View source for Beginning African American Research

=== Use Federal Census Records  ===

1. Federal censuses were made every 10 years 1790 to 1930 (1890 mostly destroyed). Some state censuses were made in between those years. 

2. Censuses are easy-to-use; include everyone, and list families, residence, and birth states. 

3. Studying census records helps you build up your knowledge about ancestors. 

4. List the most important internet sites for U.S census indexes and images is the Research Wiki at wiki.familysearch.org under the topic [You Name It State] Census which links to: 

:A. Familysearch (free) [https://www.familysearch.org/ Family Search] 
:B. Ancestry.com (subscription) [http://www.ancestry.com/search/ http://www.ancestry.com/search/] 
:C. HeritageQuest (subscription) [http://www.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/do/index http://www.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/do/index]

5. '''''Principle:''''' If your first search fails, keep trying. Try again with a different index, different spelling of the name, different search data, or different location. If necessary find your ancestor via relatives or neighbors, in previous or later censuses. 

6. '''''Principle:''''' Be thorough. Find each ancestor on every census from 1870-1930. Do the same for siblings. Show your findings on each ancestor’s family group record. To learn how see [[Adding a Custom Event to a PAF Family Group Record|wiki.familysearch.org/en/Adding_a_Custom_Event_to_a_PAF_Family_Group_Record]]