Step-by-Step Indiana Research, 1850-1900

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 should be asked?
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.

Using the clues to lead to census record searches.
1900 census of Perry, Martin, Indiana




 * We notice that the parent of this family were born in the late 1850's. So we decide to look for Patrick E. Grannon in earlier census records--working back from 1880, through 1870, and 1860. Click on the links to see that we found Patrick living  with his parents, Patrick and Phoebe A.

Step 2: Search the 1900, 1880, 1870, 1860, and 1850 census records 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.

Look at the samples of census records below to become familiar with the types of information found in each.

Census Links to Start Your Own Research in Census Records
Now you will want to find your family members in every possible census, using these convenient links:




 * Note: The 1890 census was destroyed in a fire.

'''In steps 3 and 4, we will use what we learned from the census records to help search for birth, marriage, and death records. But first, we will try to gather more clues from several collections of death, obituary, and cemetery records that may give us clues that help us search for birth and marriage records.'''
 * You will want to find and keep notes on census records from every census during each ancestor's lifetime.
 * With the census records you will be able to estimate approximate birth dates and marriage dates. These records will lead you to new searches because you will find the names of other members of the family. You will find clues to other states and countries your family lived in before coming to Indiana.

Step 3: Try to find additional details about ancestors in obituaries, cemetery records, and Social Security records online.
There are additional record collections available, based upon a person's death: obituaries, cemetery records, and Social Security records. These are a great source for more details about a person. Here are some examples; notice the level of details.

Obituaries

 * Indiana Online Historical Newspapers
 * Indiana Newspaper Archives (1804–1992) at Genealogy Bank, index.
 * Hoosier State Chronicles, Indiana State Library
 * Indiana Obituary Archive. Index and Images.
 * Mennonite Church USA Archives: MennObits
 * Online Indiana Death Indexes and Obituaries
 * , index.

Cemeteries

 * Find-A-Grave.com
 * at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current at Ancestry
 * Billion Graves
 * at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * BillionGraves Index at Findmypast ($)
 * at FamilySearch How to Use This Collection
 * Cemetery Records at Indiana State Library Legacy
 * Indiana Cemetery Records at AccessGenealogy
 * Indiana Cemeteries at The Cemetery Site
 * Indiana Cemetery Records at Interment
 * Indiana Tombstone Transcription Project at USGenWeb Transcription Project
 * Online Indiana Obituary and Cemetery Indexes at DeathIndexes
 * at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection

U.S. Social Security Death Index and Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007

 * The U.S. Social Security program began in 1935 but most deaths recorded in the index happened after 1962.
 * The Social Security Death index includes those who had a Social Security number and/or applied for benefits.
 * You can search these records online at
 * Also at Ancestry.com, ($), index.
 * The Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 picks up where the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) leaves off, by providing information filed in the application or claims process.
 * The Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 picks up where the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) leaves off, by providing information filed in the application or claims process.


 * If you find an ancestor in the SSDI index, you can order a copy of their original Social Security application (SS-5). If you can prove the individual has died (by sending an obituary or copy of their cemetery headstone), the application will also give the deceased's parents' names, if listed.

For more information, see Indiana Obituaries and Indiana Cemeteries.

Step 4: Find birth, marriage, and death certificates for your 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.

Online databases

 * This chart gives links to some Indiana online databases for these records. These are indexes of records.  Frequently, the actual record will give greater detail.

Marriage Index


Indiana marriage record "Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XXN9-BGJ : accessed 24 February 2016), Patrick E Grannan in entry for Frank B Grannan and Antoinette Weber, 1925.

Birth records lead to other searches

 * If a birth record gave you parents names you did not have before, you can return to the census records again and search for additional family members.
 * Search the birth index again using only the surname and the parents' names to find other additional children.
 * If the time period is early enough, try searching for the parents as children in the birth index.
 * With the additional family names discovered, look for marriage records for the parents and their children.

Records at the County Courthouse
From the date of the formation of a county until the establishment of state civil registration, birth and marriage records were kept by the County Clerk. They may have been microfilmed, or you can write for them. It is appropriate to write asking for either a single record or for a list of all the marriages for a given surname. This Letter Writing Guide will help you with phrasing a letter. This online directory by Genealogy Inc. will give you the address of the County Clerk. Click on the map to select a county, then scroll down to the "Courthouse and Government Records" to find the address and phone number. If you are at the main FamilySearch Library, check first to see if microfilms of the county vital records are available. In the search field of the FamilySearch Catalog, enter the state and county. Then click on the "Vital Records" subject. The cost of renting the microfilms at a FamilySearch Center probably makes it less expensive to just write to the County Clerk.

Step 5: Search military records: World War I and II draft cards and Civil War pension records online.
There are many different types of military records: draft records, enlistment records, service records, pension records, etc. Information in military records can vary from a simple lists of name, age, and residence, to more detailed records including name, residence, age, occupation, marital status, birthplace, physical description, number of dependents, pensions received, disabled veterans, needy veterans, widows or orphans of veterans, and other information. - Example of a World War I draft card. - Example of a World War II draft card.



Draft Cards

 * , index and images.
 * , index and images.

Civil War Pensions

 * Pensions were given to Union Civil War soldiers who sustained war-related disabilities from the Federal Government.
 * There are several Civil War pension indexes online:
 * at FamilySearch
 * General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, Civil War at Ancestry - $
 * Civil War Pensions Index at Fold3 - $


 * This collection indexes approved pension case files of widows and other dependents of soldiers submitted between 1861 and 1934 and sailors between 1910 and 1934. The wife's maiden name is used along with her married name.





This collection consists of two card indexes to widows who had applied for a pension renewal. The first covers service between 1812-1860 and the second covers service in the Civil War and later. This is helpful in locating a woman in census and death records under her new surname.

Pension Records for Other Wars

 * This record might help by naming a wife or widow of a Revolutionary War veteran who settled in Indiana: Index


 * This record is comprised mostly of Native American names, year of birth, and date of enlistment: Index and images.


 * These records might help by naming a wife or widow of a veteran who settled in Indiana:
 * Index Only.
 * Index only.
 * Index only.
 * For a more complete list of available online military records and indexes, see United States Online Military Records.

Other Military Records Unique to Indiana

 * INDIANA DIGITAL ARCHIVES Military Records Search Engine

American Revolution

 * Roster of soldiers and patriots of the American Revolution buried in Indiana at Ancestry ($); index and images
 * Surname index to Roster of soldiers and patriots of the American Revolution buried in Indiana, vol. I & II ($)
 * Indiana Society of the Sons of the American Revolution Register for Nineteen Hundred and Eight with Roll of Members and Their Revolutionary Ancestors and Other Information of Interest to the Society
 * Roster of Members of the Society of Sons of the Revolution in the Commonweath of Indiana, 1899. Index.
 * Revolutionary soldiers buried in Indiana; 300 names not listed in the roster of soldiers and patriots of the American Revolution buried in Indiana, e-book

War of 1812

 * Indiana University-Purdue University Inianapolis, University Library Indiana Muster, Pay and Receipt Rolls, War of 1812.

Mexican War

 * INGenWeb Indiana Mexican War Soldiers 1846-1848.

Civil War

 * INGenWeb Indiana Military Records Roster of Enlisted Men.
 * Indiana Historical Society Civil War.

Spanish American War

 * Indiana Spanish American War Records ($)
 * Record of Indiana Volunteers in the Spanish American War.

For more information and additional collections, see Indiana Military Records.

Step 6: Write to a county for wills and probate indexes.
For more information, see U.S. Probate Records Class Handout.

County probate records
This Ancestry.com collection can be searched free of charge at your local FamilySearch center or the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah: Indiana, Wills and Probate Records, 1798-1999, ($), index and images, incomplete.


 * Indiana 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.


 * As the Ancestry.com record is incomplete, you will want to write to the county where your ancestors lived. This online directory by Genealogy Inc. will enable you to arrange to have probate records searched for a fee: Click on the map to select a county, then scroll down to the Courthouse and Government Records to find the address and phone number of the County Clerk of Court. Ask them about the years covered by their probate records and their procedure and fees for ordering copies probate packets. When you write, always ask for the full probate packet, not just the will or administration.

Step 7: Look for land records online.

 * These records will give the name of the owner, the date they obtained the land, the county, and the exact location of the land. They can contain clues to family members who shared ownership of the land, sold or gave land to a child, or witnessed the sale. Sometimes they show the previous or new residence of the parties to the deed. They can be useful in tracking an ancestor who lived in more than one county in Indiana. Then the probate and vital records of each county could be searched.
 * Images only.
 * Search the Indiana Donation Database
 * Bureau of Land Management and General Land Office Land Patent Search, 1788to 1960's.
 * Hoosier Homestead Award recognizes farms that have been owned by the same family for one hundred years or more.
 * General Land Office Index, database created by the Archaeological Resources Management Service, Department of Anthropology, Ball State University.


 * A search of the Bureau of Land Management records gives results like this:



Step 8: Look for church records online.
Church records function as vital records. Church records are particularly helpful prior to the advent of civil registration.
 * An infant christening or baptism record documents a birth.
 * Many, if not most, people are married in a church, and then a record is created by the minister.
 * Likewise, ministers presided over funerals, then creating a burial record, which documents a death.



'''Follow the instructions and links in these articles to search for possible church records that might fill in any gaps.

 * Church records found in State of Indiana, Daughters of the American Revolution
 * 1743-1966 Indiana, Church Records, 1743-1966, index, and some images. Incomplete.
 * 1773-1933 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index; Also at: American Ancestors ($), Findmypast ($), MyHeritage ($) *1780-1992, indes. - How to Use this Collection

Dutch Reformed

 * U.S., Dutch Christian Reformed Church Membership Records, 1856-1970, index & images ($). Incomplete.
 * U.S., Dutch Christian Reformed Church Vital Records, 1856-1970, index & images ($). Incomplete.

Lutheran

 * 1781-1969 - U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969, index and images, incomplete.($)

Methodist

 * 1837-1970 Indiana, United Methodist Church Records, 1837-1970, index & images ($) Card index to memoirs of Methodist ministers

Presbyterian

 * U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970, index & images ($). Incomplete.

Quaker

 * Abstracts of the records of the Society of Friends in Indiana
 * 1681-1935 U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, index & images ($). Incomplete.
 * 1836-1921 Indiana, Selected Quaker Meeting Directories, 1836-1921 ($), index/images.


 * For help with church records kept in Indiana, see Indiana Church Records.
 * To search records by denomination, if you know your ancestors religion, go to Searching for Church Records by Denomination.

Step 9: If any ancestor was an immigrant, search immigration and naturalization records online.
The census records may show that your 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 that country. So searches of immigration records (usually passenger lists) and naturalization (citizenship) records are the next goal. Immigration refers to people coming into a country, such as the United States, and emigration refers to people leaving a country to go to another. Usually these records are passenger lists of the ships they sailed on. A typical record will show name, age, and country of origin, but many times you can find the actual town of birth, the next of kin still living in the old country and their residence, and the names of relatives in the place they are traveling to.

Immigration records
There are too many immigration records to list here. Click here to see a complete list of available immigration records online. Notice that they are listed by state, but under the letter "U" there is a long list of records that cover all of the United States. Unless family information tells you the port where family arrived, you will need to search all of the United States Immigration Online Genealogy Records for the time period when your ancestors arrived.

In this example of a passenger list, you see at #22, the family of Eduard Hepper of Gross Liebenthal travelling to Java, South Daokta.

Naturalization (Citizenship) Records
Naturalization is the process of becoming a citizen. Records can include the immigrant's declaration of intent to become a citizen, applications for citizenship, and final citizenship papers. The records can show birth date and place, spouse's name, marriage date and place, and lists of children with their birth dates. Click here to view examples of declaration of intent records and the information they give.

Indiana naturalization records are organized by county. Look for them in any county where the person lived, unless the census tells you the year they were naturalized, and you have evidence of where they lived that year.

Indiana Naturalization and Citizenship Online Records

 * Indexes only.
 * Indiana Archives Digital Index Records
 * Naturalization Records at the Indiana State Archives

Here are the naturalization records available from the Indiana Digital Archives for the surname Humbert (Louise Humbert Main's possible immigrant ancestors). We would want to order the full original files listed in this index.

Local histories

 * Published histories of towns, counties, and states usually contain biographies and accounts of early or prominent families.
 * Here are links to several online county histories for Indiana: http://www.learnwebskills.com/patriot/countyhistories1.htm#in


 * Here are several websites that feature online copies of printed county histories:
 * Hathi Trust Digital Library. Don't use the keywords Indiana; that will bring up too many hits. Just use the name of the county and "county": for example, "St. Joseph County"
 * Google Books. Use keywords "Indiana" 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 "Indiana" and the county name.
 * Genealogy Book Links, Indiana. Browse list; county histories are interspersed.
 * Indiana Genealogy. Don't use the sidebar county list; scroll down and, in the body of the article, find the list "County Historical Records". These county links lead directly to book listings.
 * Ancestry.com, ($). In the Card Catalog search box, use Indiana and the name of the county.


 * 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 out about local histories the library has by checking the FamilySearch Catalog. In the "place" field, type the name of your county and select it from the drop down list, then click "Search". A list of subheadings for the county will appear. Local histories containing genealogies and biographies will be found under Biography, Genealogy, History, and History - Indexes.


 * Also, in Step 11, you will be contacting a county history society. Societies often have a good selection of printed histories about the area. Some may be search history for you for a fee.

Biographies
These collections of Indiana biographies can be searched online. Most have a table of contents and an index. Or you can use the "Find" function on your computer. Here is an example of the genealogical information you might find in Indiana history with biographies, from Men of progress, Indiana : a selected list of biographical sketches.....1899:
 * County and Town Histories
 * Indiana Biography Index Pre-1990.
 * Indiana Biographies
 * Men of Indiana in nineteen hundred and one, e-book
 * Encyclopedia of biography of Indiana,1899. e-book
 * Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, 1896, e-book
 * Who's Hoosier, vol. 1-2, 1911, e-book
 * Indiana today. 1942, e-book
 * An illustrated history of the state of Indiana ... together with biographical sketches, 1875, e-book
 * Men of progress, Indiana : a selected list of biographical sketches.....1899, e-book
 * Biographical and historical sketches of early Indiana Biographical and historical sketches of early Indiana, 1883, e-book



Step 11: Contact a county historical or genealogical society.

 * 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.


 * 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. Note: some Indiana counties are so sparsely populated that they do not have the population to support a society.

Here is an example of an internet website for a local genealogical society. Notice that it gives details on how to pay for searching services.



'''Step 12: If your family was African American, also search these specialized collections.
If your family was African American, they are generally recorded in all the above records. However, there are a few specialized records pertaining directly to African Americans.
 * Indiana's African American Settlements, 1817-1930.
 * Individuals Associated with Indiana’s African-American Settlements (1817-1930)

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

Indiana Online Genealogy Records
Search any other online records listed in Indiana 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 Indiana 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.
 * Indiana Online Genealogy Records

Step 14: Study the Research Wiki pages for any county in Indiana.
This article focused more on Indiana state or state-wide records. There is a separate Wiki article for each county in Indiana. This can help you with other records kept on a county level.