Public Records

In working on family history there comes a time when the information you have runs out….
Perhaps the family members you interviewed don't know anything else, or there are gaps in their knowledge, or you have simply gone back far enough that it's time to employ a new method.
This is when gathering information from public records comes into play.
There are many different kinds of records that we can search- often governments and churches keep records of specific life events.
Some examples of records include:

Vital Records: These often contain the dates and places of marriages, and deaths. Vital records are typically found in government offices and churches near the places where your ancestors lived. It's important to note that in some countries vital records are called civil registration records.
Sometimes you might not know exactly where an ancestor was from (hence the searching for records) but we can usually make an educated guess to be a jumping ground based on where their children lived and then contact their local church or government office (local or central).

Census Records: which are super cool! Have you ever gotten to take a look at old census records? They note the date that the record was taken, the people living in the house (including boarders), their relationship to the head of house (it might be wife, mother-in-law, son, etc), the age of the person at the time the record was taken (simple math can tell us their birth year-approximately), birthplaces, and sometimes occupations. I'm especially fascinated by the occupation part because there are jobs we just don't have anymore.

Immigration Records: These are records that were created when an individual or family came to a new country. These records are fabulous because they notate where the family or individual came from, and when they arrived etc. Immigration records are ones that also help us better understand our ancestors, but more on that another time.

Newspapers: Remember in the movies when the kid had to go to the library basement to dig through giant books of newspapers to look up an old and mysterious event in their town? That now gets to be us Hunters! We get to be that library basement hunter. Newspapers may include articles about our ancestors like obituaries, marriages, and perhaps even accomplishments like an award, leaving for or returning from military service etc. However, obituaries in particular can be a wealth of information. They often include information about the birthplace, family members, religion, and burial.

Church Records: Through the years churches (of all denominations) have worked to keep track of their parishioners. Events like births, christenings, baptisms, marriages, deaths and so on could be recored and just waiting to be found! Getting ahold of this information means having an idea of where your ancestor grew up, or lived and then contacting the local church to see if they have any other information.

Cemetery Records: Cemetery records, such as tombstones and sexton records, may have information like birth dates, death dates, age at death, name of spouse, names of children, and maiden names. Birthplaces are occasionally mentioned as well. …but wait- what's a sexton record? A sexton is the office of a person or persons who are in charge of a cemetery. They are often referred to as the caretaker. These are the people who maintain the records of the people buried in their particular graveyard. This helpful person would be able to help you locate information about your ancestor buried in their cemetery as well as the location of their grave in the cemetery rather than wander around and hope you find it. Did you know cemeteries are set up in a grid format? It's true! Also meaning that the location of your ancestor's grave may be as easy to find as knowing a grid point.
Also, the word "sexton" is said to come from the Anglo-Norman word "segerstein" which means "someone who looks after the sacred objects." Clearly a name given by people who understand how important our acceptors are to us!

Death Certificate, or Birth Certificate: also known as The Old School Way of Family History! This is when you need to know the county or state your ancestor was born or died in and then you can actually request their death or birth certificate (for a small fee) and with it comes a wealth of information. Taking this method has been helpful for myself and my family because we don't know the names' of my maternal grandfather's parents. To make a long story short, we just don't know much about him, and this is a way that we can start down the path of his ancestry!
As an example here is the web site to request a death certificate if your ancestor died in LA county (California, United States).
http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/dca/dcadeath.htm

Whew! That was a lot of information!

Now the question is, 'well that's some good advice but HOW to I get in contact with these government agencies or get ahold of census records….?'
On familysearch.org as well as ancestry.com there are a wealth of census reports already available to be looked over, and just a reminder, Family Search is a free site- it's true!
A lot of family history work is exactly that- work! It's research, and hunting. Finding where your ancestor came from is the first step or their children because then you're able to contact their local church, or town civic center and get started on finding out more. If you're ready to look into other countries for information start with the internet. Find the site of the town, or village, and make a phone call. We live in an awesome time of international phone calls, and Skype meaning we have the capability to talk to people who are really far away from us about these things. Don't forget about email, and letters too!

Good luck Hunters and Huntress! Our ancestors are out there- let's go find them!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Hooray for Saint Patrick's Day!
Today is a fantastic Irish holiday, and one that I particularly love as a redhead, and as someone with Irish roots. I am continually fascinated with figuring out who and when my ancestors immigrated from other countries to come to America. I had looked through the family history that had been done but all I found were generations upon generations of relatives proudly claiming to be Scottish and Irish but they had lived in Virginia for centuries. So when did they come here?
So, I hunted!
And I finally found my Irish link! My four-greats grandmother Mary Flood immigrated from Ireland. She was born in 1844 and her parents encouraged, and then begged her to immigrate after being in jail four times. The next infraction would mean a life sentence.
The first time she was jailed was for stealing food so some children wouldn't starve. The next was because she beat up a man who was trying a rape a girl. Third was beating up a man for beating his wife. And the last time was for intervening on another rape attempt and beating up the man.
She is incredible!
Mary left Ireland and went to New York where she met her future husband- William Sullivan. Together they married, and moved to Virginia.
I am proud to be a descendant of such a stalwart, and incredible woman. She stood up for what was right at great personal risk, and moved through life with determination.
And so, this Saint Patrick's Day my thoughts turn to Mary Flood, and the gamble she took to leave the "Emerald Isle" and try something new.
This is now one of my favorite stories to share when talking about family history- how about you? What amazing people do you have in your family tree?

Happy Hunting, and Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Getting Started

Greeting Hunters and Huntresses!

First things first… getting started on your family history!

To begin, gather what you know. Do you know your parents full names and birth dates? Grandparents? Great-grandparents?

Start writing it all down.

At some point in this progression of questions you'll discover two things.

1) You don't know everything!

2) You need a format to keep things organized. 

To answer the first concern, this is when talking to family members comes into play. Think to yourself, and ask who is the person in your family that is keeping all this organized? It might be time to call mom and dad, or grandma or grandpa, or possibly a knowledgeable aunt or uncle. The first step it to determine who that person is. The next is to make arrangements to talk to them. If an in-person visit isn't possible (I understand this- my family is pretty spread out around the USA) then a phone call or Skype can be wonderful! 

Before you make your phone call or Skype call, decide what you want to specifically ask, and then let the person or people know what you plan on asking. This way they can be prepared before the visit or call. I highly suggest setting an appointment to meet up or call to talk. Family History is a wonderful endeavor and can be a great and bonding experience to share with family. 

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with my maternal grandmother and have her share some family photos and stories about great-aunts and uncles I've never met. It was an incredible experience. 

If you don't have a person to contact, or you've hit a dead end then next comes the good old fashioned way of gathering information- collecting birth and death certificates. This means having at least some idea of where the person was born (or died) and then contacting that county. Google can be a great tool to help with this step. An example might be contacting the LA County Department of Public Health to order/request a birth or death certificate. It will cost a little bit of money, but you will also be getting the information you need. 

You're on your way to collecting all kinds of good information! Now what are you suppose to do with it?

This is when point two comes into play. You need a format to keep things organized. The website that I love and use to keep my family history organized is called familysearch.org . It's fantastic! It connects to other users so that my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and family can see what I find and add their information as well. It organizes photos, personal stories, burial and birth locales, siblings, multiple marriages etc. It's a fantastic and free site. It also has people standing by to help whenever you get stuck. I adore this site! 

Puzzling out the pieces of our family history is a challenging and rewarding endeavor. There is truly nothing like it. 

Happy Hunting!

Why Family History?

For each person the reason they begin doing their family history work varies. For some, it begins as a class or school project and their interest is peaked to go further. Some might have noticed a friend’s enthusiasm while working on their family tree, and wanted to try it for themselves. There are as many reasons as their are people in this world. 

Some of my earliest memories of my mother’s father were his bi-annual visits and how he always wanted to draw out the family tree with me. I was the only one he did this with. As the oldest in my family I felt like it was my responsibility to listen to his stories, and nod my head dutifully. As an adult I value those moments and wish I had paid attention better. 

I remember my Grandpa telling me how much family meant to him and how much understanding our heritage would help us today. He told me about my ancestors and the work they did and things they contributed to this world. Some worked in the courts of Kings of England, and how their work as ambassadors helped the monarchy etc. 

To me family history means learning more about myself. The sacrifices of those who came before me are my inheritance. Your ancestors are yours to claim. What they fought for is what we now enjoy. My forbearers who immigrated, who established traditions, who learned skills, trades, and worked to be better for their children- that is mine.