| HOW TO RESEARCH : WOMEN |
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| Start with the Basics Researching women can be challenging because most did not leave documents behind. Typically daughters or wives are mentioned in reference to their father’s or husband’s names and accounts. But by using some creative research techniques you might be able to find more about your female ancestor than you thought. • Begin with some of the same research techniques as in the How To Research: People section. • If you are researching an ancestor, ask family members if they have any documents, letters or diaries by the women you are interested in researching. • What can you find out about the men in the woman’s life? Think about researching her husband(s), father, or brothers, you might find some details specifically about her that can develop into new research questions. Next Look for Details Perhaps someone has already done research before you. Investigate published local family histories for both the woman’s maiden name and married name. These books or articles might not have notes or bibliographies, but they can make an excellent outline for your research. If the publications do have notes, your job of tracking down sources will be much easier. Obituaries, cemetery records and tombstone transcriptions : If possible begin with her death and work backwards. If you know when a woman died, search for her obituary in the local newspaper. You might find her maiden name, date of birth, where she was born, names of other family members, and perhaps more details about here life and where she lived. Cemetery records might provide information about when she died and who paid for her plot and tombstone. Sometimes tombstones will have more detailed information about family relations or cause of death. Be cautious when reading tombstones, they do not always provide accurate information. Census records : If you know approximately when and where she lived search for her by using her husband’s name. Depending on what years you are examining, you could learn approximately when and where she was born, where her parents were born, how long she was married, how many children she had and how many survived, more about her children and possible in-laws, and if she immigrated when she arrived in America. Marriage records : Every location is different in how and when marriage documents were recorded. If you are looking for marriage records that precede the date when marriages were officially recorded with the county government, search in local area church records. Marriage records will give you the woman’s maiden name, sometimes her age, and the name of her parents. Land records/deeds : If you find land records for a particular family, make sure you read the body of the document, you might find additional family names and more details about family relationships. Early land records typically only mention the names of men since women were not allowed to enter into legal transactions without their husband’s consent. If a women made a property transaction she was most likely widowed and the property became part of her dower rights. Over time women gained more legal rights and were listed more often as main property owners. Learn more about the history of women’s rights to better understand the documents in the time period you are researching. Probate records : Wills can be important resources when researching women. The documents left by their fathers and husbands usually provide a wealth of information about family relationships. You might only find the first name of his wife or daughters, but there is a chance he stated his wife’s maiden name or the men his daughters married. Probate records can also detail family relationships. Whether a man died with or without a will, probate documents usually indicate surviving individuals, where heirs lived, real and personal property inventories, and the distribution of the estate. Military and pension records : Throughout history women have served in the military or played a roll supporting military efforts. Some women were paid, but many volunteered their services as nurses, spies, seamstresses, or camp cooks. While a few women did serve in earlier wars and eventually earning a pension on their own, your best chance of finding a woman’s military records is if she served during the twentieth-century. Where a woman will most often show up is in her husband’s military records, or in her own application for a widow or mother’s pension. These documents can be an invaluable source of personal and family information and relationships. Taking the Next Step |
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| • Letters • Diaries • Family bibles • Family artifacts or heirlooms • Oral histories • Recipe books |
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If you are having trouble finding documents about one specific woman, look to items produced by other female family members, friends, or women in the same community. While other women did not have the same experiences, there are probably enough similarities to suggest what your ancestor’s life was like. Take some time to better understand the social history during the era of when a woman lived. Looking beyond your community to regional or national issues might give you clues about what concerns your female ancestor faced, what controversial events she participated in, or what her beliefs were. Some historical social topics to investigate are: |
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| • Sexuality • Childbearing and child rearing • Women’s work (both inside and outside of the home) • The expected roles of women • Drug addiction and prostitution • Religion and spiritualism • Women’s rights movement • Moral reform • Voting rights |
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For more information check out: American Women’s History : A Research Guide by Ken Middleton at Middle Tennessee State University Library Women in World History Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 |
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Last Update October 2006 © Mona Lambrecht