Topic Ideas for Your XXGenWeb Site
Home - This is the main page for your website, it contains information relevant to your county or special project. Besides showing information that is required by USGenWeb guidelines, it is a great place to put a brief description of the county formation, an outline map of the state with your county highlighted, links to adjacent counties, and a search tool.
Cemeteries - Contains the information that has been gathered on your county's cemeteries.
Families - This page is for ancestors that lived in your county. It is a good place to post things sent to you, such as family group sheets, descendants charts, and photos. Be careful to post only information about ancestors, not about anyone still living.
Military - Consider including lists of your county's military personnel or fallen soldiers for:
The draft registration cards filled out for WWI (in 1917-1918 by men born between 1872-1900) and WWII (in 1940-1947 by men aged 18 to 64) have a variety of genealogical information, such as birthdate, residence, occupation, nearest relative, and physical features. You might post transcriptions of your county's draft cards.
Places - Locations referenced in old documents can be difficult to find. Providing lists of old and current names of populated places, geological features, and/or historical landmarks can be handy for anyone researching the area.
History - County histories normally include the names of town leaders, but they also often indicate where people came from, why they came to the area, why they left, and where they went. If an ancestor was just passing through, these histories can help trace their movement. Biographies are normally included in county history books, and City Directories are filled with names, addresses, and family members.
Maps - A page with maps and links to map websites that show boundaries and community development, as well as waterways, railroad lines, churches, schools, cemeteries, and names of landowners.
Newspapers - Newspapers are filled with valuable family history clues, especially small town papers. You can easily pull births, marriages, deaths, and obituaries. Many of these papers also have a local news column that tells who is visiting who and from where, these tidbits often reveal family relationships and maiden names. Clues can also be found in business advertisements where names of proprietors are included. And, don't ignore legal notices for divorces, homesteads and estates. Some newspapers make it especially easy to find info by publishing a year-end recap of all the year's events (especially births, marriages, and deaths).
Research Resources - This is the place where you would add links to great places to search, a bibliography, important addresses, surname register, queries, lookup volunteers, etc.
Records - A county site can have lists with some basic genealogical information from all types of records: Bible, Birth, Census, Church, Court, Death (certificates, interment, and gravestones), Marriage, School, Tax, etc.
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Page content reviewed and/or updated by the Advisory Board 2023 Jan
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