Genealogy for beginners
(from a former Fleming County Coordinator)

 Caveat - I know that you are reading this because you have found this web site on the internet. I am greatly appreciative of the efforts of such professional genealogists who became KyGen and US GenWeb. These organizations are collecting massive amounts of information. But, be careful about how you use the information that you obtain on the internet. There are many gedcoms, ancestor trees, descendants trees and CDs with family trees available on the web. Most of them contain links to ancestors without documentation. The source may have documentation, but it is usually not provided in these files. Use this information, because that's the primary service of the internet, information transmission. But, ask yourself "is the source credible?" I personally don't know any anonymous source that I would consider credible. Use the information as a starting point, not the end point of your research.

I wrote the information contained here to briefly describe some of the available resources that are available to assist you in your family history research. I intend that this will answer some of the frequently asked questions in regard to genealogical research. I am not a professional genealogist and do not have the expertise to tell you how to document your research. Here are some helpful sources to begin with.

Your own family. Ask relatives about ancestors whom they personally knew. Try to obtain names, dates and places where those ancestors lived. Obtain information about any possible military service, or other official contacts with governmental agencies, as they are the most likely source to have maintain records.

Family friends. Sometimes information may be obtained about members of your family from this source, that relatives, for whatever reason, declined to mention or talk about. This usually happens after the death of the family member.

Courthouse records. If you have the time or the proximity to county records look at the county records. The records kept in the courthouse are, with some restrictions, public documents and you have a right to view them. These records include marriage, birth, death, divorce, land, probate and tax records. The records that you may want to view depend on what you're looking for and how far along in your research you are. (There's not much point in viewing land records in a locality if you don't know the name of the ancestor you're looking for).

Census records. These records, beginning in 1850, include the names of all people living at a given residence. The last census available to look at is the 1920 U.S. Census. Statutes require that the census ripened for 70 years before it becomes public. This is the place to start for many people. The main drawback in the census in the county in which I have searched, is the lack of information regarding where the residence was located within a given enumeration district. A typical district in Eastern Kentucky was an entire voting precinct. Within that precinct, which was called an enumeration district, the houses were numbered according to the order in which the house was visited by the census taker. There were no street addresses given, even within towns. In some censuses, creek names were given.

Vital Statistics. Death records were kept in the Commonwealth of Kentucky beginning in 1911. County were required to maintain death, birth and marriage records for the ten year period 1852 through 1861.

Not enough can be said about the efforts of The Church of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) in regard to their efforts to archive and make available genealogical information. LDS maintains many Family History Centers that offer access to all of their resources. Nearly all of the censuses, if not all, all available for rental on microfilm at Family History Centers. County Vital Statistics for all Kentucky counties are also available for rental. You don't have to be Mormon to use there facilities and their is no charge to use the basic services. Each microfilm may be rented for use only at the Family History Center, for a nominal charge. The current charge is $3.00 for one month's rental. The center's are run by volunteers, at least mine in Appleton, Wisconsin is.