Record Timeline: What Records Exist for My Ancestor's Years?

Knowing when records begin tells you where to look, and where not to. Find your ancestor's lifetime on the timeline below.

When	What begins
1600s–1700s	Church registers, colonial land grants, deeds, wills, court and tax records. Most original colonial records are at county or state level.
1752	Britain and its colonies switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Dates before this may be "Old Style." See Old Dates.
1775–1783	Revolutionary War service, pension and bounty land records begin.
1790	First federal census (heads of household only).
1820	Federal customs passenger lists begin at U.S. ports.
1850	First census to name everyone in the household. Slave and mortality schedules begin.
1861–1865	Civil War service records, draft records, and Union pension files (pensions continue for decades).
1862	The Homestead Act begins; homestead files are rich in family detail.
1862–1866	Federal Internal Revenue tax assessment lists.
1865–1872	Freedmen's Bureau records.
1865–1874	Freedman's Savings Bank records.
1880	Census gives each person's relationship to the head of household.
1892–1924	Ellis Island's peak years; manifests become much more detailed from 1907.
1890s–1920s	Most states begin statewide birth and death registration. See each state guide for its year.
1906	Naturalization is standardized nationally; papers now give birthplace, arrival details and family.
1917–1918	World War I draft registration (about 24 million men).
1936	Social Security numbers and SS-5 applications begin.
1940–1947	World War II draft registration.
1950	The most recent census open to the public (released 2022). The 1960 census opens in 2032.