online Genealogy Records. The steps given here are intended to list record sources which can most efficiently identify descendants. Many other online records which might or might not mention descendants are listed in the District of Columbia Online Genealogy Records page, including immigration records, land records, military records, newspapers, and probate records, and others. These can be records that cover a smaller group within the population, such as men who served in the military, etc.
 * District of Columbia Online Genealogy Records