Tips for researching your ancestors

Here are some useful tips for reseraching your ancestors in Dinwiddie County, Virginia:

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 or we came over on the Mayflower are two examples of information that is said over & over that is usually not true.) Write down what you've found out.

Buy or download a free genealogy program to organize your information. 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 had 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 website to locate surnames.

Check census records in the county and in surrounding counties.

Check the Cemetery records. There are quite a few on the cemeteries page.

Check Dinwiddie County library system to see if they have 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.

Check the court records index. If you find something of interest, try to order the record from the County Clerk. You may have to make a trip to Dinwiddie County or hire a researcher to get the information for you. I am unable to obtain copies for you.

If the ancestor was in the Civil War, order the records! They have a great deal of information in them!

Don't take every piece of information someone sends you as gospel! Ask for sources! Verify information! Have an open mind! YOU could be mistaken!

 

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