One way to overlook genealogical records is to get stuck at a certain level and never move beyond it.
Records may have been kept at the federal, state, county, township, town, village, or other political level. Names of the smaller jurisdictions may vary from one region of the United States to another as may some of the record-keeping responsibilities. There can be some variation in records at levels from the county on down.
That’s why it is important when searching online catalogs to make certain that you have browsed at all political and geographic levels in which the area of interest is located. Some of the most unique records available are smaller sets of records that may only have been kept in one location. You do not know if they exist if you always focus on the same level no matter where your research takes you.
In a video game you cannot move on if you can’t get past a certain level. In research, you should move between recordkeeping levels all the time.
It increases your chances of success at the genealogy game.
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