Neighbors in Cyberspace: Use the Internet to Find People
Who Will Lead You to Your Ancestors (or Other Subjects)
John
W. Konvalinka, CGSM, CGLSM 24
Gordon Way, Princeton NJ 08540 ©2006. All rights reserved.
email:
john@konvalinka.com website: www.konvalinka.com
Updated 28
September 2006
Summary::
One way to fill gaps in our ancestor and family research is to
focus on the people to be found near or associated with
our “subjects” (ancestors and others) in various kinds of records. Computer resources and the Internet can be
particularly helpful in these searches because of online directories, census records, association (and other)
websites, and the ability to make contact with other researchers. When you can't find your ancestors (or other
subjects) directly, try finding them through people they may have associated
with.
Why? In olden times when travel was difficult and
leisure time scarce, people tended to form bonds of friendship and marriage
with those who lived nearby. And those
who did travel, through immigration or migration to other areas, tended to
travel in groups or to link up “on the other end” with those with whom they
shared roots or a common heritage.
What
Records? Our research should include all of the usual
records, plus some “less usual” kinds of records described below.
Who is a Neighbor??
|
Some
Possible “Neighbors”: |
Some Useful
Websites for Finding Neighbors: |
|
People living
nearby, or in the same household (including in-laws and servants |
Census
records at www.ancestry.com, www.heritagequest.com Directories
at www.ancestry.com and www.historicaldirectories.org
(for UK) |
|
People who
were imprisoned / institutionalized / transported together, including
Holocaust survivors |
www.oldbaileyonline.org;
www.poorhousestory.com;
www.convictcentral.com |
|
People buried
in the same cemetery, in adjacent plots, in the SAME plot, in another part of
the cemetery |
www.cyndislist.com/cemetery.htm; http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/deathrecords.html; |
|
People who
appear in the same documents: passenger lists, court records, BMD records |
http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/onlinelists.html;
Ancestry’s U.S. Immigration Collection: |
|
People who
studied together |
www.cyndislist.com/finding.htm; www.academic-genealogy.com/schoolscollegesuniversities.htm#Records; |
|
People who worked
together, belonged to the same guild, fraternal organizations |
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/groups; www.ancestry.com
(for professional baseball players – and other groups) |
|
People who
traveled together: migration patterns, orphan trains |
|
|
Military
buddies |
|
|
People who
came from the same area (in this country or another) |
Historical Census Browser: http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus; Fuller-Gaunt List of (locality) mailing
lists: www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/gen_mail.html |
|
People who were
business associates: partners,
employers, customers, suppliers |
(Archives of business
organizations) |
|
People who
sued your subjects (particularly common for public office holders) |
|
|
All
family/extended family members |
Census records at www.ancestry.com, www.heritagequest.com; Naturalization records at http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/naturalization.html |
|
People with
the same name (first, middle, full name, surname) as our subject: |
Guild of One Name Studies: www.one-name.org; Association of One Name Studies: www.familyhistory.com/societyhall/viewmember.asp?societyid=16742
|
|
People
researching the same family or families as we are |
Fuller-Gaunt List of (surname) mailing
lists: www.rootsweb.com/~jfuller/gen_mail.html |
Some Things to Look For in Various Records::
Birth,
Marriage, Death Records:
Be sure to record information like mothers’ maiden
name(s), the names of godparents, witnesses, even the clergymen involved. Remember that for some areas Town Records and
Reports included notations of births, deaths, marriages during preceding year.
· For birth
records, investigate the origin of first names AND middle names. Check for any newspaper announcements which
might contain additional information.
(See “Naming Patterns” below.)
· For
engagement and marriage records, check newspaper society pages for
announcements and investigate ALL surnames (of witnesses etc.) found – for
relatives, in-laws, collateral families.
· For death
records, record the names of doctor who signed the death certificate and of the
“informant”. Check to see if there might
be a coroner’s report. Check funeral
home records for additional information, including who paid for the funeral and
who released the body for burial. Scour
newspapers for official notices, obituaries, plus any news items and record any
other persons/names mentioned. Check for
death records and notices of spouses, children, other relatives.
Naming
Patterns:
Research
all names that occur, such as “Phineas Bradley Sanders” or “Wilson Cary Selden Sanders”. A child might simply be after some famous
person (“George Washington”) OR – names
like those above might lead us to a friend, or to someone who had some
relationship (not necessarily genealogical) to our subject. As well as checking in traditional repository
sources, be sure to do a “Google” or other Internet search for the name,
including online telephone and city directories.
Finding maiden names of female subjects can be
particularly challenging. Be sure to
become familiar with one or more of the excellent books and articles that deal
with the particular problems of surnames “lost” through marriages or which have
“daughtered out.”
Cemetery/Tombstone
Records:
Cemetery
(paper) records may disclose persons buried in a plot or other information not
listed on tombstones – or may reveal other plots for our subject family in same
cemetery. Check for information like a
reference to a coroner’s report – or to the name of the person who released the
body for burial.
Tombstone
inscriptions may tell which country a person came from, or other particulars
(such as military service). The
physical location of tombstones and plots may be significant: friends, neighbors (as well as relatives) may
have purchased adjacent plots. Try to
identify all persons buried in the same or nearby plots – as well as same
surnamed people elsewhere in the same cemetery.
Census
Records:
In
addition to all the usual information, try to identify by name the persons who
were living near our subject household (easier to do in later censuses), and
other persons with the same surname. Pay
attention to the surnames (and given names) of others enumerated in the
household, even when relationship to the head of household is not spelled out;
they could provide clues to a woman’s maiden name.
Published
(and Unpublished) Family Histories:
Be sure to check every published (or “privately
published”) family history or genealogy for our subjects’ surname(s) and other
surnames we have turned up in our searches of families who had relationships
(marriage, neighbors, etc.) with our subjects’ families. Also be sure to check in the unpublished
collections (“vertical files”) found in some libraries and repositories. The handwritten notes and letters of other
researchers may provide some important leads. Check diaries, journals
and personal accounts of moves and migrations for names that might have some
association with our subjects. Check the
records of unusual situations of persons traveling together such as The Orphan
Train Heritage Society of America, Inc. <www.orphantrainriders.com>
Immigration
and Naturalization Records:
Can’t
find your subjects in an Immigration/Emigration index or data base? Be sure to check for obvious (and
not-so-obvious) misspellings. And, if
searching Ellis Island, look for records of people who were detained or held
over.
Can’t
find them on a passenger list?
Look for how the name might have been spelled in the port of embarkation
(that’s where the passenger lists were prepared.) Look for relatives or others from same area
who might have come before or after your subject. Learn about the various kinds of passenger
lists prepared for different ports at different times and how to search them
effectively. Remember that your subject
may have arrived at a different port (or country: Canada) from where they
settled. Become familiar with sources
like the Hamburg and Bremen EMIGRATION lists.
When
you find your subject(s) on a passenger list, be sure to examine the
entire list – for others with the same or similar surname, or from the same
town of origin. Scan for other surnames
which you might have seen in other connections.
Maybe your grandparents met on the ship!
Naturalization
Records: Although always worth finding, before 1906
they may not contain too much useful information. After 1906 more information was
required. See if online indexes have
been prepared for the place and period you are searching. Census records from 1900 contain
arrival and naturalization information provided by the person. Be sure to note the names of witnesses, of
the persons with whom the immigrant will be staying, information about
traveling companions and home town. Look
for a certificate of arrival. As with
passenger lists, if you do not find your subject, look for the naturalization
of relatives or people from the same area; these could ultimately lead you to
the person you are seeking.
Other
Records: Passport applications may contain
arrival information. Voter
registration records may tell where person was previously registered to
vote – and proof of citizenship may have been required. Some of these (or at least indexes) may be
available online.
Land
and Property Records:
Research
the history of the property from information in deeds about earlier and
subsequent owners; identify possible
relationships of your subject to all people named in the document as neighbors
and/or as witnesses to the transactions.
Westward Ho?
People tended to migrate in groups.
Account for every name found in your subject’s party. When requesting land grant or Homestead
files, be sure you get the certificate AND all supporting papers. You may find spouses’ names and a history of
their move.
Wills,
Estate Records:
Account for every person, piece of property and bequest
mentioned in the will, including all witnesses.
Be sure to find ALL documents relating to property of the deceased (in
addition to land records, above). Look
for follow up estate/tax records – estates might not be settled for many years.
Find court papers for any intestacy (no
will) situations. Many people might come
forward to testify about the family and possible heirs of the deceased. (Also see Military Records, below.)
Other
Court Records:
Particularly
for anyone who held a public office – there may be lawsuits relating to the
decisions and actions of these subjects.
These may still be active many years after the completion of the
subject’s public service and may name
other persons who had some relationship to the subject.
Military
Records:
Was your subject in military service? In addition to draft registration, enlistment
and pension records, look for regimental histories – “official” ones,
(including officers’ diaries) AND the personal recollections (published or
unpublished) of persons who served in the same military unit(s) as your
subject. Identify everyone and do as
much research as possible on those who served in the same unit(s) as your
subject. Look for accounts of
reunions, obituaries, newspaper articles
(particularly those published around Memorial Day and Veterans Day). Look at the records of military cemeteries,
even in unusual places, such as the ones for Confederate veterans buried in
northern states.
In
checking for pension records (of others as well as well as your subject’s)
remember that pensions were often not paid until long after the wars ended,
often to widows; that pensions (especially for disabilities) might be paid by
states as well as the Federal government, and that, because of poor
recordkeeping in the early years, military service and pension eligibility were
often determined by personal testimony of relatives, friends and
neighbors. Check to see if your subject
received bounty land, which was often given before (or in lieu of) a pension –
and often sold quickly, particularly by older veterans.
Other
Records:
Online Searchable Newspapers: Check society and gossip columns. Who did your subjects visit and travel
with? Who visited them? (Newspapers printed lots of names to build
circulation which built ad revenue.) Who
were witnesses to their important events (including pallbearers)? Remember that societies, clubs and Churches
had their own newspapers.
Business
Records: See if your subject(s) had relationships with
partners, associates – and important suppliers and customers.
Telephone and City Directories: Search by surname for possible relatives and
by address for others living at same address as our subject(s) or nearby. Check the front of city directories for lists
of cemeteries, churches, firemen -- and
areas covered. City directories may
mention a person’s occupation and military service and tell where they came
from and moved to. Also check school
and college directories and alumni news and records.
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Any questions about the
talk – or problems with any links?
Please email me at: john@konvalinka.com