Southern Research Basics

Before I talk specifically about methods and research processes I used on my personal research of the Kennerlys, I thought it would be nice to have a bit of a brief run-down on a couple of things anyone starting southern United States genealogy should be aware of. As always, it’s important to know jurisdictions, and history of the area, and things like that, but here are a couple of points more specifically catered to southern research.

First: Burned Counties. As anyone remotely familiar with southern genealogy after the Civil War will tell you, "burned counties" are everywhere, and can be quite a stumbling block. Now, as FamilySearch Wiki correctly informs us,¹ the term “burned counties” doesn’t exclusively refer to record loss during the Civil War due to Courthouse fires, but refers more generally to any county that has experienced significant historical record loss for whatever reason.² This may be Courthouse fires, floods, mold, mudslides, and even (to quote the Wiki) “cleaning-streak clerks.” Whatever the reason for record loss, the principles of research are generally similar:

1.  Document and log everything you DO find. Yes, you should probably be keeping a good log anyway, but when it comes to researching in an area where not much exists, make sure you can easily get back to what does exist. And keep copies of EVERYTHING. 
2. Be thinking about any possible alternative records. If what you're looking for was destroyed, try to find other things that can provide similar information. It’s good to remember that in the south, land records were generally the most important records created, so even if there’s a loss, they’ll probably be recreated if nothing else is. These can be extremely helpful; it’s amazing what you can find in land records!

Secondly: Indirect evidence. This is related in part to the issue of “burned counties” in that there often isn’t a lot of direct evidence available about the ancestors you’re looking for. Usually, we want to find "direct evidence", meaning a document or a primary source that states explicitly the information you’re looking for: “So-and-so was born on June 20,” “or John Doe died today, March 15,” things like that. On the other hand, "indirect evidence" means that instead of using one document to prove a fact, you take bits and pieces of other documents and piece together information on that fact. For example: if you are looking for Jane’s parents, and you have a document stating that Jane had a sister Mary, and you find another document affirming that Mary’s parents are Tom and Lucy, the indirect evidence states that Tom and Lucy are also Jane’s parents. Indirect evidence cases will invariably get a lot more complicated than that, especially in the south where death records are uncommon and birth records very rarely exist. The key is to stay organized so that you can easily make whatever connections you need to prove what you’re looking for. 

Thankfully, when researching the Kennerlys, I didn’t run into any “burned counties” or extreme record loss. I did, however, have to do a lot of analysis and piecing together of indirect evidence to prove that I knew that John Conrad was Samuel’s son, who was Thomas’s son. These stumbling blocks are common, especially for southern research, so don’t get discouraged if you find yourself stumbling in your own research! There are some good resources out there, just keep looking!

~AC

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1 FamilySearch Wiki has a great page about researching in "Burned Counties": Click Here.^↩
2 Virginia especially had a LOT of record loss. Here’s a link to the Library of Virginia’s information about what still exists: Click Here.^↩