How To Research Around the 1890 Census Record Loss – Part 4: Life Event Records

The loss of the 1890 U.S. Census is a stumbling block for many genealogy researchers.  “Losing” our ancestor in 1890 is the cause of many brick walls, but we do have research options to overcome these brick walls.

Devon Lee  from the Family History Fanatics and I have teamed up once again to bring you an 8-part video series focusing on how to research around the 1890 census loss. We want to  take the overwhelm out of researching your ancestors during the 1890 US Census Loss time period.  And yes, we will have fun along the way!!

Devon is talking about researching life event records of our ancestors our 4th video of this 8-part genealogy video series.

Researching Life Record Events

To gather clues for searching for vital life events in the 1880 – 1900 time span, first review the census records that denote the gap.

When you find a family in the 1880 census record, and some of the family members are ‘missing’ in the 1900 census record several things may have happened:

• Marriage
• Death
• Move
• Name change

The 1900 Census provides clues for vital life events in the 20 year gap:

• Question #10 on the 1900 Census record lists how many years a person had been married. It’s time to go hunting for marriage records.
• If you notice children between the ages of 20 and a few months old, you have birth records to search for.
• If someone is listed as widowed, you have a death record to search for pertaining to that spouse

Additionally, some children were born and died in the 20 year gap. And, some folks married multiple times. So, it pays to simply search for vital records for your ancestors as a spouse or a parent to catch those relatives that slip through the crack.

(Oh… and don’t forget to look for divorce records as part of your vital record search. Granted, these records will likely be found in a courthouse, but put in on your research list).

Where To Find Vital Records

• Start your search for your ancestor’s marriage records online at the big database companies such as Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, MyHeritage and Find My Past
• Visit County Courthouses
• Search vital records at the state archives.

But how do you overcome a state that didn’t keep the life events or vital records you’re researching?  That’s actually a video for another day, but the short version is to search for: wills, estate and probate records, obituaries, church and cemetery records.

The next episode in this 1890 video series will talk about strategy #5 – Using Tax Records! (It’s one of my favorites!)

Watch the Video: Researching Life Event Records

Did you miss the first videos on the 8-part series?

• Video 1 – 1890 Census Fragments
• Video 2 – State Census Records
• Video 3 – City Directories

You might also be interested in:

• 7 Places To Start Finding An Ancestor’s Death Date
• How To Research Your Ancestor’s Estate Record
• 5 Types of Genealogical Info Found on a Death Certificate

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