All too often, in our rush to locate information about the town where our immigrant came from, we overlook other important pieces of information within the record. If it does not name the town of origin, we set it aside, paying no attention to the significant information that is in the record. This is why we have just spent so much time on both minimum and additional identification elements for our immigrants. Sometimes it is these very elements of identification we are overlooking when we do not carefully evaluate a record and glean every bit of information out of it.
Techniques of record searching
As you search the various records containing information about your immigrant(s), keep the following principles in mind:
- Search for the entire family
- Search broad time periods
- Search wide geographic areas
- Search every location where they lived
- Search variant spellings of names
- Note references to previous residences
- Watch for neighbors and friends
- Understand the record's limitations
- Seek and use indexes
Actually, these techniques apply to any kind of record searching in your genealogical or family history quest. However, they are particularly appropriate with immigrants. Indeed, the following discussion shows how they apply specifically to immigrant origins research.
Search for the entire family
As discussed in previous lessons, part of an immigrant's identification is knowing who else was in the family. This is reason enough to glean every family member from the records in the new country, but there is an additional reason. Sometimes in your research, you will not find a record of the home town connected to your specific immigrant. However, by knowing who the family members are, and seeking them in the same records, you might find a place name associated with a brother, sister, father, mother, cousin, or other relative. For example, a nephew who came to America to join his uncle, your ancestor, likely naturalized at a later date, when more information may have been required on the naturalization papers.
Search broad time periods
In our rush to find information about our immigrant, we may not search a broad enough range in the records. This is a particular problem with passenger lists. We may rely on the immigration date given in the 1900 census, or on a naturalization record, and limit our search of passenger lists to that specific year. However, our ancestors may have forgotten the exact year of arrival, or someone else may have given the information on the census. Be sure to search several years on either side of a recorded event.
Another problem caused by searching too short of a time period is finding the wrong immigrant. We may not realize how common our ancestor's name is. When we find a person with the right name, we stop. However, further searches in the records may locate another immigrant with the same name, who may actually fit our information better.
An immigrant's marriage record may actually be two or three years before the first known child (rather than the one year often assumed). This is often the case if the first child or two died young and are not known to family researchers. On the other hand, sometimes the marriage did not take place until after the first child was born, or just before the birth. Limiting a marriage search to a year prior to the first child's birth may cause you to miss the marriage record altogether, or assume they married in a different place, and of course you wouldn't find them in that other place either!
Search wide geographic areas
The very fact that our immigrant ancestors were adventurous enough to sail to America should warn us that they did not want to stay in one place. Most immigrants moved around when they came to America, and even within one region they may have lived in many places. This means that they left records in different places. Indeed, they may have left records in places they never lived. Perhaps the nearest Italian Catholic church was across the river, in a neighboring city, or the immigrant married in a different county. Be sure to search the jurisdictions near where the immigrant lived, not just the precise places they resided.
When George Sticht arrived in New York City in 1850, he and his family proceeded to live at a different address each year. Seeking his son Andrew in the 1870 census, we determined the ward where he was living (according to the directory), but did not find him. Later we searched another city ward and eventually found the family; they had moved between the time the directory was canvassed and the census was taken.
Search every location where they lived
In addition to searching areas near where the immigrant lived, it is crucial to search every place they lived. One German came to America and ended up in Hawaii as a counselor to the King in the early 1900s. However, earlier he had practiced law in California. In seeking his naturalization, the reference in the California voter registrations gave the court (in California) where he made his petition for naturalization. Those court records revealed that his declaration of intent was filed in a New York City court, where he lived only briefly upon his arrival in America!
The all-important name of the home town may appear in a church record of marriage the year the immigrant got off the boat, or in an obituary published 40 years later, more than 1,000 miles away from where he or she married. Remember, any place an immigrant lived, there are likely to be records worth searching.
Seach variant spellings of names
In the process of identifying the minimum information discussed in earlier lessons, you have likely determined the way the immigrant spelled his name in the old country. That is crucial for identifying him once you get to those records. In the new country, the name may appear in a variety of ways. Both the given and last names may be spelled differently. William may be listed under the French spelling, Guilliame. Surnames are even more difficult; most have numerous versions, depending on who was doing the spelling. The German Brühl family almost always appears as Brill in New York records. The English surname Pierce appears as Peirce and Pearce, even in published sources, not to mention many other variations in original records. Sometimes this even affects the way a name is soundexed in census and other indexes. Thompson (T512) and Thomson (T525) is one common example.
Note references to previous residences
We have mentioned the importance of searching the records for every place the family lived. This means that it is crucial to learn where those places were. This is part of thorough research. If the 1870 census of Kansas shows that a child was born in Iowa six years ago, and earlier children were all born in Indiana, do not overlook that Iowa residence. That may be where the immigrant filed for naturalization, or buried a first wife (whom he brought from the home town). Don't forget to use land and court records for clues as to where the family lived prior to a known residence. If a young immigrant went to college away from the town where the family lived, learn where that college was, so you can search other records of that locality.
Watch for neighbors and friends
Since neighbors and friends are part of an immigrant's identification, we must locate them. What better place to locate them than in the records that mention the immigrant? When you find an immigrant's naturalization record, take note of the witnesses. On the census records, watch for neighbors, especially those who appear nearby in successive censuses. In church records, who are the sponsors or godparents? As with other family members mentioned above, you may later need to determine the origins of these persons, so be sure to learn who they were.
Understand the record's limitations
Every record has limitations. Often we expect the record to tell us more than it was designed to do. For example, some major immigrant-destination states, such as New York and Pennsylvania did not keep marriage records until close to 1900. If you are seeking a marriage record of an immigrant and do not find it in such a situation, don't think they did not marry there, perhaps the record was not made in the first place. In addition, the scope of a record may omit an immigrant. Don't expect an Irish Catholic church to include a Scots immigrant. A tax list may not include an adult male immigrant if it was a poll (voter) tax and the immigrant was not yet naturalized. Sometimes the keeping of a record was optional, such as with early county deeds. The absence of an immigrant from a record does not mean he was not there, but may reflect selectivity in who was recorded.
Seek and use indexes
This may seem self-evident. After all, who wouldn't want to use an index. Well, sometimes we don't know that an index for a particular record has been created. Indexes are not automatically generated for every record, rather most of them are created long after the record. County histories are an excellent example. Most included brief, subject-only indexes (if any at all) upon publication. However, later groups or individuals have often issued every-name indexes that make using such records much easier and faster. These may not be listed in the library's catalog entry for the history. Often reprints of a history include an index, when the original did not. Census indexes are now a common tool for researchers, but much of the 1870 census is not yet indexed. New indexes are often issued for the 1870 census for a state or county that most researchers do not know about.
Of course, just because you eventually do find an index to those naturalization records you want to search, do not depend on the index to be completely accurate or totally comprehensive. If an ancestor does not appear in the index, and you believe he should be in the records, search the records anyway. Sometimes you will find the immigrant under a spelling you had not checked in the index, or you will find a relative or friend you did not know about (perhaps the ancestor witnessed the act, but witnesses were not included in the index).
Also, be sure you use the index correctly. Many indexes are not strictly alphabetical. The Soundex is only one example. When using any phonetic index, be sure you have coded the name correctly, or understand its arrangement. If you don't find the specific person you are seeking, check to see if the surname you are seeking even appears in the index. If it does not, you may have coded the surname wrong.
This lesson identifies the most important search techniques, but not all of them. The key principle is to be careful and thorough whenever you search a record. Your assignment for the next couple of weeks is to review everything you have searched for your immigrant. Use the Record Evaluation Checklist and show each record you searched on the left side, and then label the columns with the concepts we have discussed today. Then, review each source you searched and answer the questions: Was the time period broad enough? Did I check for the entire family? Did I check for spelling variations? Did the record refer to a previous residence? Were neighbors or friends in those records? Do I understand the records limitations? Did I find an index to help my search, and did I use the index correctly? After reviewing the sources you found in previous research, keep this checklist handy and update it as you search additional records. As you review the sources, add any information about the immigrant to your Immigrant Ancestor Biography form (you did do that after the last lesson didn't you?), and determine if you have searched all the records in every locality where they lived.
Meanwhile, get ready for the next lesson: "Reading the Place Name." It is surprising how difficult it can be to interpret that important little piece of information, the home town!