When I discovered my German immigrant ancestors spent a few years in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the mid-19th century, I had to learn a few things. The rest of their life had been spent in small, rural communities and I was familiar with research there. “Big city” research was a little different. There were more people to sort through in every set of records. There were sources in an urban area that I was not used to using or even having access to (eg. city directories). But the thing I came away with from my experience was the importance of remembering that when an area is “new” and different from what I am used to (either in terms of time period, geographic location, political structure, etc.), my first plan of attack should be to learn about the area and its records/sources.
And I also need to think about my assumptions as well. I may not know as much about the area as I think.
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One of the things I had to learn about Cincinnati research in particular is how its geography affects records. It’s right across the river from Newport, Campbell Co., Kentucky. When I couldn’t find my people in Cincinnati records, I was able to locate them in Newport records. Fortunately, the Cincinnati Public Library has great digitized collections online, especially their city directories, which do include the Campbell County area!
Never hurts to be reminded of geography. Thanks, Miriam!