Genealogy by Region
Cemetery Records by US Region
Each region of the United States has its own settlement history, dominant immigrant groups, and record types. Find your ancestors through the region they called home.
New England
★ Town vital records from 1640s
The birthplace of American record-keeping. Puritan town vital records from the 1630s, dense colonial burying grounds, and some of the oldest continuously maintained genealogical archives in the nation.
Mid-Atlantic
★ Ellis Island + Quaker records
Ellis Island gateway, Quaker Pennsylvania, colonial Maryland — the Mid-Atlantic is the entry point for dozens of immigrant communities and has extraordinarily diverse genealogical records.
The South
★ Freedmen's Bureau + Civil War pensions
The South presents the most challenging and most rewarding genealogical research in America — from colonial Virginia vestry books to Freedmen's Bureau records to Civil War pension files.
Midwest
★ Lutheran Kirchenbücher + immigrant records
The German Belt and Scandinavian heartland. Lutheran church records in Norwegian and Swedish, German immigrant burial societies, and the industrial cities that drew waves of European migration.
Great Plains
★ Homestead records + BLM archives
Homestead Act settlers, prairie sod busters, and the last great wave of frontier migration. Bureau of Land Management records, soddie-era church cemeteries, and Native American tribal records.
Mountain West
★ LDS pioneer records + mining districts
Mormon pioneer trail, mining boom-and-bust towns, and the most thoroughly documented mass migration in US history. LDS ward records and FamilySearch are the backbone of Mountain West genealogy.
Southwest
★ Spanish mission records from 1700s
Spanish colonial missions, Mexican territorial records, and the oldest continuous European genealogical records west of the Mississippi. Catholic mission registers predate US statehood by centuries.
Pacific Coast
★ California missions + Gold Rush records
Gold Rush 49ers, Chinese railroad workers, Japanese American history, and the terminus of westward expansion. California mission records and diverse immigrant community archives.
Why Search by Region?
Different regions of the United States were settled at different times, by different immigrant groups, with different record-keeping traditions. New England has town vital records from the 1640s. The South has Freedmen's Bureau records critical for African American genealogy. The Mountain West has extraordinary LDS pioneer documentation. Understanding the regional record landscape tells you where to look — and what to expect to find.