July 31, 2026

As most genealogists know, researching female ancestors is difficult. We often feel we’ve done well if we identify birth, marriage and death dates for women. That’s too bad because the women in your family tree are just as important and interesting as the men.

 

On my own family tree, I’ve found many memorable women. I’ve found an ancestor who was executed during the Salem witch trials. Another great grandmother came to America on her own to work as a servant at the young age of seventeen. My mother’s cousin was an independent woman in New York City who wrote a monthly column for Cosmopolitan magazine during the swinging 60s. Other women in my line divorced abusive husbands when that was difficult to do. They were able to make lives for themselves and their children despite the stigma of divorce.

 

Of course, most of the women in my family led more typical lives. They were wives and mothers who left few traces of their lives. The problem is learning about these women. In earlier eras, men featured in most official records such as deeds, probates and business records. Even obituaries were more often written for men than for women. One valuable record set that does include women is the U.S. census.

 

Starting in 1850, the U.S. census listed every person by name. This includes women and girls. It’s possible to trace a woman’s life using these ten-year snapshots. You may get clues as to when she married and when she began having children. The 1900 and 1910 census explicitly asked how many children a woman had given birth to and how many were still living. Learning that an ancestor had given birth to ten children and that only four were still living opens a window into a life of tragedy that most of us can only imagine.

 

The censuses are also a good way to learn whether a woman held jobs outside the household. One of my great grandfather’s sisters was listed as a photographer in 1880, an unusual occupation for a woman at that time. This snippet inspired further research to learn more about my great grandfather’s family.

 

Because of the lack of specific records for women, it’s often necessary to learn about women’s lives more generally. I have found social history to be a good starting point. For example, if you have early New England ancestors, you may be interested in learning more about the women of that era. Laurel Taylor Ulrich’s book A Midwife’s Tale is based on the diaries of Martha Ballard who was a midwife in the late 1700s in Maine. The book describes medical, social and domestic life of the period.

 

There are numerous YouTube videos to help you use social history to research female relatives. One that I found helpful is called “Finding Your Female Ancestors: Research Tips that Actually Work” by Lisa Lisson. You can google “finding female ancestors” and find dozens of other videos and articles that may be helpful.

 

Although it may take more effort to research women, it’s worthwhile. Remember that ignoring the female members of your family is ignoring half of your genealogy.

 

Carol Stetser

Researcher

Larimer County Genealogical Society