Collecting Documents for Family History
author: Robert W. Penry @ 2021
As we do family research, we soon find that we have a considerable amount of documents, both paper and electronic media. We soon find how valuable a scanner is. We scan documents and store them in folders on our PC. We also store paper files. We then begin to see that our paper folders and our electronic folders often have the same name and the same type of material. We might have a folder on our PC labeled “Obituaries” and have the same folder in a file cabinet. The one continues obituaries that we copied from on-line sources and the other clippings from newspapers or copies we made from a file at a library.
The following is a list of many of the documents used in family history research:
| Pedigree Chart | |
| Family Group Sheet | |
Vital Records – Birth | |
| Birth Certificates | |
| Birth Announcements | |
Vital Records – Marriage | |
| Engagement Announcements | |
| Marriage Announcements | |
| Marriage License’ | |
| Marriage Certificates | |
| Anniversary Announcements | |
| Divorce Announcements | |
| Divorce/Annulment Certificates | |
Vital Records – Death | |
| Death Certificates | |
| Death Notices | |
| Obituaries | |
| Funeral Programs | |
| Funeral Cards | |
| Tombstones & Monuments | |
Census Records | |
| Folder for each census year | |
Church Records | |
| Blessing Certificates | |
| Baptism Certificates | |
| Ordination Certificates | |
| Temple Records | |
| Mission Records | |
| Church Education Records | |
Immediate Family | (Separate Folders for each family member) |
| Medical Records | |
| Military Records | |
| School Records | |
| Employment Records | |
Other Records | |
| Play Bills and Programs | |
| Financial Records | |
| Household Inventory | |
| Recipe Collections | |
| Journals and Diaries | |
| Greeting Cards | |
Correspondence | (Paper and E-Mail) |
| From Family Members | |
| From Friends | |
| for family history research | |
Maps | |
| Atlas & Road Maps | |
| Countries | |
| States | |
| Counties | |
| Cities-Towns-Villages | |
| Cemeteries | |
| Historical and Tourist Sites | |
Photos & Post Cards | |
| Family Homes | |
| Historic Family Sites | |
| Medieval Portraits & Heraldry | |
| Ancestor Portraits | |
| Current Family Portraits | |
| Cemetery & Grave Pictures | |
| Family Travel/Vacation |