Genealogy Research Help

[bigmerle1966]

The Mormon Library?

My DM used them for a lot of information.

She's done our as well as other family members (by marriage) geneologies and uses lots of sources just like others have said.

 

[wowsmom]

I don't know why this site gets overlooked but it does for some reason. I've done an amazing amount of research at geni.com and it's a free site.

That's geni.com.

The info on all the sites is often wrong and depending on the website sometimes you can go in and make corrections so it will be accurate from there on in, especially for others who might be researching the same family history. Accuracy seems to falter when it comes to names/changed names, either through marriage or americanization of an ethnic name...those have been our biggest hurdle in finding family history.

Good luck on your hunt!

Thanks for posting this site...I've started adding people and am having fun! Now I just need to find all the research I did about 10 years ago (on binder paper buried in DH's office) and enter all that info.

 

[Duchie]

Anybody an expert, or at least had experience, in researching their genealogy? I've gotten to the point where I think I am stuck and don't know how to proceed. I think I've tapped out the data I can get at Ancestry.com, at least at the level that I understand.

Here's the problem:
I've been able to track one side of my family back to the point where they came to the United States, but for the most part I have had no luck finding these people on Ellis Island's website or in any immigration forms available on Ancestry.com. Are there other places to look? Is it possible that these relatives may have been "undocumented"?

Also, I am getting stuck with some maiden names. How do I research marriage data for couples married a long time ago, especially if I don't know what church the marriage would take place?

Finally, before 1850, it appears that Census data is basically useless. For example, the 1840 US Census only lists the landowner (most of the time the patriarch of the family), and that offers very little data.

In some cases, I was able to find more data from several publicly available family trees, although I'm gotten concerned about how reliable they are after I found a few trees that listed a marriage that I know didn't occur. Basically I found a few trees that linked me to John & Priscilla Alden, but when I checked Alden.org's genealogy information and found that the family trees I was using were wrong.

So, my question, basically, is how are able to research your family back any earlier than 1850 or so without relying on other people's family trees, which may or may not be accurate?

Also, are there any other websites out there that are useful in researching besides those in the Ancestry.com family or FamilySearch.org?

There is one site that I've heard of that might be able to help a little. It's called Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (http://www.raogk.org/). It's a bunch of volunteers who will go and do research for you for free. I used it to ask someone to look in county records for Kansas that weren't available online anywhere. Maybe someone on that site could help you with some research.

Are you just using Ancestry.com to build your tree? Or are you using an off-line one? I started mine in Ancestry.com but I think it might be better to have something local on my PC where I don't have to continually pay to access the documents for it. Have you (or anyone else reading this thread) used any local products and if so which ones? I was considering Family Tree Maker because it's by the same people who do Ancestry.com, but I don't know if I'll be able to export everything I have online to the software, or if I'll just have to start all over.

 

[dngnb8]

My DM used them for a lot of information.

She's done our as well as other family members (by marriage) geneologies and uses lots of sources just like others have said.

At least she didnt use my first suggestion..... DOH!

 

[Geoff_M]

I'm glad to find this thread! I've been trying to work on my family tree, but I keep getting stuck. My mother's "stock" were dirt-poor tennant farmers who moved around a lot and didn't read or write, so all census info was filled out by whatever census worker was sent out, and it seems that some of them were more accurate than others (for instance, census data gives three different birth years for my great-grandfather with a 10 year range... and none of these match up with what my grandmother has told me. His name was very uncommon, so I doubt it's just a different person. I even pulled from a site that has digital copies of the original forms, and the years are written clearly - they're just all different!) Any other sites or ideas would be very helpful (I hope)!

Part of the problem is that I think that the Census reports we're seeing aren't the sheets collected in the field, but summary transcription ledgers. That allows a couple chances for error. I agree that you can find a lot of "float" in Census records. I have a g-g-grandmother whose name never appears the same twice in Census records. Her birth given name was "Acenith Herrenah" but she's listed as: "Herrenia" (1870), "Armenia" (1880), "Herrenah" (1900). It's actually right on her marriage licence: "Acenith H.". FWIW, the family called her "Ann". Also bouncing around is her husband's birth year. Normally it only moves around by a year or so, but an apparent mis-transcription of a "5" as a "4" moves it back ten years in one case. The thing that ties all of these records together is the location as well as the names and ages of the parents and siblings.

I've also found some variations in the reports of the birthplaces of parents. It seems that sometimes people interpreted the question as "Where was your family from originally?" Instead of "Where were your parents born?" I have relatives ID'd through the names and ages of family members that will report that their parents were born in Pennsylvania on one Census, "Germany" the next, and then back to "Pennsylvania" in the third. (Their surname is Germanic.)

 

[Geoff_M]

Are you just using Ancestry.com to build your tree? Or are you using an off-line one? I started mine in Ancestry.com but I think it might be better to have something local on my PC where I don't have to continually pay to access the documents for it. Have you (or anyone else reading this thread) used any local products and if so which ones? I was considering Family Tree Maker because it's by the same people who do Ancestry.com, but I don't know if I'll be able to export everything I have online to the software, or if I'll just have to start all over.

I have a local copy of my Ancestry.com tree stored using PAF (Personal Ancestral File). It's the FREE software that the Mormon's offer through their FamilySearch.org web site. Just export your tree as a GED file and it'll import straight into PAF. However, the documents don't export with the data.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Flightless - have you tried the National Archives in Washington D.C. or the Church of LDS?

Both groups have really good records for genealogy (and the LDS stuff isn't just for their particular faith).

 

[Crankyshank]

Since you are a genealogist - do you know if there is a way to get a record of someone who was a prisoner at Deer Island, Boston MA in 1930? Either online or by requesting it in writing? My great grandfather left his wife and children and was really never heard from again about this time, and I found him at Deer Island on the 1930 census. We are all sort of wondering why he was there!!

You'll want to get in touch with either the MA state archives or the Boston archives
https://www.cityofboston.gov/archivesandrecords/findingaids.asp

Deer Island was a "short term" prison. Usually people who were convicted of larceny, public drunkeness, or things like that were at Deer Island. Good luck!

 

[Crankyshank]

I just started working on my family history about a month ago and I'm already getting stuck. Do you have any suggestions for finding church records or Drouin (what are those?) records? Many of my ancestors were in Kansas and Missouri in the mid- to late-1800s and I'm finding they didn't keep very good records. So finding parent's names and maiden names is proving extremely challenging. I did stumble across the marriage license of my great-great-grandparents accidentally which was a fun find.

Drouin will only help you if your French Canadian. I'm not really up on the territories since my research is focused on the northeast but I would say check with town records or your state archives. Have you been to familysearch.org? Also, pay really close attention to Census records. Often people lived near or with family members. I was able to find my Great x 3 Grandmother's maiden name because her brother was living with them for a period of time. or at least was visiting when the census taker came.

Local historical societies or ethnic centered historical societies are also a help. Check Civil war records. Don't get discouraged - you can be stuck on a brick wall for years and then something clicks! It's like doing one of those 5000 piece puzzles sometimes.

 

[Crankyshank]

Another piece of advice:
be creative with your spelling when checking the Census if you aren't finding things. Census takers weren't known for their spelling and often abbreviated first names. For example, one of my brick walls has been the Hodde family.

Hodde has been:
Hardy
Hoddie
Hoode
Hodde
Hoodie
Harty
Hoddey

Charles and William are often Chas and Wm
If you know the area your relatives lived in, it's sometimes better to search via district or town through the census (yes it takes longer I know) than to search for name.

Also, familysearch.org is MUCH better for Census research than ancestry. The scans and indexing is much better plus less transcription errors.

 

[Feralpeg]

I was considering Family Tree Maker because it's by the same people who do Ancestry.com, but I don't know if I'll be able to export everything I have online to the software, or if I'll just have to start all over.

I use Family Tree Maker. Everything I have in my tree on Ancestry automatically exported to my Family Tree Maker file. You can access your Ancestry tree or other peoples' trees via Family Tree Maker. The little leaf things appear in Family Tree Maker just as they do in Ancestry. You get to look at all of the possible connections and choose what you want to merge into your tree. I really like Family Tree Maker!

I still maintain my Ancestry tree, at this point, because I want access to continue searching for additional connections. At some point, I will end my Ancestry membership once I feel I've gone as far as possible with my tree.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Flightless - have you tried the National Archives in Washington D.C. or the Church of LDS?

Both groups have really good records for genealogy (and the LDS stuff isn't just for their particular faith).

I haven't gotten to the point of travelling yet, and I have used FamilySearch.org but haven't physically gone to a LDS library yet.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Genealogist here. It would help if I had a bit more specific information on what you're looking for, but...

- Ellis Island didn't open until the 1890's. Anyone who came here before that wouldn't be in their records. I also believe they are still digitizing their records. Castle Garden was the major entrance before that and I believe they have records available online.

- Depending on where your family came from and where they went to, it is likely they did not come in to NY. I only had 1 family member (Great Grandfather come through Ellis Island- everyone else went into Boston or down from Canada).

- there may not be immigration records.
- Your best bet is to check NARA (national archives) - they have records from 1820 if I remember correctly.

Two of the people I am looking into were living in New York City in 1910, and one was listed in the 1910 Census as having emigrated in 1899, and the other in 1901. I think I might have found one of them in an immigration document, although the date is 2 months off from the story that was passed down as for when she arrived in the US (my Dad said she arrived the day McKinnley was shot).

I will certainly take a look at what you've suggested. Thanks

I am able to trace part of my family back to the 1580's without the help of other people's family trees. How? Church records, Drouin records, census records, etc... Never ever take someone else's work as correct unless they provide sources to back that info up (and always give your sources when you post your own info!)

- as far as the marriage data: check local historical societies, genealogical societies, etc... Probate records are also gems. It's not hard to locate the church because immigrants usually used the same church. (There would be a French Church in town, Polish, etc...)

I found someone researching one of the same lines I am (turns out we are 5th cousins!), and we have shared info, but so far I've been able to collaborate all of the same data he has going back to 1771. There is one maiden name that he has given me that I haven't been able to verify first hand. I have been trying online to find church records for the area, but I don't know the specific church (this particular marriage was between two locals in upstate New York in the early 1800's). Fortunately I have the address of the local historian, and I'm going to be sending him a letter asking for assistance.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Thanks everyone for the advice far. I've had varying levels of success with different branches so far.

One of the things I'm stuck on right now might require a trip to Connecticut, or at the very least using the RAOGK website. I have found two separate documents that confirm a marriage that took place, but the woman involved in the marriage has the same name as two women born two years apart. Online I've found various trees suggestions it could have been either woman (and I know I can't take either one as gospel!). One of these women is related to John and Priscella Alden (from The Mayflower).

I'm pretty sure it's NOT the woman I'm related to, though.

Well, back to hunting.

 

[jenniferma]

I am not an expert, but I have been working on my family tree for the last couple of years. I have a membership to ancestry.com, but have also found many old marriage/birth/death records on familysearch.org.

One thing I have learned is NOT to rely on other people's family trees. I have found way to many inaccuracies in them.

As far as US census data, you are correct, but there are also many states that had their own census and some of them have the names of all the members of the family.

When did your ancestors come over, and from what country? Also, what states are you looking in? I may be able to help you if I knew that info.

I have also found some good info on this site www.deathindexes.com. It is basically just a bunch of links, and not all of them relate to death records only.

lil mermaid-- this thread is probably super old .. I just wanted to say thank you because your link has helped guide me to the death certificate of my Great Grandmother I could never find! She died when my Grandmother was 13 years old in 1928 and no one ever knew what she died from-- now I know. THANK YOU for leading me to this answer.

No one could tell me what she died of.. now I finally know!
mystery solved!
thanks!
jen

ps-- the reason I couldn't find it.. her last name was misspelled. The familysearch.org found her with the wrong spelling.