There are dozens, even hundreds, of different records you can use to compile your family history when doing genealogy research. Each one tells a different story about your ancestor. When you put them all together, resolve any discrepancies between them, and use your genealogical skills to read between the lines, you get a fuller, richer picture of your ancestor’s life and times. That’s the ultimate goal of the advanced and/or professional researcher. Discovering as many records as you can that mention your ancestors is key to getting every last possible detail about their lives.
While you may think it’s a basic thing to use birth records in genealogy, these records can be useful for advanced researchers in entirely new ways. Every genealogist should start with using the basic birth, death, marriage, and censusrecords pertaining to their ancestors. Here are some tips for how advanced researchers can use birth records to ensure success in their genealogy...