If your relative lived in an area before the current county in which it is located was formed, do you know the names of the parent counties? Is it possible that early records of your ancestor are in the county seats of those counties, which may be some distance from the county where your ancestor lived and several counties “over” from the current county’s location.
Most counties in the United States have a genealogy–they just don’t have two parents and four grandparents–grin!
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After years of hearing that my G-grandmother was born in Sharon Co, MI & having no luck find her there, I finally learned she was born in Jackson Co, MI in Sharon TOWNSHIP. But since she lived out of town she said it was Sharon Co, meaning she lived in the county not in town.
The best visual help for this problem that I have found is William Dollarhide’s Map Guide to the U. S. Federal Census 1790-2820. Each state has a map for each census year which shows each county & how the boundaries change. It’s especially useful for states that had few counties when first settled & many more as settlement increased.