Can someone walk me through how I would conduct offline research? (Exhausted online sources)
FamilySearch lists a number of potential sources but I am wondering about the actual process.
As a specific example:
Episcopal Methodist Church records are offline and stored at United Church Dioceses in Kingston, Ontario. I am in Alberta ... the other side of the country. Do I just mail or email them and ask? Do I hire a local genealogist to go in person?
Other sources I have identified but have the same question for:
Land Records .. apparently the "instrument number" is a key to a wealth of peripheral information not captured on the actual registers.
Probate .. from what I read... not anyone can just walk into archives and get this .. they have to be a qualified person with archivist training??
Books ... most of what i am looking for is not for distribution or is on microfiche ... so inter-library loans is out.
... and if I need to hire a local genealogist to conduct research on my behalf ... has anyone here done this for pre-1800 records in Ontario? Does it usually bear fruit? How many hours of research should i be looking at investing?
My family was in Ernestown / Frontenac in the early 1800s. Ultimately trying to trace back to records in the US pre-revolution. Problem with my family is that Ward is a common surname ... and nearly all Ward families used the names James and William ... its like looking for a needle in a needle stack.
Thanks
Daniel
