This article is courtesy of the May 1, 2012 Genealogy Pointers newsletter from Genealogy.com, an article written by the legendary William Dollarhide.
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(This article first ran on July 26, 2011. When it appeared we asked readers to come up with additional suggestions of sources for a woman's maiden name. Here are two of them.
1. Evidence of a female's maiden name can be found in military and civilian pension records. On the other hand, it is highly unlikely to find that information in the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (listed as "Civil War soldiers & sailors online index" and found at http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/).
The only information provided in the index are Last Name, First Name, Union or Confederate, State (or Origin), Unit Number, and Function (Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, etc.). Also, you are likely only to find mention of a spouse in a modern military record. Military records of the early 20th century and earlier provide only a physical description of the soldier, muster and pay records, disciplinary actions, hospital records, and final papers (if they died in action). The spouse or other dependants are not mentioned. Submitted by Michael Murphy, APG
2. Look at the son's middle names especially the first born. If unusual, it should be considered as a possible maiden name of the mother. I did this with my own son and have found several instances in my ancestry of this practice. Submitted by Judy K Pfaff
Now for Mr. Dollarhide's article itself:- Discovering the maiden name of a female is often the biggest problem we have in genealogy. Whether you are researching your families in person, through the mail, or by "Googling" the Internet for sources, the basic search is still the same. As in all research tasks, we need to identify the possible places where such a record exists, but
in particular, find the place where an actual document may exist that mentions the birth name of a woman. Here is a basic checklist of some places to look:
Birth Records
● Birth certificates
● Delayed birth records
● Corrected birth records
● Affidavits for correcting birth records
● Newspaper birth announcements
● Oral histories
● Published biographies
● Personal diaries & Journals
Marriage Records
● Marriage applications & licenses
● Marriage certificates
● Newspaper announcements
● Family Bible
Divorce Records
● Newspaper announcements
● Court proceedings
● State or County-wide vital records indexes
Death Records
● Burial permits
● Death certificates
● Newspaper announcements
● Obituaries
● Funeral records
● VA burial database online
Cemeteries
● Sexton's office
● Tombstone inscriptions
● Cemetery maps and indexes
Census Records
● Name of father-in-law included in a family grouping
● Brother-in-law included in a family grouping
● 1890 veteran's census including widows of veterans
● 1925 Iowa state census (only U.S. census with the question, "Maiden Name of Mother?" for every person listed).
● Names of neighbors, as clues to sibling's names
● Clues from parents' birthplace, leading to further census work
Major Databases & Indexes
● Google searching
● FamilySearch.org searching
● Ancestry.com, et al.
● RootsWeb family name searching
● Name indexes on the Internet
Vital Records Indexes and Compilations
● Kentucky birth/death index (as an example of several states available on the Internet)
● The Barbour Collection (for Connecticut, as an example of published compilations)
● New England Vital Records (as an example of published town reports)
● County-wide indexes, such as the many RootsWeb county pages of the Internet
Bible Records
● State-wide collections, such as those at Virginia and Louisiana state archives
● Home and relatives sources
● Church collections (Bibles donated to churches for Sunday School)
Probate Records
● Wills
● Administration records
● Appointments of administrators/executors
● Dispositions and judgments (naming heirs)
● Estate settlements
Church Records
● Confirmations
● Marriages
● Christening
● Baptisms
● Burials
● Death notices
● Church membership lists
● Vestry records
Medical Records (may be accessible to close relatives only)
● Doctor's office
● Nursing home
Miscellaneous
● Civil War Soldiers & Sailors online index
● Correspondence
● Miscellaneous home sources
● Oral interviews
● Patriotic society membership applications
● Funeral home records
● Hospital records
● Soldier home records
● Land ownership & deed records
● Civil court records
● Criminal court records
● Newspaper articles
● Social Security applications
● Social Security job history records
● Draft registration records
● Driver's license
● Frakturs and needlepoints (family names)
● Fraternal club records
● Homestead records
● Immigration records
● Insurance papers
● Military personnel records
● Military medical records
● Personal journals and diaries
● Professional license applications
● Passports applications
● Pensions
● Queries at mags/websites
● Voter registrations
● Who's Who/compiled biographies
