Ancestor Search Information
An ancestor search, also known as genealogy, is an exciting venture to discover your heritage. Fortunately, a number of online search engines specific to genealogy help you quickly sort through many types of records including military, cemeteries and immigration records to passenger lists of ships and wagon trains along with some of the more common search options.
Other People Are Reading
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Interview Relatives
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The first place to begin the search for ancestor information is to interview living relatives. In addition to taking notes, use audio and video recorders to preserve valuable family histories. The information gathered should include basic information needed to search other sources that require full names, dates of birth, death or marriage, parent names and areas where your ancestors lived.
Make the effort to create electronic recordings from elderly family members. Ask them to tell stories about family and their personal life histories. The same old stories you may have think you heard over the years may provide new revelations as you and other family members grow older.
Search Census Information
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Search U.S. Census Bureau records through projects similar to SearchFor Ancestors.com that gather historic census information and provide the information for free. The Census Bureau itself does not make specific information available on individuals listed in the census public until 72 years after that census was taken. The Bureau does offer a name search service for 1910 through to the last census period, but requires a $65 payment as of 2010 for each requested name search.
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Search Immigration Records
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If you are new to researching documents for your ancestors, immigration records are the difficult documents to review, but persistence provides rewards. The greatest frustration is deciphering the names written by individuals working at the immigrant centers. Workers often misspelled names, either because they couldn't fully understand the heavy accents or the immigrants were not literate and able to spell out their names properly for the workers. Another issue regarding all genealogy records, says Genealogy.com, is the style of handwriting was different at that time, with numerous letters that appear like other letters when written in cursive.
Prior to Ellis Island, immigrants entering the eastern United States came through the Castle Garden center in New York. For immigrant records from 1820 to 1890, search at CastleGarden.org.; for records from 1890 to 1954 search at EllisIsland.org. Some Asian immigrants entered through Hawaii and Angel Island off San Fransisco. Research that information beginning with Casefiles.Berkeley.edu.
Search County Records
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Counties maintain records related to birth, marriage and death. Larger counties near major metro areas have been converting old paper documents to electronic methods, with a number of counties now able to provide online searches. Many smaller counties that do not have records available online are happy to do a search for you and mail copies of documents for a small research fee.
One problem you may encounter is the loss of valuable county records due to flood, fire or other disasters from more than fifty years ago. Genealogy.com explains also the problem of "Bouncing Boundaries," when city or county names or boundary lines change. "This means that if a boundary change caused your ancestors to make a 'move' that you don't know about, you may be looking in the wrong place for their records, " reports Genealogy.com
Search Mormon Church Records
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Members of the Mormon Church of Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) as part of their faith are required to keep detailed records regarding family members. As a result, the church has one of the best collections of genealogy records. Many services require a fee to search records; however, AncestorHunt.com provides a free service to search LDS ancestor search records.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit family tree image by Judy Ben Joud from Fotolia.com
