Researching in the U.S. is all about knowing where to look. Being geographically challenged in not knowing where all the counties are in all the states (okay Texas, you have too many to keep straight!), I like to use Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses 1790 – 1920 by William Thorndale and William Dollarhide.

This Map Guide allows me to quickly find a county and see where it is relevant to other counties and states. Nothing worse than spending all your time looking for someone in one state to find out the county you’ve been researching borders another state and that’s where you find them. State lines mean nothing when tracking ancestors who had “wanderlust” – strong desire for or impulse to wander.