When it comes to family history research. most of us are well aware of vital records, such as birth, marriage, and death records. There are also records for immigration, church, military, and more. But as Laura Szucs Pfeiffer describes in her book “Hidden Sources – Family History in Unlikely Places” there are other places to find records about your ancestors, many of which would seem surprising to most of us.

The book was written in 2000, so there are many online record collections that have been added since then. Many other collections are available in archives and libraries. Here are a few of the record source categories mentioned in the book, along with links to online record collections you can explore.

• Apprenticeship Agreements (young men and women signing agreements to learn a trade from a skilled craftsman) –   FamilySearch   Ancestry
• Coroner’s Inquests (investigating unusual causes of death) –   FamilySearch   Ancestry
• Delayed Birth Records (granted from the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s for those who did not have access to birth certificates) –   FamilySearch   Ancestry
• Guardianship Records (for adults assigned by courts to care for minors) –   FamilySearch   Ancestry
• Hospital Records (mostly available for 19th-century records; modern records are often restricted) –   FamilySearch   Ancestry
• Licenses (for trades, occupations, and marriages) –   FamilySearch   Ancestry
• Pensions (from employers, government and municipalities) –   FamilySearch   Ancestry
• Prison Records (before the mid-1920’s) –   FamilySearch   Ancestry

Other unusual record sources you may want to check out in your research include almshouse records, bankruptcies, farm records, fire insurance maps, midwife records, railroad records, territorial records, etc.