Where will
I find my immigrant family records? What country, province or town did they
live in? Questions I must answer before leaving the United States. Do I have a pedigree sheet with as much
information as I know? Do I have family group sheets with information and
citations? Ask yourself, “How do I know that fact . . . ?” You, the researcher, must have your
facts and answers to where you found that fact. Squeeze all the information
from each piece of paper you have. In order to find records, you must know the
specific area in which to look; the name of a country is not enough.
Getting
closer to the finding the where, when (time), what (records available), how
(ask for help):
- Magazines – such as family tree magazine, NGS Magazine or state and society specific
- Libraries – general, example Hall County, Georgia has Irish resources, or specific as in the accompanying photo of an Irish Library
- Genealogy groups – general, example the Genealogical Computer Society of Georgia has a yearly speaker on German research with other countries represented throughout the year, or specific such as Germanic Genealogy Society
- Books – specific to region and time period
- History – must learn culture and laws
- Language – many translators available
Where
to look?
Check
out your area Family History Library; some of the volunteers have many years
experience in specific locations. Using my paternal great grandfather, Charles
Elsner as an example (see me sitting on Charles’ lap on Facebook), before I
could find his records, I had to know him. Carl (Charles) was born in GroβGievitz, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany. This is over simplified. It took me
three years to answer all the “How do you know” questions. The Family HistoryLibrary in Roswell, Georgia, has a fantastic volunteer, Ruth, with over 30
years Mecklenburg experience. Ruth would question me and give me ideas for
searches. Once the area was identified, Ruth would look up church records.
Finally, a call to the Family History Library in Appleton, Wisconsin, provided
a digital copy of Carl’s baptismal record. Elsner,
Carl Friedrich August. born 30 January 1852, baptized 15 February 1852. page
183. Kirchenbuch, 1718-1934, Evangelisch Kirch Groß Gievitz (AG Warren), Salt
Lake City, Utah: Gefilmt durch, The Genealogical Society of Utah, 1951, film
69116. photo from Family History Library, Appleton, Wisconsin. 13, November
2018. Thank you, Ruth and all the volunteers that made this possible!!!
