This handy guide will help you determine whether your ancestor served in the U.S. Army State Volunteers in the War of 1812 by using the Compiled Military Service Records (CMSRs). For U.S. Regular Army veterans, learn how to use enlistment, discharge, and prisoner of war records. For those who served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, using muster and pay rolls, casualty reports, and courts martial records may allow you to further your research.

When records are lacking, gravestones may be the genealogist's only source of information. Get tips on locating a cemetery, finding a specific gravesite, interpreting gravestone inscriptions, and reading transcriptions of gravestones.

The four-page laminated guide can fit easily in your research binder.

By Helen Herzer

How to use land, census, tribal, and other sources for Native research. 

By Meaghan E. H. Siekman, Genealogist of the Newbury Street Press

Published by American Ancestors in April 2020

8 ½ x 11 laminated, 4 pages

This Portable Genealogist focuses on maritime ancestry before the age of steam, when sail-powered vessels and labor-intensive seamanship defined life at sea. Designed as a starting compass for those new to maritime research, it outlines the key elements that help orient your search. It also offers a framework for organizing research, making it easier to navigate the vast scope of maritime history and focus effort more effectively.

by Susan Donnelly

Published: August 2026