U.S. County Page Content Suggestions

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How We Started the County Pages

Currently, all the county pages in the Ancestry.com wiki are marked as stubs. That's because there is so much terrific information out there just waiting to be added. We purposely did not include an outline of what to include on each page so contributors to each county page can decide how to represent that county in the wiki. The pre-loaded information on each county page was derived from the county resource charts in the third edition of Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources. We turned information from the charts into a short narrative paragraph to help newcomers learn about each county. The hope is that from this start, the community will expand these pages.

Where You Can Start

We recommended that you start your county page by listing county-specific websites, government repositories, and historical and genealogical groups in the county. We also love USGenWeb, so don't forget to add a section about and link to your GenWeb site. You'll also want to include any statewide resources that are useful for researchers searching for ancestors in your county. You can link to the state pages in the Ancestry.com wiki for a quick shortcut. Bold text

Local Genealogical and Family History Groups

Please list all the groups dedicated to your county. In addition, feel free to make separate pages for your group and link to them from the county page. Many groups already have pages, so do a quick search so you can link to them directly. Be sure to list your meeting schedule, member benefits, address and hours of operation, calendar of events, officers, holdings, and group indexing or preservation efforts. Use the wiki as a tool to inform people about your groups.

Following the State Outline from Red Book

If you find an outline helpful, we have provided the outline authors used when writing their contributions for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources. Not all the categories will apply to your county. Pick the ones that work the best and feel free to add some that we have overlooked.

History of the County

Vital Records

Census Records

Background Sources

Maps

Land Records

Probate Records

Court Records

Tax Records

Cemetery Records

Church Records

Military Records

Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections

Archives, Libraries, and Societies

Immigration

Naturalization

Ethnic Groups

Internet Resources

Special Considerations

County Resources