To find information about an ancestor in the United States, you need to determine at least the state the ancestor lived for some event such as birth, christening, marriage, or death. The following are suggestions for identifying where your ancestor may have lived:

1. Start from what you know. If you are confident about where one ancestor lived, start with that ancestor and work back to the next generation.
2. Survey previous research and see what others have listed. To survey previous research, click the Ancestor Search tab in FamilySearch™. The computer will search Ancestral File, the International Genealogical Index, and other Web sites that may contain information about your ancestors.
3. Find a place where one or more members of the family lived and look in the records for that place for members of the family. You may find parents living with a child, or you may find information about the parents in a child's record.