Posts in February 13, 2025

City directories, draft registration cards, obituaries, home sources, death certificates and other sources may mention the name of an ancestral employer. Don’t stop there. To learn more about your ancestor’s employer as given in a city directory, search the rest of the city directory as it may include advertisements or list the employer in a list of area businesses. Consider performing a Google search for the name of the business and search local and regional histories as well, many of which have been digitized at Google Books (http://books.google.com) or Archive.org (http://www.archive.org). Local libraries and historical societies may also be able to help you in your search to learn more about your ancestral employer–including if there is any chance the company’s employee records are still extant.