Hidden Sources: Family History in Unlikely Places

In Hidden Sources, you will find family history research possibilities that may otherwise have eluded you—sources to further your research and help you overcome the stumbling blocks every researcher has experienced. 

Most Americans would not describe themselves as genealogists or even family historians. They just want to learn when their ancestors were born, married, or died, and where these events happened. They don’t want to read a book about how to do genealogy; they would rather have someone tell them what to do, or simply look up a short entry in a single book to direct them.

Until now, no book has filled that need. But with the introduction of Hidden Sources: Family History in Unlikely Places, anyone wanting quick, easy-to-access information about how to find their ancestors will be immediately pointed in the right direction.

In Hidden Sources, first-time,  part-time, and even full-time researchers will find many little-known sources that may contain information about their ancestors’ lives. Rather than lengthy descriptions of records, readers will discover short explanations that help them determine immediately whether or not a given record contains the information they need. 

Readers get an overview of more than 100 sources, including:

• Adoption Records
• Holocaust Records
• Coroner’s Inquests
• Licenses
• Orphan Asylum Records
• Slavery Records
  
• Court Records
• Patent Records
• Diaries and Journals
• and many more!

Pfeiffer provides clues to the location of these little-used records and a list of books with further information about the records. And for those who enjoy using the Internet in their research, the author has also included URLs (Web site addresses on the Internet) that will take them to sites with further information about these hidden sources. With these tools, anyone can research their family history without becoming a full-time genealogist, and without interrupting an already busy schedule, because the needed—hidden—solutions are now in a single source. 

Sources are the keys that open doors to good genealogical research. Identifying and locating these sources, and then acquiring and interpreting the information contained within, requires much skill and diligence. As researchers, we isolate the gaps on our pedigree chart, decide what source could best provide the missing information, and determine where that source is kept.

But even after following these tried and true research steps, there are often gaps in our family tree. In such a case a researcher must go beyond the obvious and consult hidden sources—sources not widely used by researchers. Whether out of habit or a lack of knowing any different, both new and experienced genealogists tend to gravitate toward the familiar research standbys. These are the often-used censuses and vital statistics records. Numerous published guides assist us in finding and accessing these “big name” sources. Some aids zero in on interpretation. They help us to decipher old script and provide us with the definitions of archaic terms. We are encouraged to consider these standard sources in light of the era and region in which they were created.

But what of the obscure, overlooked, misunderstood source? The source thought to be too difficult to locate and access? Few, if any, books currently in print name or explain these infrequently consulted prospects. Yet they can contain information just as substantial and often even more critical to our work. 

This is what the author of Hidden Sources:  Family History in Unlikely Places has done for you. Here you will find possibilities that may otherwise have eluded you. Sources to further your research. Sources to expose the most unique and unusual, and sometimes the most minute detail about a family or individual. Sources to excite, entice, and enchant you—to invite you to try something slightly different or a little new. 

A world of research opportunity awaits you in these pages. May you enjoy every moment spent reading this book and using the keys it provides to unlock new doors in your quest for family information.

—Sandra Hargreaves Luebking

Co-editor of The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, Rev. Ed.