Searching for an ancestor’s divorce records can trip up even the most seasoned genealogy researcher. Finding our ancestors’ marriage records is one thing and often one of the first things a researcher searches for. But….what about when our ancestors did not live happily ever after? What about when they divorced? Divorce records were not (and still are not) found alongside the birth, marriage and death vital records.  We’ll explore  where to find an ancestor’s divorce records below. Why Did Our Ancestors Divorce? While not as common as today, our ancestors could divorce for a variety of reasons. Abuse, abandonment and lack of support are just some of the reasons.  Finding…

  Genealogy researchers often struggle with performing genealogy research in a burned county.  I’m no different! In 1889 the Moore County, North Carolina court house burned. Very few records survived that court house fire, and Moore County became a “burned county” in genealogy research terms. My ancestors arrived in the 1840’s. (Sigh….) How can a researcher find ancestors when the county records for that time period did not survive? Determine what types of records your ancestor created that were NOT kept at the court house. Performing genealogy research in a burned county requires thinking “outside of the traditional research box”.  Consider what your ancestors did that created other records. (Be…