Genealogy is like a kitchen spice rack. You may have 10 to 15 different spices in your cupboard, but you use only a few in almost every recipe: salt, pepper and maybe garlic powder. Every now and then, a recipe calls for other spices—rosemary, curry, thyme, sage—that have been in your cabinet for heaven knows how long, but they're there when you need them. Similarly, in genealogy, you may rely on those few records that researchers use all the time in their ancestral quests: censuses, vital records, wills and deeds. But in order to break through the brick walls in your family research, you'll need to look at the lesser-used records in your genealogical repertoire. We've identified 10 such sources that are sure to spice up your search.

1. Draft records