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How does one go about making their ancestors come to life? Finding names and dates is the bare bones of genealogy. It tells us who are ancestors are and when and where they lived and died. Adding some flesh to these bones is what makes these names into real people. How does one go about finding the kinds of information that lets us have a glimpse of the people who were our ancestors?

~Wills

Wills are fascinating documents. Beyond just dividing up the property of the individual they give us a look at family dynamics. We also get an inventory of the procession of our ancestors. This is a very telling thing. Did they own books? Chances are then they knew how to read. Was one of the possessions a bible? Then most likely they were religious. Some wills give great descriptions of homes that no longer exist. Some of the possession may give a hint as to the occupation of the ancestor. What will come as a surprise is the small amount of clothing and personal items that most of our ancestors lived with.

~Town Directory

Town directories are little gems. They contain an amazing amount of information about the head of the household and in more current ones about any member of the family who is employed. Not only does it give you the address of your ancestor but their occupation and employer. You can then check out the employer in the directory to find out some information about them.

~World War I Draft Registration Card

These are amazing and if you have never looked up your relatives you really need to. What you will get on these cards are things like eye and hair color. In the days before colored photographs existed it is wonderful to know that your grandfathers eyes are described as gray or hazel and hair as light brown. These are facts no verified.

~Social Security Death Index

Once you have found your ancestor on the index you can then order the card that was filled out when your ancestors registered for social security. This gives a lot of information including place of birth in detail incase this is something you are looking for.

~Deeds

Today's deeds don't contain a lot of information but in days gone by they had much more information that would be of interest to a genealogist. In the days before the census and in the rural areas especially of the south, deeds are sometimes the only way to trace the movement of our ancestors.

~Tax Rolls

Once you know where you ancestor was living a trip to the town hall or county record office can give you a wealth of information through the tax records. Do you want to know what your ancestor owned; it will be listed because the tax collector needed to know in order to determine the amount of tax owed. Where else could you get the information that your great great grandfather had two horses, three cows and five goats?

~Local Newspapers

You can find a great deal of information in local newspapers. Did you know that your great grandmother went to visit her cousin Sarah in New York City for a month is April 1890? That is the sort of information that you will find in the social news. You don't have to belong to the richest families in town either. You will be amazed at what was considered social news a hundred or more years ago.

These are just a few of the ways to add meat to the bare bones of your ancestors. Every genealogist will find additional ways by searching whatever records are available.

Learn more about this author, Belle Starr.
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