CHAPTER 7: The Great Record Hunt- How
to Find—and Use—Documents About Your Family
VITAL RECORDS: BIRTH, MARRIAGE, AND DEATH CERTIFICATES; DIVORCE DECREES
This website has all the information for every state found in Where to Write
for Vital Records . It also has links to many other sites, including places
to find information about vital records centers in many other countries.
www.vitalrec.com
The LDS church site is a good place to look for some of the information contained
in the documents themselves. Try running a general search on the family member
you are researching in their Vital Records Index area.
www.familysearch.org
This volunteer-run website specializes in making U.S. records available to all.
When you get to the homepage, click the link for the state in which your ancestor
lived. Look for the vital records section there, then enter your family member's
name.
www.usgenweb.org
Census Sites on the Web
Census Links
Over 17,000 links to state and country census records:
www.census-online.com
Clues in Census Records, 1850-1930
www.archives.gov/genealogy/census/
The USGenWeb Archives Census Project was started in February 1997. Its mission
is to transcribe every U.S. Federal Census and upload it to the USGenWeb Archives.
There are people working on this project who will look up one or two records for
you. Check these websites for more information
www.rootsweb.com/~census
www.us-census.org
CITIZENSHIP PAPERS
If your ancestors became citizens after September 26, 1906, you may be able to
track down their immigration papers with the help of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service. There is no fee unless the papers can be found. You can download the
required form at:
www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis
Naturalization data can also be found on the USGenWeb page for your state.
www.usgenweb.org
For more background and information, take a look at the National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA) page on naturalization records.
www.archives.gov/genealogy/naturalization/
Passenger Ship Lists
For the millions of Americans whose families came through Ellis Island between
1892 and 1924, the launch of the Ellis Island website on April 17, 2001, made
tracing an ancestor much easier. If you go to the site and register, you will
be able to enter your ancestors' names and see if you can find them.
www.ellisislandrecords.org
Here you'll find a listing of the many online sites that offer information or
specific data about immigrant ships.
www.cyndislist.com/ships.htm/lists
For general information and updates you might also want to try logging on to the
National Archives web page on immigration records.
www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration/
FINDING YOUR FAMILY'S NAME WITH SOUNDEX
The National Archives site has a "soundex machine" that will quickly translate
names into numbers for you.
www.archives.gov/genealogy/census/soundex.html
You could also try these sites:
www.familytreemagazine.com/soundex.html
www.pa-roots.com/soundex.html
Cemetery Records
This site collects searchable information about cemeteries. In 2002, it had nearly
3 million records from more than 4,500 cemeteries!
www.interment.net
Land Records
The Bureau of Land Management: Eastern States, General Land Office site allows
you to search more than 2 million federal land title records issued between 1820
and 1908. Despite the name "eastern," most data is about midwestern states. Records
are continually being added, so anyone with federal land history should check
this site occasionally.
www.glorecords.blm.gov/
Where to Obtain Land Patents/Warrants
A regularly updated site that explains what's happening with the records of who
owned what land and when, and where to go to find them.
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~haas/learningcenter/patentlocations.html
Retracing the Trails of Your Ancestors Using Deed Records
An interesting and comprehensive article about why these records are valuable.
www.ultranet.com/~deeds/deeds.htm
MILITARY RECORDS
Family History SourceGuide/U.S. Military Records
Here you'll find lots of specific information about how to trace military records.
www.familysearch.org/sg/Military.html
Military & Pension Records for Union Civil War Veterans
This site offers a first-person account of how to get these records from the National
Archives.
www.oz.net/~cyndihow/pensions.htm
BACK TO THE OLD COUNTRY: TIPS ON TRACING YOUR FAMILY ACROSS THE OCEAN
The best place for any American to start a search for overseas information is
with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) Family History Library,
which includes vital records from dozens of countries. One way to find an LDS
office near you is to log on to their website:
www.familysearch.org
You can find lots of information about your ancestors' homelands on the Internet.
A great place to begin your search for information about foreign-country websites
is:
www.Cyndislist.com
Other good sites include...
www.genealogytoolbox.com/
...and the site finder at www.genealogy.com
You can also find a huge collection of electronic mailing lists on
www.lists.rootsweb.com
Genealogical Societies
Genealogists tracing foreign-born ancestors have created groups that offer support
and information to others with the same interest. One good resource is the Federation
of Genealogical Societies (FGS), which has a listing of over 500 different genealogy
organizations. You can find the FGS list by going to:
www.familyhistory.com/societyhall/main.asp
Wills
You won't find information online about individual wills. But an interesting article,
"Analyzing Wills for Useful Clues," taken from the website of the Board for Certification
of Genealogists, talks about what genealogical information you can get from looking
at a will . . . carefully. You can find the article at:
www.bcgcertification.org/skillbuilders/skbld955.html
