The Year Ahead – May 10

In the January/February 2024 issue of Family Tree Magazine, they have introduced The Year Ahead, 366 genealogy tips will make 2024 your best research year yet by Lisa A Alzo. Lisa mapped out a day-by-day research plan.

May 10 – Prepare for a research trip to the courthouse. Call or look online to check record holdings, hours and visitor regulations. List records you want to find.

Many years ago, I started a Research Trip Folder, as I came across things that needed a follow-up visit to a courthouse, I would print out something to place in the folder. For example, perhaps you find a vital record index and want to see the actual record it refers to, I print out the index page and place it into the folder. I make sure I write the County and State in the upper right-hand corner. Then, when I get enough stuff to look up, I plan to visit the courthouse.

I usually also create a to-do-list for other items I could look up while there. I have even used my genealogy program’s task feature to create to-do’s for in-person research. My program allows me to create a category. Thus, I create a category with the county name + Lookup.

I have also created “Low Priority” general task for each Courthouse or Cemetery I have a task for. This allows me to input the address, the room number (floor) where I need to go, their hours, phone number and website address (so I can verify the information). The Category for the courthouses is Courthouse Address, For Cemeteries, it Cemetery, County Name. Thus I can print out my Task list, selecting just certain categories or all categories and take the printout with me on my Research Tip.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!