So your ancestor was an axle tree maker — what does that mean? Use this glossary to translate your kin's archaic occupations.

These Colonial practices produced the earliest occupational records of American ancestors. Learn how to find them.

Discover WPA-generated oral histories on the Library of Congress' Web site.

What can you find out about your forebears from occupational records? Here's a rundown of genealogical details divulged in different jobs' records

Just because your ancestors' company no longer exists doesn't mean you're out of genealogical luck. Follow these tips to track down documents of defunct businesses.

Get tips for locating the records surveys created in the WPA era — and today.

What was business as usual for your ancestors could yield big genealogical payoffs for you. Achieve maximum returns by taking our career-searching advice.

My ancestor Patience Breeden was an indentured servant of John Oldham in Virginia. She gave birth to a son, Bryan, about 1701. Court records state that Patience would be indentured an additional year, and Oldham would keep Bryan until he was 21. I suspect that Oldham was Bryan's father. How can I find out for sure, and learn whatever happened to Patience?

Can you explain the absence of some family members from federal census reports, when their obituaries indicate that they were residents of the city during that time?

My great-great-grandfather was supposedly a physician in the mid-1800s. He left Pennsylvania for Ohio, and died in 1870. How can I research where he got his education and verify that he was a physician?