Did you know that there may be bits and pieces of genealogical information hiding amongst things in your home? What about the homes of your relatives, do you think that there could be new clues that you could find not by going to a library or archive but into their basement or attic? There are quite a few places where important information could be hidden in plain sight. Why not take a look at this list and see whether there are some places that you could look for new information today.
Check bookshelves for yearbooks, bibles, autograph books, and even cookbooks and regular books which contain inscriptions. As a bonus, you may find hand written recipes folded and stashed in between the pages of an old cookbook. In the office, check for old calendars and datebooks, because they could contain dates of important events. There could also be certificates of achievement or even college degrees stashed away in the office too. Wills, titles, deeds, and old letters may also be lurking in desk drawers and filing cabinets in the office of your home or the home of a relative.
When you find photo albums, check for hidden clues by carefully taking the photos out if you can. Often, people wrote dates on the back and they may even have been nice enough to include some names. If you happen to have old jewelry, check for inscriptions on it that may have dates as well as names. You could even find an old quilt or a hand stitched sampler that has the date as well as the name of the person who made it. The same goes for old drawings and paintings, which may have artistic as well as sentimental value. When you find some of these things, consider taking them out of storage and doing whatever needs to be done to them to make them suitable for display.
Photo by jppi on morguefile.com.