Author: James L. Douthat

Civil War

Other Areas for Civil War Research

James L. Douthat

Now that you have searched the military service records and the pension files for your ancestor during the Civil War, you may still need information. Now is the perfect time to find some other areas for research. There has been a lot written about the Civil War over the years. Somewhere in all of these records, there is a record of your ancestor. The first thing that we have to do is to review everything that we know at this point about them. Don’t overlook the most oblivious detail such…

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Civil War

Civil War and Union Records

James L. Douthat

This is second article in our Civil War series.  You can also read about The Civil War – Confederate Records.   With this being the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War, a lot of attention is being placed on the records that pertain to this conflict. Much is being made of the battles, the men in the trenches as well as the generals that fought in the war. However, there is little attention being paid to the cause of the war. While many believe the cause of…

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Civil War

Civil War – Confederate Records

James L. Douthat

The Civil War was a terrible war in the history of the United States with more killed in those few years of fighting than in all of the wars since the American Revolution. This was one war that affected every household in the United States one way or another. There have been volumes and volumes written about the Civil War. When we start searching for our Civil War ancestors, it is helpful if you know something about them, especially if you think they are Confederate. The reason for this is…

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Brick Walls

Brick Walls in your Genealogy Research

James L. Douthat

At one time or another, we all find ourselves up against a brick wall in our genealogical research. We want the answer to our questions, but where do we turn? It may seem that we have exhausted all of our options in finding the answers. At this point in time, we have to think outside the box for the answers. Never give up!! This is the main axiom of our thinking in the genealogy world. The answer may not be where we think it should be, but it is out…

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Brick Walls

Missing Pieces in Your Family Tree

James L. Douthat

In everyone’s genealogical research, there are bits and pieces of information missing. It is like working a jigsaw puzzle, you get almost finished and find that a couple of pieces are missing. This throws the whole process off center and you want to quit. If you do finish the puzzle, and you look back on it, all you see are the holes left by the missing pieces. In genealogical research, there are ways to find those missing pieces. Unlike the puzzle when you know the dog ate those two pieces,…

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Vital Records

Vital Records

James L. Douthat

No matter if you are a novice just starting out on your journey into your family history or if you have been working for years on the job, there are some vital records that no one should pass up in the quest. Vital records usually fall into two basic categories. First are the local records found in local courthouses, churches, schools and historical societies. Second are the records found in state and federal records. Not everyone will have access to all of the records from either source, but generally there…

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Virginia

Virginia Genealogy Research

James L. Douthat

In most family trees, there is a branch that goes back to Virginia at one time or another. In order that you might understand how this very old commonwealth works, I want to give you a brief run down on their very early history. You will find many terms used for Virginia that are not commonly found in states since this is a commonwealth and they differ from states in many ways. In 1607, the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown was established by the Virginia Company of London. This…

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Miscellaneous

Territory North of the River Ohio

James L. Douthat

Being a southern researcher, I often forget that there were two different divisions of the United States in the latter portion of the 18th century. There was the Territory South of the River Ohio and also the Territory North of the River Ohio. Most all of our records are for the Territory South of the River Ohio, but we do not want to ignore those areas north of the river. This area North of the River is often called the Northwest Territory and includes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,…

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Genealogy

Review Your Genealogy Research

James L. Douthat

Happy New Year!!! I hope your holiday season went well and now things are settling down to their usual dull roar. By now most of our resolutions have been dismissed and we are back into our routine. Here in lies one of our down falls in genealogy – routine. The New Year gives us a chance to stop what we are doing and review our progress, or lack thereof, as the new year begins. At this time of the year, with things at a slower pace and maybe a few…

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Libraries

Lending Libraries

James L. Douthat

If you are like all other genealogist researching one or two families, you may have gotten to the point where you have exhausted the resources in your local library or home library. We all get to this point at sometime or another. This is when we have to think outside the box for resources. It is not easy to do this, but we have to make the effort. One of the best sources to get the ball rolling once again is a new infusion of untapped resources. The interlibrary resources…

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