General Genealogy Links

The following links are provided to facilitate genealogical research in general, not focusing on those in the other main sections (Marion, Regional, Iowa, National, Global). If there is a general genealogical page that you would recommend to be added to this list, please send a note with information about the page to the county coordinator. NOTE: I am in the middle of the process of converting this page from a list to a list of links with a description following the link

First name abbreviations
This page lists many common first name abbreviations that have been used. For example, Geo for George, Chas for Charles, Jno for John, and Marg for Margaret. It helps to be familiar with these as you review records.
City directory abbreviations
City directories are quite useful in confirming a residence of your ancestor and sometimes to know when a husband died (since sometimes the wife is listed as widow of him). They also usually give an occupation and sometimes an address. It is very helpful to know what h means vs r.
Occupational abbreviations (a to e) (f to o) (p to z)
In city directories and other historic documents, a person's occupation is often abbreviated. Use the three links above, based on the starting of the occupation, to identify your abbreviation.
Wikipedia: obsolete occupations   75 occupations   another list   a longer list
Given above are several links to general lists of old names for various occupations and their descriptions. Not enough lists? Try ThoughCo for other niche lists and more.
Genealogy Word Dictionary
This has a list of words and abbreviations that apply to genealogy with their explanations.
Wikipedia - deprecated disease names   TX-Montgomery   PA-Harrisburg   NJ-Morris   verywellhealth   Merriam-Webster   lhaasdav.com
Given above are several links to general lists of old names (now deprecated) for various illnesses and their descriptions or modern names. Some of these come from other sites like this IAGenWeb/Marion site (and are so listed).

Created by Al Hibbard on 27 Oct 2022 and updated on 18 Mar 2023.