Genealogy research is often challenging, and one of the biggest stumbling blocks that researchers face is tracing female lines. In order to research further back in a female ancestor’s line, you need to discover her maiden name and her parents’ names. This is difficult because, especially the further back in history you get, few transactions, legal or commercial, were recorded in a woman’s name. Vital records, often the most revealing sources of direct evidence in genealogy research, were not typically required to be recorded across the U.S. until the early part of the 20th century, as you can see if you consult this list of 
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