Tracing ancestors back to the boat is easier if you use the elimination process. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were over 2 million immigrants a year entering the U.S. in 1850. By 1900, the number had increased to more than 10 million a year. There are many websites with information on immigration and immigrants, including ship’s passenger lists. So where should genealogists begin their search?

1. Census records
2. Naturalization records
3. Ship’s passenger lists

There are three major time frames for researching ship lists:
1. Pre-1820
2. 1820-1890
3. 1892 to the present

Census Records

Genealogists often start their searches with census records. Every census asks different questions. With the increase in immigrants in the late 1800s, the federal government became interested in gathering information on them. The 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses asked the year of immigration to the United States, and if the individual was a naturalized citizen.

The censuses taken between 1880 and 1930 also asked for the parental nativity of the respondent, which can be a clue as to when the family came over. If a couple came over together, the date of arrival should be the same. If they had children when they came, the nativity will supply the information regarding who was born where and when. One set of my great-great grandparents were married and had their first child in Germany. Their second child was born in the United States. That information should agree with the year the parents came over as listed in the census.

When working with the census, be sure to check for other adult family members – such as brothers or sisters – living close by. Experienced genealogists sometimes get a look of exasperation when someone starts telling the family story of two siblings who came over together. The story often includes the line that one was a stow-away. The stow-away part may or may not be true. The fact is, though, that often there were two or three family members who did come over together, or within a couple of years of each other, and settled in the same neighborhood.

Naturalization Records

Family genealogists need to remember that, in many cases, wives and children may not have naturalization records. They were an extension of the husband or father – who would have a naturalization record. In early naturalization records, the emphasis was transferring allegiance from the birth country to the United States, so don’t count on finding a lot of information. Later naturalization papers have a wonderful amount of information.

Naturalizations often took place in the county where the individual was living. It is also be a part of court records, many of which have been moved to courthouse basements or attics. That’s the bad news. The good news is that many naturalization records have been microfilmed or are being digitized and are online or going online.

Ship Passenger Lists

Now it is time for the family history researcher to start looking for the boat. There were five major immigration ports: Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, New York, and Philadelphia. For a variety of reasons, well over half of the immigrants came through New York. Individuals looking to settle in the southeast may have come through Baltimore or New Orleans. Because of its location and access to river transportation, some immigrants planning to settle in the Midwest may have come through New Orleans, too.

As a genealogical researcher, do not assume that your ancestor came to the United States by boat. In the mid-1800s, about 40% of the foreign passengers arriving in Canada were bound for the U.S., and border crossings with either Canada or Mexico were not recorded.

A Time Line:

• 1790 – Congress passed an act to establish uniform rules of naturalization.
• 1819 – Congress passed an “Act Regulating Passenger Vessels.” One section of the Act required masters of ships to file a manifest of all passengers who boarded at a foreign port with the district collector of customs. Prior to 1820, any passenger lists would probably be sketchy.
• 1855 – New York City’s Castle Garden became the Emigrant Landing Depot.
• 1891 – Congress passed the “Immigration Act of 1891.” The federal government took control of the immigration process. Among other things, the federal government began to maintain information about people entering the United States overland from Canada and Mexico.
• 1892 – Ellis Island became the major location for processing immigrants.

Before 1820, passenger records were not required by the federal government. There may be customs or baggage lists that include the name of a passenger, but those lists – if they exist – are not located at the National Archives. Where are they? They could be at a local archives, library, historical society, or government office. However, many have been published and may be found in a number of places.

So you think you have a time and place to look for your ancestor. I would venture to say that there are well over a 100 websites to look for the passenger list. My first seven choices to look would be:

1. Castle Garden (1855-1890); free, donation suggested.
2. Ellis Island (1892-abt. 1920); free, donation suggested.
3. National Archives; free.
4. One-Step Webpages by Stephen P. Morse; free.
5. Cyndi’s List; free.
6. Ancestry.com; $$$.
7. FamilySearch.org; this is a work in progress.

Now, does the search seem like it may be a little overwhelming? Would a little help be welcome? This is one of the things the expert, professional genealogists at RecordClick can do. We can analyze census records, assist in obtaining naturalization documents and research passenger lists to find your ancestor. We can also work with you in developing a research strategy. The initial consultation is free and just a mouse click away.

I have tooled around the state for some 40 odd years in search of great genealogical hotspots, but the first stop on our genealogist road trip is my hometown of Fort Wayne in the northeast corner of the state. I grew up with the Allen County Public Library and watched the genealogy center grow from a half of a dozen microfilm readers to the massive world-class genealogical ancestry center that it is today. The Allen County Public Library (ACPL) is considered to be second in genealogy research only to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The genealogy center at ACPL has resources for every county in Indiana, as well as materials for most of the other states.

To summarize ACPL briefly, there are 11 databases which lead to numerous resources and 10 on-site databases to help trace family history. There are more than 55,000 family histories in books and 5,000 on microfiche. The Census collection includes all surviving federal population schedules, many state censuses and mortality schedules on rolls of microfilm. In movable stacks, ACPL has in excess of 48,000 city directories. On microfilm and microfiche there are passenger lists for 163 ports, as well as military records from the National Archives for every war from the American Revolution to the Philippine Insurrection – all available to genealogists.

The ACPL has the largest genealogy and local history collection of periodicals, which can be accessed through the PERSI Index ~ Periodical Source Index. The massive index was created by the staff at the ACPL. The Library also has resources to trace African-American family lines and Native American research. Finally, there are also available resources and guidebooks to trace family history in other countries, including, but not limited to the British Isles, Canada, and Germany.

Okay genealogists, grab your notebooks and i-Pads, we’re hopping onto US Highway 27 and heading south to Richmond, located in the central part of Indiana at the crossroads of Highways 27 and 40 in Wayne County. We stopping at Earlham College, where the staff has created a large database of digitized Quaker research.

Leaving Richmond, we’ll take Highway 40 to Indianapolis. The state capital is well known for the Indy 500 Motor Speedway and race every Memorial Day, but there’s a lot more to Indianapolis than just race cars. There are several interesting hotspots in Indy, but the two hotspots for genealogical research are the state library and the state archives. The Indiana State Library has many links, but the link I found to be most useful for ancestor search is for newspapers. The State Library has almost all of the newspapers for Indiana counties. The Ask A Librarian link is a good way to request an obituary for a nominal fee. The archive is an inventory of all of the digital collections in the library and the archives, including links to the counties, universities, and other unique collections.

Back on the road, we’ll head south to Evansville in the south central part of the state, located on the Ohio River in Vanderburgh County. The Evansville Vanderburgh County Library (EVPL) houses its genealogy materials in their Indiana Room. From the website, you can access the Browning Collection, which is important to genealogists because it is a compilation of the obituary records (found in newspapers) of Vanderburgh County and surrounding southwestern Indiana. Additionally, it includes Veteran and Immigration records for surrounding counties. Also in Evansville is the Willard Library, which houses family histories; county newspapers; church records; and church, cemetery, and funeral home records. It’s a great place for genealogists searching for genealogy and local history.

Turning north on Highway 41, we have 53 miles ahead of us before we hit our next best genealogy hotspot – Vincennes in Knox County, the oldest town in the state. It is nestled on the banks of the Wabash River. It is the official/unofficial first capital of Indiana pre-dating statehood in 1819. Vincennes is also the home of the University of Vincennes, and the hometown of comedian Red Skelton. The genealogy records of the Knox County Public Library can be found in the McGrady-Brockman house, a former funeral home. It has a searchable index to the early probate records and the obituaries of Knox County online.

Our next destination is Valparaiso, in the northwest corner of the state on Lake Michigan, in the heart of Porter County. We’re going to be on a number of different roads, so I just suggest you Mapquest this one to get an idea of where we are going. Valparaiso more than 200 miles due north of Vincennes, close to Chicago. The genealogy department of the Porter County Public Library is especially good for many useful searchable links, including milk producers.

Heading east on Highway 30, we’ll wend our way back to Fort Wayne. To paraphrase Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, the best genealogy resource is in my own backyard.

Whether you visit individual counties, click your way through the state, or just camp out at the Allen County Public Library, you are guaranteed to find resources to help you trace family history. Even the best genealogy researcher, however, may hit the proverbial brick wall in ancestor search. No worries, contact RecordClick, a professional genealogy service that knows how to maneuver many genealogy researcher resources in any state. RecordClick’s professional genealogy researchers can start you on your ancestor search road trip.

Links to the Libraries and Archives listed in this article:

• Allen County Public Library at Fort Wayne
• Ask A Librarian
• Browning Collection
• Earlham College
• Evansville Willard Library
• Indiana State Archives
• Indiana State Library
• Indiana State Newspapers
• Knox County Public Library
• Porter County Public Library
• Terre Haute Library

The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is timelessly true. When genealogists start enthusing about their latest find (Did you know that great-grandpa became a doctor but couldn’t make a living and had to go back to cotton farming?), others may simply glaze over or change the topic of conversation. But, if you put an actual census image into their hands from 1900 listing great-grandpa’s occupation as physician, and then the 1910 census showing him as a farmer, those documents make great-grandpa more real, and the speculation about his career path will take off.

A Legacy Book allows family history researchers to bring together the documents and images of their ancestor search. Printed on high-quality, glossy paper, a typical book begins with a 5-generation pedigree. This is followed by the generations flowing back through the second-great grandparents. (Additional generations can be added as desired.) Included is a family group sheet for each ancestral couple, a timeline for each direct ancestor (set against an historical timeline of the major world events corresponding with that person’s life), and all documents you wish to include, such as birth and marriage certificates, military documents, immigration and naturalization records. The individual’s information from images, such as censuses and passenger lists, is summarized off to the side of the document for easy consumption. Generational divider pages help keep the reader on track.

Your photographs, perhaps rescued from old albums and shoeboxes, help make the people and places of your ancestor search jump vividly to life. The layouts are all handled professionally, and a wide array of backgrounds help tell your family’s stories. A limitless variety of images can be included: military medals, certificates, diplomas, letters, passports – anything that can be scanned or photographed can be included in a Legacy Book.

This product will pull in even the most skeptical family members; and often seeing the product being developed online inspires your relatives to get involved in family history research by cleaning out old drawers or closets, looking for additional photographs, documents, and other memorabilia to include. As the professional RecordClick Legacy Book producer is working on your book, you will have the opportunity to view the progress and request additions or changes.

If you would like to preserve and present your genealogical research in a format that goes beyond the 3-ring binders and endless file folders, consider contacting RecordClick for a free consultation. Your loved-ones, now and in the future, will thank you for preserving the family history in such a vibrant, engaging fashion, and your Legacy Book will be proudly handed down through the generations, honoring those generations who went before. And when the next person asks you what on earth is so interesting about a bunch of deceased relatives, just hand them your Legacy Book and smile.

Genealogical research in Germany can be a fascinating and productive study; at the same time, it can be disappointing and frustrating. The same may be said for all ancestry searches – domestic or international – but it is even truer for researching genealogy in Germany. The reason for this has a lot to do with the historic development of Germany over the last 1,000 years. The United States is a relatively young country at only 237 years, compared to European countries with thousands of years of history. Germany is one of those countries with an ancient history; however, relatively speaking, “Germany” as a nation is extremely young.

Present-day Germany has been in existence only since 1990, when it was formed out of the 11 “older” federal states of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the five “newer” federal states of the former German Democratic Republic. Where the difficulty comes for genealogists researching German genealogy is that every one of these federal states has at least one main archive, depending on its size. Bavaria for example has nine, while Hamburg only has one. Family genealogists conducting German ancestry searches are met with the fact that German territories are now part of other countries, which means there are many different archives in the federal states in Germany.

If you want to research German archives today, you should always remember that the frontiers outside and inside the land called “Germany” were historically far from stable. As people moved, so did their archives. For example: the descendants of Christian IV moved from Zweibruecken to Munich, handing over some (but not all) of the territories on the left side of the river Rhine after 1816 to the Prussian Kings or the Hessian Landgraves of Hesse-Homburg. The descendants of Christian IV took their archives with them, which means that you could find traces of your ancestors in archives in Munich, as well as in Darmstadt (Hesse) or Koblenz (Rhineland-Palatinate).

Before you begin your German genealogy search, consider the following:

• Find out as much information as you can about your ancestor
• Know the time period in which your German ancestors lived
• Know under whose reign your German ancestors were born
• Were your ancestors Catholic or Protestant? This is important if you choose to search church archives
• Try to identify the site and the size of the place where your German ancestors lived. What was once a village could now be incorporated as a town or a city; a town may now belong to one of the other nations surrounding Germany
• Identifying the site is also important to start the research in the right area. There are several villages and towns with the same name, but they are located several hundred miles apart
• Remember that the spelling of your German ancestor’s name or the place where he/she lived could have changed over the years. The further back your search leads you, the more likely it is to find different notations in the records
• Try to get used to the different scripts and printed letters used in the German language, such as “Sütterlin” or “Fraktur”
• FamilySearch.org or Ancestry.com are great genealogical research resources. You can access them to find out if there are already digitized records available.

FamilySearch has more than 40 Historical Record Collections for Germany, dating from pre-1700s to present day. Included in the collections are census and lists; birth, marriage, and death records; probate and court records; military records; migration and naturalization records, and others.

If you speak German, Ancestry Deutschland offers its website in the German language.

Additional German Genealogy Websites:

• Cyndi’s List Germany / Deutschland: Search for links to German genealogy websites on the Internet
• Family Search.org offers a “Germany Page” in a Wiki format that includes sections on “Getting Started with German Research,” Nobility and Government Areas,” “New Portal for German Church Records on the Internet,” as well as helpful “Research Tools”
• Genealogy Roots Blog provides “Tips for Finding Your German Immigrant Ancestor’s Hometown in Germany.”

The more information genealogists have have, the easier genealogical research will be. Information is necessary, not only concerning your ancestors themselves, but also knowing how and where to find an archive, a location, or other information that will aid your genealogical research.

Because RecordClick recognizes research trends, and has the desire to help you find your ancestors, they are increasing their genealogy ancestry services in Germany and Poland, staffing more in-country professional genealogists, to help trace your ancestry. With so many archives to deal with, language barriers, and the inevitable need to research in faraway locations, a German-based genealogist for hire may be your best bet. Contact RecordClick today for a free consultation, and see how our genealogy services can boost your Teutonic genealogical research.

When I see a new physician, knowing he/she will want a medical family history, the genealogy researcher in me comes bubbling to the surface. Being a good genealogist, I have the death certificates for my parents, grandparents, and all but two of my great grandparents. I even have a couple of death certificates for g-g-grandparents, plus obituaries from the local newspapers.

All in all, it is way more information than the physician is looking for; but as a family history researcher, I think it is important to trace family history with an eye for genetic genealogy – not only for me, but for my descendants, as well. The most important medical data to have includes:

• Name
• Relationship
• Birth date
• Death date
• Cause of death

Also important: keep a family medical history to one sheet of paper.

I have a neatly organized copy that is included in my personal medical file. I’m sure there are other formats that can be used, but I have chosen one similar to a four-column pedigree file with my siblings and me listed on the center-left portion of the page. Starting with my generation, I include our birth dates and major health issues. In the next column I have my parents, then grandparents, and finally, great grandparents. At the bottom of the page I list the individuals and the cause of death as stated on the death certificate, as well as their age at the time of death.

The doctor is usually impressed with my genetic genealogy. It seems that many people can only name their parents, possibly a grandparent or two, and only maybe what they died of. With my medical family history I get an, “Okay, this is good,” although I only go back four generations. The sheet is slipped into my medical file. The “Okay, this is good” can usually be translated as: “Medicine has changed a lot in the past one hundred or so years, and as long as we have a general idea of family health issues, that’s fine and dandy.”

Keep in mind that life expectancy has increased over the years. In the 1800s, 60 or 65 was considered a long life, while now individuals routinely live to be 80 or 85.

Of my 14 parents, grandparents, and great grandparents:

• Eight died of heart related issues
• Two died of cancer
• One died of pneumonia
• One died of tuberculosis
• For one, diabetes was a contributing factor
• Two, I suspect, died of heart-related issues; unfortunately, I don’t have death certificates to confirm it

This tells me that I had better take good care of my heart. I have three siblings; of the four of us, three have similar cholesterol issues. A short timeline for cholesterol study:

• 1769 – Cholesterol was identified in solid form in gallstones
• 1815 – A chemist named the compound “cholestrine”
• 1987 – A report of the National Cholesterol Education Program suggested what total blood cholesterol levels should be. I’m sure this has been refined in the ensuing years.

In addition to taking care of my heart, I need to watch what I eat and exercise.

The ages of my ancestors at the time they died:

• 41-50: 1
• 51-60: 1
• 61-70: 7
• 71-80: 3
• 81 and over: 2

But I do have the potential for living a long and active life.

As a genealogist, part of the reason why I trace family history is to discover genetic genealogy. From my genealogical research, I have learned not to take my health for granted. By learning about my family’s genetic genealogy, I know what to look out for, although I recognize that other unexpected health issues may appear. By creating a medical family history, at least I have given my healthcare provider an idea of what medical conditions I may have, so that we can then take a more proactive approach to my healthcare.

Here at RecordClick, there are professional genealogists who can help you create a medical family history to give you an idea of your genetic genealogy. RecordClick also offers DNA testing kits, if you choose to take a deeper dive into the medical aspects of your ancestor search. The professional genealogical researchers at RecordClick can assist in obtaining death certificates, mortuary records, or other records that may help in creating a genetic genealogy. RecordClick’s genealogy services are only a mouse click away, so contact us today. Don’t forget, the initial consultation is free.

The 1850 census! Family genealogy researchers breathe a sigh of relief if their early American ancestors lived long enough to be included in this first all-name enumeration. There is so much frustration with those first six censuses, listing just the head of the household, followed by nameless numbers representing the rest of the family. But you may find significant help from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). If you think the DAR is not relevant to your genealogical research, you are not utilizing the DAR Library, which houses a vast online database actually pertinent to millions of people tracing ancestry, whether or not they believe they descend from an American patriot.

The DAR in 2013 is definitely not your great-grandmother’s society, although it owes so much to those dedicated women who diligently copied family Bibles, recorded tombstone inscriptions, and preserved civic records. But today, DAR genealogical research resources can help family historians whose known ancestors may not even have immigrated to this country until long after General Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington at Yorktown.

Perhaps you have leafed through the old Patriot Index volumes, looking for ancestors who may have served in the Revolutionary War. Now, those books have been replaced by the ever-growing DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS), which is fully searchable for free. Much more than a listing of those who served in the American Revolution, this database includes an amazing list of generationally linked descendants, millions of whom lived well into the 20th Century. So, you can search for someone who married into one of your many immigrant lines and discover a new branch that does indeed lead back to Colonial America.

To start the ancestor search process, select the “Ancestor” tab at the top of the GRS home page. This will take you to the Ancestor Search page, where you can then access the descendancy of that newly discovered ancestor, including names, dates, and places, simply by clicking the “See Ancestor Record” icon. Additionally, for only $10, in just minutes you can download to your desktop a Record Copy of the application that includes your ancestor for even more information. You will have the sources used to compile that application, and often names of the patriot’s other children, more details about service, and additional marriages. For privacy reasons, you won’t get the first three generations on newer applications, but generally those are not the ones for which you need the most help.

Another useful free resource for genealogists at the DAR site is the Analytical Index Cards collection, created from 1910 to 1970. Next, click the initial letter to get a further division of the alphabet, and use the arrows to advance or reverse the listings. Here you will find a series of cards naming husbands and wives, plus locations, along with source titles for that couple. Sometimes you can locate these sources free online or available for ordering on microfilm from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Previously, I wrote about untangling three McMillen families from New Boston, New Hampshire, using land records. (See Oh give me land, lots of land – with Genealogical Treasures!) Once I had the families sorted out, I returned to the DAR databases, which I had banged my head against for years using the old Patriot Indexes. It is important to understand that recently, genealogical proof standards have been raised significantly. When the Daughters formed their society in 1890, the information prospective members provided about their patriot could easily have concerned their grandfather’s service. Little documentation was requested or provided. But today’s standards require proof of each generation’s link to the previous one, as well as the majority of dates and locations for births, marriages, and deaths.

I had three old DAR applications, all submitted before 1910, for the “John McMillen” I knew to be my ancestor. They correctly identified his wife as Rachel Steele, but his birth and death dates were so far off, I was stymied. They indicated he had been born in 1704 and died in 1797. I had military and town records proving this man had marched from New Boston to the Siege of Rhode Island in 1778, a distance of over 100 miles. He would have been 74 years old, and then he would have been 82 at the birth of his daughter Rachel, the descendant in the old applications. After supplying land, town, military, and probate documents proving that this John McMillen was born about 1741 and died in 1835, I was able to set the record straight for my 5th-great-grandfather, and for any of his descendants who want to know their own true genealogy. Now, that information can be accessed worldwide, because DAR has uploaded their amazing database, and it grows with every new verified application.

If your early American ancestors lead you to a brickwall, try the DAR site. Older research can be indeed complicated to break through. When you find the need to hire a professional genealogist to assist you in researching your family genealogy, contact RecordClick for a free consultation. RecordClick’s genealogy ancestry services, like the databases at DAR, are only a click away.

“Oyez… oyez… oyez… The court is now in session…”

English courts have been interesting to me. The idea of the lead attorneys and judges wearing robes and funny white wigs is hard to imagine here in the United States. Tradition, though, is important in Great Britain. As a genealogist, British courts are even more interesting because various courts have been handling disputes for hundreds of years, and the records can provide insight for genealogists who want to trace family history.

The earliest courts were called Common Law Courts and were not very efficient, but there is usually more than one way to accomplish a goal. Individuals unhappy with the court system could petition the courts for justice to be done. Consequently, a system of courts to handle the various types of cases evolved.

The most common courts were:

• Court of the Exchequer. To remember the types of cases this court handled, think “cheque” or money. This court usually handled financial cases.
• Court of the Chancery. This court heard civil disputes in England and Wales. As the population grew so did the case load, as the cases were often disputes between family members.
• Court of Common Pleas. This court evolved from the King’s Council in the late 12th Century. Most cases were common law disputes usually concerning debts or land.
• Church Courts. These courts took on moral crimes with decisions made by clergy or parish officers. Their height of power came in the 1500s and early 1600s. As time passed, the types of cases handled by Church Courts decreased to handling marriage licenses and clerical discipline. Most Church Court records are held by County Record Offices (CROs).
• Criminal Courts. This court handled more serious cases. Although the original documents are difficult to read, a number of books have been published containing case and trial reports and information.

The earliest courts were created after the Norman Conquest. Called Eyres, the courts were held in the various manors with the Lord of the Manor acting as judge. By the 1300s, the role of the Lord of the Manor was replaced by Justices of the Peace. The justices heard civil pleas, crown pleas, and received inquests into suspicious or unnatural deaths from coroners.

When the Eyre system ceased to function well, a new system called Assize Courts was created. Dating from the 1300s, circuits were created with judges from the courts at Westminster visiting each county on a regular basis. The earliest role of the judges was to review certain property disputes. The justices’ powers gradually expanded to include criminal cases. Assize Courts were replaced by Crown Courts in 1971. Most Assize records are now at The National Archives (TNA), although many have been lost or destroyed.

The Assize circuits did not include London. Criminal jurisdiction in London was handled by three commissions:

• of the peace
• of gaol (jail) delivery of Newgate
• of oyer and terminer.

Remember, in England people used to be incarcerated for any of a number of offenses. Think Charles Dickens. There are many prison lists, and they can be found in a number of places:

• The census lists people in prison on census night
• The National Archives has prison lists generally covering the years between 1805 and 1892
• County Record Offices

There is one final area of the English court system that may be of interest to the genealogical researcher looking for individuals who died under unusual circumstances. The office of coroner was established in 1194, and until the 1800s most coroners were elected. In 1888, counties were divided into districts, with the coroner becoming an appointed position. Although many of the coroner’s records have been lost or destroyed, those that exist are opened to the public after 75 years. The records are at TNA.

To find your ancestors, don’t forget to check the newspapers. Often court happenings and legal notices were published.

It’s important for family genealogy researchers to remember a couple of things: Many of the early court records, beginning in the late 1300s, are found at TNA, but they are not very well organized, and most are in Latin. Hence, researching them for genealogical information is difficult.

When you are conducting ancestry searches, especially if you are researching British genealogy, don’t limit your genealogical research to just a couple of resources. Expand your ancestry search horizons; put a British genealogy stamp in your family search genealogy passport to find your ancestors. Try new avenues. Do what professional genealogists do and tap alternative databases, court records, legal notices, newspapers, et al. Do what genealogy ancestry services do when they trace family history – get creative.  If you do hit a stumbling block, consider reaching out to a genealogical service. RecordClick is a full-service genealogy ancestry service with professional genealogists living and working in Great Britain. Contact RecordClick today for a free consultation about your British genealogy ancestry search.

What else is on the rise is tracing ancestry among certain ancestral groups, some of which are showing a marked spike in interest for genealogy research and genealogy services. Ireland’s Diaspora claimed the #1 spot for ancestral groups in the United States in the latter part of the 19th Century (see Erin Genealogy Go Bragh – Irish Ancestry Research Forever). However, even with almost 35 million Americans claiming Irish ancestry, the group is now #2, ceding their top position to Americans of German descent, who now number 50 million (according to the 2010 U.S. Census). This makes our German-descended population the largest ancestry group ahead of the Irish, Africans, and English.

As the 2010 United States Census results were released, the interest in genealogical research began shifting accordingly. Given our demographics, it’s no surprise that we are seeing more family genealogy researchers tracing their Germany ancestry. According to RecordClick’s Founder and CEO, Elizabeth Khan, “We have been swamped with German genealogy inquires, and we are answering the demand by finding the best and brightest German genealogists to help our clients with their ancestor search.”

Germans form a solid foundation in American history, first arriving in the Colonies as early as 1670. “Germans have been immigrating in significant numbers to the U.S. since the 1680s, when they settled in New York and Pennsylvania,” writes Frank Bass, a reporter for Bloomberg. “The bulk of German immigrants arrived in the mid- 19th century; they’ve been the nation’s predominant ethnic group since at least the 1980 census.”

The 1700s saw a migratory influx of Protestant Germans (known as Palatines), which represented the largest single immigration to America during the Colonial period. The reasons for immigrating were varied, but many came to escape religious and political oppression. During the 19th Century, almost 8 million Germans came to America.

German settlements sprang up on the East Coast, in the Midwest, as well as in Southern states. In fact, the first Anglo-American settlement in Texas comprised 300 families from Germany. The Mexican government granted permission in 1821 for Stephen F. Austin (known as “The Father of Texas”) to establish a colony in what is known as the Hill Country of Texas.

Germans fought in the American Revolution – on both sides. They fought during the Civil War – on both sides. In face, 176,000 German-born soldiers fought in Civil War battles, making them the largest immigrant group to participate. They also served as part of the Allied Forces during World War I and World War II, fighting against the Fatherland.

With this amount of history, genealogical researchers have a lot to keep them busy – especially if they are looking to join lineage organizations such as the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, United Daughters of the Confederacy, or Sons of Union Veterans, etc. But a lot of family genealogists don’t just stop tracing ancestry on American soil, opting to continue their genealogical research in the countries of their ancestral origin.

While not impossible, German genealogy can be challenging because its states, provinces, and counties have changed many times. The language barrier may also be a deterrent. When searching localities, bear in mind that once-German territories are now part of France, Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia. The German Empire of 1871-1918 is vastly different from Modern Germany, with many territories ceded after World Wars I (1918) and II (1945). Because of all the territorial changes, archives are wide-spread, and a German genealogy researcher may have a hard time determining which of the many archives has the particular records they need.

According to FamilySearch there are six major types of genealogical repositories for German records:

• State archives
• German Center for Genealogy
• Archives outside of Germany
• Civil registration offices and town archives
• Church parish offices
• Historical and genealogical societies

The processes for tapping genealogical research data varies from resource to resource. While the Family History Library has captured some of the German archive collections on microfilm, the majority of documentation is still located outside of the U.S.

If you are searching for documents supporting your German genealogy, you may have to tap records found in neighboring countries. The Family History Library has records from many provinces that were once part of Germany, but now belong to a neighboring country – such as the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine (now part of France); the eastern provinces that are now part of Poland, Lithuania, and Russia; and records from the northern portion, which is currently a part of Denmark.

If you are of Polish ancestry, you are one of approximately 9.5 million Americans of Polish descent living in the U.S. If you trace your ancestry, you will find that you may be either a German Pole, an Austrian Pole, or a Russian Pole, because these nations occupied Poland between 1795 and 1917. Poland did not exist during this time, and its borders were further dismantled during World Wars I and II.

Polish immigration to the U.S. began in 1608, when the first Polish settlers arrived at the Virginia Colony. Fighting valiantly for the Patriot cause, Polish immigrants, Kazimierz Pulaski and Tadeusz Kosciuszko, are considered American heroes for leading Rebel armies in the Revolutionary War. A subsequent Polish mass migration “for bread” (za chlebem) occurred between the mid-1800s and 1914, bringing about 2.5 million ethnic Poles to U.S. soil. The second wave of Polish immigration happened after World War II. The third influx was in the early 1980s as Polish immigrants fled their country for political and economic reasons.

So where does that leave German genealogy and Polish genealogy researchers? With a whole lot of research to comb through – some easy to access and some not so easy. Because RecordClick recognizes research trends, and has the desire to help you find your ancestors, they are increasing their genealogy ancestry services in Germany and Poland, staffing more in-country professional genealogists, to help you with your ancestor search. With so many archives to deal with, language barriers, and the inevitable need to research in faraway locations, a German genealogist for hire may be your best bet. Contact RecordClick today for a free consultation, and see how you, too, can boost your Teutonic genealogical research results.

Land records may not be at the top of your document wish-list, and I recall my early days of genealogical research thinking I would NEVER wade through old, faded deeds in archaic handwriting, with words like “demesne” and “appurtenances,” but these records can establish family group clarity and interesting details of our ancestors’ lives unavailable anywhere else. They can also lead to a physical reconnection with the past.

Surely we have all encountered misinformation in our genealogical searches that have led us down the proverbial garden path, later discovering we had placed too much credibility in undocumented sources. I battled that with the History of New Boston, New Hampshire, published in 1864. Trying to determine my correct McMillen ancestors, I found nothing but intermingling of three separate families who shared not only the same surname, but many first names, as well. Ultimately, land records enabled me to sort out the correct families.

So many of our early Colonial ancestors owned land that these deeds should be one of our first resources. The 1790 census generally creates more questions than answers, and it wasn’t taken until almost two hundred years after the first Europeans arrived. But land records were created virtually from the beginning. So start your research at the appropriate location with the two sets of indexes typically created: grantor (seller) and grantee (buyer). Check a wide timeframe, collecting all references for your surname, and realize often our ancestors did not immediately register the deed, sometimes waiting until the sale of the land years later.

Following your index work, get copies of all applicable deeds, and then transcribe them. This may seem tedious, but it is the only way to glean all the information. Trying simply to read the old handwriting can be such an obstacle that without transcription, you will lose vital information, which often includes the buyer’s and seller’s occupations, the communities where they lived (which were not necessarily where they were buying or selling the property), relationships, and even special considerations of the sale. (In his 70s, one of my ancestors sold property to his son-in-law for cash, but also with the proviso that he and his wife receive “Victuals drink Cloathing Washing Lodging Fewel Candles Doctorin Nursing and Attendance both in sickness and in health and afford them decent “Christian burials.” What amazing detail about their lives, buried deep in the hard-to-read deed!

In the transcription, don’t omit the property description. It contains vital information that can help you find the exact location today. Next, create a chart of purchases and sales by dates and names. Doing this ultimately led me to the correct sorting of the entangled McMillens. I had located the 1759 deed when my 6th-great-grandfather, Daniel McMillen, a tailor from Londonderry, New Hampshire, purchased Lot 8 in New Boston. His son, John McMillen, shared the same name with two other men in New Boston at this time, but with differently named wives. I needed to separate them and clarify their families. Neither Daniel nor any of these John McMillens had left wills. But when Daniel sold the same property in 1786 to “my son John McMillen,” all I needed was the next deed in line, when John McMillen sold the land. Deeds of sale name living wives, because they must release their “dower rights” to 1/3 of the property, thus issuing an unencumbered deed. Daniel’s wife Mary had released her dower rights in the 1786 sale (giving me her first name), and when John sold Lot 8 in 1801, his wife Rachel released her dower rights. This information, together with a will of Joseph Steele, naming his “daughter Rachel, wife of John McMillen of New Boston,” established which one of the three John McMillens was my ancestor. What a revelation! All the steps to pull it together were generously rewarded.

Then came the icing on the cake: I sent the land description to a cousin who was going to New Boston, and armed with my information, he visited the land commissioner, who provided a plat map, showing the location of Lot 8. My cousin drove out, hoping not to find a paved parking lot, and indeed, located the rural home and surrounding property. Certainly the house has been through some remodeling and additions, but the basic footprint is the same, and the fireplace is original. So, all my efforts led me to the homestead of Daniel McMillen and his son John. What an incredible journey!

Land records certainly involve a lot of work, but it is all worthwhile. If you would like assistance with your own ancestors’ deeds, contact the professional genealogists at RecordClick. They will research appropriate genealogical records and help you understand the stories they have to tell and the relationships they can clarify. May you find “land, lots of land. . . .”

“What is genealogy technology!?” I think it is a turbo-charged version of good old-fashioned genealogical research. You know, the back-in-the-day gum-shoe sleuthing that required you to traverse the archive stacks and not the Internet; to spend months snail-mailing requests to county clerks and vital records offices; and to use valuable vacation time to visit far-off libraries, reviewing information on microfilm or microfiche.

Things have changed a bit since then – and for the better. Genealogy technology has given birth to a generation of “pajama genealogists” which I’ve termed Pajamealogists. Cup of coffee in one hand, pencil behind the ear, dog or cat at one’s feet . . . today’s genealogists are double and triple timing their research, amassing greater amounts of information that would quickly overwhelm a four-drawer file cabinet in no time at all.

Genealogists aren’t complaining as much as they are asking, “How can we get more information at our fingertips; and once we do, how can we save it for future use?” Along with the considerable uptick in available information comes the need for more computer memory – whether it is on a hard drive or floating on the Cloud – to house the docs, the jpgs, the PDFs, the pngs, the GEDCOMS, not to mention the xls spreadsheets. While electronic data storage is important to genealogical researchers, the sentimental and emotional component of why they are researching is still paramount: to pass the information to future generations. Again, “back in the day,” family historians created elaborate scrapbooks, shadow boxes with memorabilia, Super-8 films and VHS video cassettes, and even published and bound their family genealogy. The desire to hand down family history is the same; it’s just the process that has changed, and that’s where genealogy technology is taking over.

I mentioned SXSW and RootsTech earlier. These conferences showcase the latest and greatest technology for any number of industries, genealogy included. David Adelman, CEO and Founder of ReelGenie, attended and presented at both events, showcasing his company’s extraordinary all-in-one video storytelling package that allows anyone to create a timeless tribute online, including video, audio (voice and music), as well as graphic design elements – with all of the online digital tools available in one place. There is no need to download additional software or complicated programs; the entire process, including the voice-over recording and the scanning and uploading of photos, is available on the ReelGenie site. This one-stop-shop technology allows beginners and experts alike to turn family stories into family history documentaries.

RecordClick.com, a full-service online genealogy research company, was honored to be a part of ReelGenie’s trial phase. Rather than asking a digitally savvy customer to test the product, we reached out to a RecordClick client in his 80s, who is presently working on his memoirs, and who embraced the idea of video storytelling as though it were second nature to him. In a day and age when it seems people have more meaningful relationships with their electronic communication gadgets, RecordClick’s professional genealogists witnessed an entirely different outcome during the product trial. We discovered that creating a storytelling movie brings a family together even before the video is completed.

In the case of our customer, not only was he excited at the prospect of documenting his life for his descendants, but his family (wife and children) was equally thrilled to be a part of the process by helping to collect photos, write the script, select the music, and record the voice-over narration. It was truly a collaborative and loving effort. I think that the collaborative response was the biggest surprise to us at RecordClick. Though technology is often blamed for disconnecting people physically, the ReelGenie movie-making process actually brought family members together. Nothing can take the place of gathering around the dinner table to discuss the day’s events, or sitting together on the couch to watch Ed Sullivan and Gunsmoke, but perhaps gathering around the family computer to create a family history film will create a modern familial connection that will be enjoyed for generations to come.