Every family has a past. Your ancestors were a part of history. Today, they can still be discovered, waiting in their rightful places in history for you to find them. Chances are, your great-grandfathers, grandmothers, aunts, uncles and cousins of all kinds are mentioned in one or more historical documents. Finding the documents that mention your ancestors will not only tell you more about your family members from long ago, it will also re-create your ancestor as a real person who was shaped by the times in which he or she lived.

If you’ve started exploring your family tree or are interested in doing so, you probably know that finding out the names of your ancestors is the first step. After all, you’ve got to know their names before you can find out anything else about them! However, too many beginning researchers just collect names and stop there. They never bother to find out who their ancestors really were.

Finding out the details about our ancestors’ lives is one of the most fascinating parts of putting together a family history. Each one of our ancestors was a real, living person who was a product of the times in which he or she lived. Each one of them lead a unique and interesting life, full of many of the same struggles and triumphs we experience today, as well as experiences that could only have happened during their particular times in history.

Using historical documents to find out who your ancestors were, what they did for a living, where they lived, what kind of character they possessed, lets them live again and gives you a deeper, more meaningful connection to these long-ago members of your family.

Here are some of the more common types of historical documents and what you might find out about your ancestors in them:

1. U.S. Military Records- The U.S. government keeps detailed records on every person who has served in every war the U.S. has fought from the Revolution onward. These records contain valuable genealogical information, such as dates of service, unit or regiment, battles fought and injuries received. You can piece together your ancestor’s entire military experience from these records.

2. U.S. Military Pension Records- If your ancestor applied for a pension based on his military service, you can find all kinds of detailed personal information in the files. It’s not uncommon for relatives, or the ancestor himself, to write letters explaining personal circumstances that make a pension necessary. These letters, when they exist, are included in the pension file.

3. City Directories- These tell you where your ancestor lived, when he lived there, who his neighbors were, and may sometimes tell what he did for a living.

4. Census Records- The census has been taken every 10 years since 1790. Some records are now available online and will tell you where your ancestor lived in any given census year. Census records from 1850 on will also tell you who else lived in the household and give ages and birthplaces for everyone there.

5. Old Newspapers- Many newspapers now have their historic archives available online. Finding an issue from your ancestor’s town during the time he lived there can produce a wide variety of genealogical gems, from obituaries and wedding announcements to business advertisements and even complete stories about any incidents your ancestor was involved in.

You can find all of these historical documents online, some on free websites, others on subscription-based sites. The point is, they’re all available to you, and can serve as wonderful resources for not only discovering the names of your ancestors, but who they were as people. This is the real gold of genealogy, the information that makes our ancestors come alive and gives us a real sense of the people who helped to create us.

Are you ready to expand your family tree and discover those elusive ancestors who have been hiding from you for so long? Genealogy is more popular than ever, and now is the time to take advantage of all the resources the web has to offer. Come to Ancestor Investigations to get all the latest tips and tricks for teasing out even the most elusive ancestors from the mists of history, as well as reviews of the newest genealogical books, software and products. You can even hire a professional genealogist to help you uncover especially stubborn ancestors, as well as find living relatives, birth families, missing heirs, long lost friends, and more!

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