Tips for researching your ancestors

I've gotten numerous requests for guidance in researching ancestors in Grundy County. The following list is where you could begin my research:

• Talk to everyone in your family about what they know about the ancestors, keeping in mind that memories can fade and that some of their information is inaccurate.
      (Great Grandma was a full-blooded Indian. My great-grandma was a Cherokee Indian Princess. Or we came over on the Mayflower. And yes, I have heard all three of these. Statements said over & over, passed down, and sadly, rarely true.)
• Critical to talk to the oldest members of your family first. Use your search engine to build a list of questions to ask.
  » Write down what you've found out from every interview.
• Buy or download a free genealogy program to organize your information. Brother's Keeper is shareware and can be downloaded for free. This way all of your information is organized and can be emailed to someone easily.
• Explore "Resources". In this section you will also find many links to great sites for beginners.
• Use ALL types of spellings when you look for records. Many times the spelling changed (Hawley to Holley) or the person writing down the information trouble deciphering the script. Sometimes names are spelled so "screwy" that your best bet is just to go through the pages. The "s" looks like "f" in some old script, so Smith could look like Fith to a beginning transcriber.
• Use the search engine on this web and others to locate surnames.
• Check census records in the county and in surrounding counties. The 1850 census records begin listing all of the family members and where each was born. Before 1850, only the head of the family was listed.
• Check Cemetery records. Grundy County has quite a few. FindAGrave website is one of the best resources.
• Check funeral home listings. Many times people did not have money to buy a tombstone, but their remains were handled by an undertaker.
• Check the Grundy County's library (see Addresses). Jewett Norris Library also is a registered historical place. Newspapers back to 1850 are also available on the website. Look for any biographical information on the family you are searching for.
• Check the birth, death and marriage records. Those may list parents names, etc. Get copies of these records by ordering them from the appropriate source. We are very fortunate because the state of Missouri has birth and death records/certificates online at Missouri Birth & Death Records Database, Pre-1910 on the Missouri Digital Heritage site.
• Check the court records index. If you find something of interest, try to order the record from the County Clerk. They charge $X a page to Xerox it. Also know that they are short-staffed and may not be able to fill your request. You may have to make a trip to the Grundy County Courthouse [see Addresses] or hire a researcher to get the information for you.
• Check old newspapers. Use the Jewett Norris Library website. Note: the Grundy County newpapers are *not* on Newspapers.com. They are available for free from the library website at here.
• Contact local genealogical and historical societies. See Addresses for contact information for the Grundy County Genealogical Society. The Jewett Norris Library houses their extensive genealogical library. Several years ago I spent about six hours a day for five days in a row and *still* didn't get to everything. A copy machine is available on the same floor; copies made for a reasonable price.
• Not used as much as in the past, try posting a query on the query board. There are a number of different query boards including Surname Boards - Gen Forum. (Also listed in "Research Resources" under the "Helpful Links" page)
• Join the email list and ask questions about your ancestors there.
• If the ancestor was in the Civil War, order the records! They have a great deal of information in them! Consider subscribing to Fold3.com ($). Military records back to the Revolutionary War up to Vietnam War are available.
• Not all family lore is true. One tale in my family was we were related to a prominent lord in England -- the surnames were the same. The reality ... the lord had no surviving sons. Remember, if you cannot document it ... it's mythology until you do.

 

Don't take every piece of information someone sends you as gospel! Ask for sources!
A Genealogist's Truth:"Genealogy without documentation is mythology".
Verify information! Have an open mind! YOU could be mistaken!

This page last updated on:
11 Jan 2026 5:27pm CT
Coding changes only.

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