Hello,
Just a few tips . . . . . .
When researching your genealogy, it is important to remember that you will need to do the following:
1. Start backward from yourself in your research. Do not skip a generation and find the birth, marriage and death records for each person. One record may well give a clue to another.
2. Be prepared to do the research yourself. With variant spellings in names, changes in street names, etc., others may not recognize an ancestor where you will. It's important to ask the reader to "help" you go to the right place to search, not to give you the answer. Unless you zero in on an "exact" situation (such as a descendant from the ancestor), most of what someone can give you is a guess.
3. Be prepared to learn the history of the area you are searching. It is imperative that you understand the development of the area.
4. When preparing a query, please give the information of birth, marriage, death (date and location) for ancestors, descendants, and siblings of the person you are researching. Generic queries such as: "My greatgrandfather, John Smith, was born in Wyandotte County in 1879 and died in 1940. Does anyone have any information on him?" gives relatively no information to the reader and you may never get an answer. Hopefully, the reader may be able to suggest a place where you can research for the information.
5. Be sure to verify information. Remember that research answers you pick up from others may or may not be correct. We all try to do our best, but we are human - especially if we are "helping" someone with "their" genealogy about which we probably know little. :-) No serious genealogist or researcher would accept information with verification.
I know genealogy can be difficult researching at times, but it is terrificly rewarding when the puzzle is solved. :-)
There are several archival facilities in the Kansas City, KS and Wyandotte County area which you can contact for aid in your research.
Kansas City, KS Public Library
Kansas Room Librarian, Georgia Slaughter
625 Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66101
(913) 551-3280
http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/KSCOLL/Links.htm
(The Kansas Room has numerous records from the beginning of Wyandotte County to the current date. This library also has a listing of all cemeteries and burials therein in the Kansas City, KS area - as well as microfilm on early newspapers. Georgia Slaughter, Kansas Room Librarian)
Wyandotte County Historical Society and Museum
631 North 126th Street
Bonner Springs, Kansas 66012
Kansas City, KS 66012
(913) 721-1078
Wyandotte County Courthouse
7th & Ann
Kansas City, KS 66101
(A personal visit here for land records, marriage/death/birth prior to 1911, etc. will probably be required at the courthouse. I don't believe that in a major city of this size that research by them will be a possibility. After 1911, birth/marriage/death were required at the State level - Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, KS has those records.)
For past school records of the Kansas City, KS district, contact:
Patricia Adams
Kansas City, KS Public Schools
625 Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66101
(913) 279-2144
padams@kckps.org
http://www.kckps.org/disthistory/index.html
Kansas State Historical Society
6425 SW Sixth Avenue
Topeka, KS 66615-1099
(785) 272-8282
information@kshs.org
http://www.kshs.org
(The state historical society was established by newspaper editors - most state records are kept here. If not, they can refer you to the appropriate facility.)
Kansas City, Kansas Planning & Zoning
Historic Preservation
(913) 573-5750
http://www.wycokck.org/planning/
Mid-Continent Public Library
Independence, MO
http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/
One of the best genealogical libraries in the midwest.
NARA (National Archives & Records)
(Central Plains Region facility, maintaining records from federal agencies and courts in KS, MO and NE.)
2312 E. Bannister Road
Kansas City, MO 64131-3011
http://www.archives.gov/facilities/mo/kansas_city.html
Be sure to check with your nearest public library to see if they have a copy of Ancestry's "Red Book" for genealogists. This book gives information on finding "any type of record" you are looking for in all states of the US, lists counties, sources, etc. It is invaluable in aids to the researcher and saves you hours upon hours of looking in the wrong place for the records you need.
Good luck in your research,
Enjoy,
Patricia Adams
(1) Coordinator: Wyandotte County, KSGenWeb
http://www.ksgenweb.org/wyandott/index.html
(2) Webmistress: History of the Public Schools in Wyandotte County, 1844 - Present
http://www.kckps.org/disthistory/index.html