What records would I need to find 6th great grandparents?

Question

Ok, so I've found my 5th great grandfather, but I need his parents names. 5th great grandfather was born in 1815, there's no birth records, death records didn't help, marriage records didnt help, census's aren't helping. He was born in New York State...so it's not like his parents weren't in the USA. Do I need land records or something? There's no family bible that I know of...what other records are there?

Answer 1

Just to add a few thoughts to Short's excellent answer. Look on the 1850 and 1860 census records for people with the same surname. Look at least one page forward and back. Look for the surname in the same community on the earlier census records. You may find siblings, uncles, cousins or parents.



Check Find a Grave. Families were often buried together. Look for the surname in all the cemeteries in the county.



Look for local and regional histories. Much of upstate New York was first opened up to settlement in the late 1700s so his family may have been pioneers in the area. Family Search Book collection has an excellent collection of early local histories. Also look on USGenWeb New York for the county page.Some are weak but many are very comprehensive.

Answer 2

Birth/baptismal records might be in the church records. Church records in the U.S. can be frightfully decentralized and hard to find, but if you know the church or the area and denomination that's a good place to look. Don't expect to find them online or for a search query to be a high priority for the church staff. But, it's worth a phone call, email, or letter.



Also check probate records. The will usually mentions children, and if it so happens your 5th GGP was executor he may be indexed. Some counties have other similar records indexed by every name that appears in the record. These indexes were often created by genealogical societies. It's with checking with the court and the local genealogical society.



Edit: folks born in or around New York about 1800-1830 present a unique challenge because record systems changed a lot in the years that their children would be with them. This generation can be very hard to find because it requires learning a whole new record system, and previous research no longer applies. For some reason, their children have f life records with the names of their parents attached. Also, the succeeding generations have a great net presence, but records for this generation are generally not online, so it can be a little slower and present a learning curve even if you've previously mastered the records. Once you get their names, it can get a little easier, in general, because the folks born in the 1760-1795 period can be easier to work with and you've learned various systems, os the learning curve is less steep.

Answer 3

Parish records, for baptism, marriage, burial..........and if you have 'researched' back to your 5th grandparents then you would have researched these type of records to do that, unless you have just collected information from whatever collections are on websites................



Directories in libraries may help you find out where in NY he lived and you need to check what parishes are likely, then look at those records...........

Answer 4

Other civil records would not be considered primary documentation, but would be good clues, You might also try newspapers,

Answer 5

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