Self-Paced CORE Modules: Genealogy

Overview

Why are people so interested about finding out about their ancestors and their family's history? There are many reasons for this:

  • As a hobby
  • Because of curiosity
  • To clear up or preserve a family story
  • For medical or religious reasons
  • To prove heritage (e.g., Native American, Daughters of the American Revolution)
  • Pride in ethnic and cultural origin and desire to know more

People often research this topic in much more detail than just names, dates, and events. Family historians try to find out life stories and interesting details about their ancestors, such as what color eyes they had, what kind of jobs they worked, or if they were famous. They usually need to find corroborating documents such as birth, death, and marriage certificates. Documentation of evidence is very important in genealogical work.

You may be asked to help a library user learn about their family history and this section will help you find or direct them to the pieces of their puzzles they need. This type of research is called "genealogy."

This week's section will lead you through:

  • Looking for family information
  • Looking up vital statistics
  • Looking up information on specific genealogy topics

Getting Started in Genealogy

Genealogy is concerned with tracing one's ancestors in order to compile a lineage, or "family tree." This can be an extremely time consuming process, and for this reason it is one that patrons must undertake for themselves. Library staff do not have the time to do this research, but they should be able to do the following:

  • Give references to good self-help guides
  • Suggest logical approaches
  • Help find local sources of help
  • Provide interlibrary loan services and referrals

Genealogical research can be a lifelong pursuit. People will approach you who have never searched for information about their families before. Others will have been involved for years but may be stumped on something that you might help them work through.

You may hear these types of questions:

  • I want find out about my lineage as far back as possible.
  • I want to get a copy of my grandparent's marriage certificate.
  • I think that I may be part Native American, but I don't know. Can you help me?
  • What ship did my ancestors come to America on?
  • I want to find the book on my family.

Though you may not have the time to find all the answers, you should be able to point the library user toward some introductory information in print and on the web. You can direct budding genealogists to the genealogy section of your library by searching your library's catalog using the keyword(s) "genealogy" or "genealogy handbooks," or by using the subject heading: "United States -- Genealogy -- Handbooks, manuals, etc." Some guides that might be in your library are:

  • Handybook for Genealogists, 10th ed., by George Everton (Everton Publishers, 2002).
  • Unpuzzling Your Past: The Best-Selling Basic Guide to Genealogy, 4th ed., by Emily Anne Croom (Betterway, 2001).
  • Genealogy Online, 7th ed., by Elizabeth Powell Crowe (McGraw-Hill, 2003).
  • The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy, 3rd ed., by Val D. Greenwood (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2000).
  • Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian, by Elizabeth Shown Mills (Regional Publishing Company, 2000).
  • The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual, Millennium edition, by the Board for Certification Of Genealogists (Ancestry, 2000).
  • Ancestry's Red Book: American State, County & Town Sources, 3rd ed., by Alice Eichholz, editor (MyFamily.com, 2004).

Beyond the general genealogy guides there will probably be some more specific information needed. Here are some examples:

  • Finding Answers in U.S. Census Records, by Loretto Dennis Szucs, Matthew Wright (Ancestry, 2001).
  • A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Female Ancestors: Special Strategies for Uncovering Hard-To-Find Information about Your Female Lineage, by Sharon Debartolo Carmack (Betterway, 1998).
  • Land and Property Research in the United States, by E. Wade Hone (Ancestry, 1998).
  • They Came in Ships: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor's Arrival Record, 3rd ed., by John Philip Colletta (Ancestry, 2002).

The starting point for each person's genealogy is family records and memories. When someone comes to you and is just starting work on genealogy, you should encourage them to begin by gathering as much information from family records and family members as they can. Many of the most important sources for tracing family history are arranged by geography and time period, so if they can obtain enough details to place their ancestors in certain locations at certain times, they will have a much easier time in their research. There are also guides in print and online for doing family histories for specific nationalities; this is also an important piece of the puzzle.

Sometimes people will ask you for a compiled genealogy of their family. Surprisingly, some of these are available, but finding a library that owns them and that is willing to lend them can be quite difficult. Unfortunately, this is often true of other kinds of genealogy materials as well, such as old records, documents, and rare books.

One useful source for identifying published genealogies is Genealogies in the Library of Congress: a bibliography. This source lists family histories owned by the Library of Congress, but the Library of Congress itself does not lend them. You will need to find other libraries that are willing to lend the materials. The researcher may be able to purchase a copy of a family history by contacting the publisher or author.

There are many local resources, besides those that may be found in your library, to assist a library user with genealogy research:

  • Library - Local History Department
    Your library, headquarters' library, or another library in your area may have a genealogy department with special collections and a librarian whose expertise is in genealogy.

  • Local Historical and Genealogical Societies
    Check your telephone directory or the web for a historical and/or genealogical society in your area. Often they have collections of materials such as books, maps, and documents that might help someone looking for information about their family, and often they are staffed by experienced historians and genealogists.

  • Local Latter Day Saints (LDS) Family History Centers
    The LDS church has established family history centers all over the United States to provide the public with resources to research their genealogy. Check to see if there is one in your area by going to Family History Centers (tinyurl.com/4po5).

How-to books, local genealogy libraries, and local genealogy societies are good leads to learn about other places to search. As you begin to assist library users, suggest that they begin to write down and organize all the information they already know and add to it what they discover. They should also note the names of all their sources of information.

The Internet

The web is now a major source of information for genealogists. There are several good genealogy websites free to the public. From them people can get very good guides on how to do genealogical research for specific nationalities, countries, and ethnic groups, as well as tips on how to search for specific kinds of records. Armed with names, dates, and locations, the library user can sometimes find quite a lot of useful information on specific ancestors. Advise the library user to avoid information overload by beginning with one website and thoroughly exploring it for relevant information before moving to another. Here are some general sites:

  • Local History & Genealogy Reading Room (loc.gov/rr/genealogy)
    This site from the Library of Congress is a great place to start for the beginning genealogist. Resources include:
    • Links to helpful genealogy websites
    • Bibliographies of useful books in many ethnic and cultural categories and subject areas, including: African-American, European, Hispanic, Asian, and ship passenger lists, ports of entry information, and Ellis Island

  • Family Search (familysearch.org)
    Maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS/Mormon), this site is a very good place to start research as it provides:
    • Help on learning how to research family history
    • Access to searching their huge databases and collections for ancestor information
    • Step-by-step guides on how to search
    • Access to maps, forms, guides, and other research aids
    • Links to other websites containing family history information such as census, religious, military, royalty and nobility, and vital records

  • Family History Library (tinyurl.com/3yflf)
    Founded in 1894 by the LDS, it is the largest library of its kind in the world. It is open to the public at no charge and is visited by an estimated 2,000 people a day. The collection includes over 2.2 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records; 742,000 microfiche; 300,000 books, serials, and other formats; and 4,500 periodicals. The Family History Library provides information about Family History Centers, which are located all over the world, are available free to the public, and can provide access to most of the microfilms from the Family History Library.

  • National Genealogical Society--NGS (ngsgenealogy.org)
    This society was established in 1903 and assists beginning and advanced genealogy researchers. Anyone can become a member. They publish how-to books and compilations of records, offer online courses, and sponsor conferences and trips. On their site, you will also see links to professional standards for sound research, using repositories and libraries, use of technology, and standards for sharing information with others.

  • Ancestors: Glossary of Terms (byubroadcasting.org/ancestors/records/glossary/)
    Helpful list for beginners trying to keep track of the phrases and terms associated with family research.

  • Guide to Sources for Genealogy in the California History Room (www.library.ca.gov/html/genealogy.cfm)
    The State Library's California History Room is host to a large collection of genealogical resources including census records, a register of voters index, and many special files. This webpage is a guide to what is available.

  • Sutro Library—a branch of the California State Library (www.library.ca.gov)
    Sutro is the largest genealogical library west of Salt Lake City. Sutro is part of the California State Library and does not have a separate web page. Unlike the collection in Sacramento, their holdings concentrate on records for areas outside of California and contain materials from all over the United States. The total book count is over 150,000, and there are more than 65,000 items in microform. This includes more than 10,000 family histories; 40,000 state, regional, county, and town histories, including vital records; 20,000 city directories; and 10,000 telephone books. Their catalog is contained in the California State Library catalogs - Main Catalog (www.lib.state.ca.us).

  • U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (archives.gov)
    The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has many records that are useful for genealogical research, such as the Federal population censuses, 1790-1930; military service and pension records, ca. 1776-1900; immigration records (1820-1957); and naturalization records.

  • Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Web (cyndislist.com)
    This is a categorized and cross-referenced portal to over 235,000 genealogical resources on the Internet. It's another good place to begin research. It was created in 1996 and is maintained by Cyndi Howells, who is a speaker at many library and genealogy association functions.

  • Rootsweb (rootsweb.com)
    This is the oldest and largest free online community for genealogists. The link given above is the general one to the California State Library. The site contains extensive interactive guides and numerous research tools for tracing family histories. It has more than 11 million records in its user-contributed database. Sponsored by Ancestry.com, whose databases (some free and some paid) can be searched from this site. It includes ROOTS-L (rootsweb.com/roots-l), the main genealogy discussion list on the web, which has searchable archives.

  • USGenWeb (usgenweb.com)
    The USGenWeb Project consists of a group of volunteers working together to provide Internet websites for genealogical research in every county and state of the United States. The project is non-commercial and free to the public. Organization is by state and county.

  • California Genealogy (cagenweb.com) Part of the USGenWeb project (above), California's site is searchable, listing each county's formation date, parent county, county seat, and project coordinator. Each county's page has different documents and information available depending on the work of its volunteers. Information can include cemetery records, newspaper articles, historical societies, surname indexes, queries from others, census files, vital records sources, land records, and obituaries.

There are many sources of specialized genealogical information. These are a few:

Many more specialized sources can be found by browsing Cyndi's List (cyndislist.com). There are also over 130 sites with genealogy information listed in the LII.

Genealogical Records

One of the most common questions for librarians concerns finding official documents and records from the past. People often ask for information about how to obtain vital records such as death, birth, and marriage certificates. Along with these requests, many people ask for help in finding obituaries and military, land, and census records.

  • Vital Records
    Most state governments will collect, maintain, and distribute copies of vital records. These records contain names, parent's names, date and place of occurrence, and mother's maiden name. Information about how to obtain these records can be found at the state government's website. California's office is called the Office of Vital Records of the Center for Health Statistics (dhs.ca.gov/hisp/chs/OVR).

    This website includes instructions and fees for obtaining certified documents. In order to stop the illegal use of birth and death records and to prevent identity theft, California has instituted a law that only authorized persons (self, parent, spouse, child, etc.) are allowed to obtain these records. A sworn statement by the requestor must be signed, notarized, and submitted before any certified copies will be provided. If the certificate sought is for someone who has been deceased for some time, kinship must be proven.

    Sometimes it is faster and more convenient to contact the County Recorder's Office for these documents. Provide the library user with the telephone number, address, directions, and web address for your county's office. California's Center for Health Statistics provides a list of county health officers, registrars and recorders (dhs.ca.gov/hisp/chs/OVR/LocalRegistrar).

  • Obituaries
    The notice of someone's death or obituary can be a critical piece of information needed to fill a gap for someone researching their family history. If the place and date (or date range) of death of the deceased is known and local, show the person how to search back files of local newspapers in your collection. This may involve assisting them with a microfilm reader/printer. Remind them that most of the time what they will find is a death notice placed by the family, rather than a true obituary (an article written by the newspaper staff). These notices may appear many days after the actual date of death, depending on when the family placed it with the paper.

    If you do not have the issue needed or if the death did not occur locally, the library user might try:

    • A larger library
      Direct the library user to another local library if you know that the resources they have are more comprehensive than yours. If they wish, you can initiate a referral for a copy of the obituary.

    • Newspapers
      Newspaper publishers keep archives of their past issues. Depending on the paper, they may be willing to provide a copy of the notice. There is almost always a fee for this. Help the library user find out how to contact the newspaper.

    • Non-local area
      Contact the public library in the area where the person died, and ask to be sent an obituary from the local newspaper. Provide details, such as name, date, and place of death. There is usually a fee for this service. Sometimes the library will recommend that the library user do an interlibrary loan for microfilm of the paper.

  • Death Indexes Death indexes can be consulted to find details about someone's death. The search is usually conducted by the name of the deceased. The information retrieved may include:

    • Social security number
    • Surname
    • Given name
    • Date of death
    • Date of birth
    • Last known residence
    • Date and place of issuance
    • Birthplace
    • Death place
    • Age
    • Mother's maiden name

    • Social Security Death Index—SSDI (ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com)
      Although the Social Security Administration (SSA) does not disseminate genealogical information, data from SSA records is used to compile the Social Security Death Index. This SSDI is available online from a variety of commercial services, but searching from Rootsweb (rootsweb.com) is free. The SSDI contains a listing of persons who had a Social Security number, who are deceased, and whose death was reported to the Social Security Administration. The information in the SSDI for people who died prior to 1962 is sketchy, since the SSA's death information was not automated before that date. Death information for persons who died before 1962 is generally only in the SSDI if the death was actually reported to SSA after 1962, even though the death occurred prior to that year.

      If you find a person in the SSDI you will learn the date of birth and social security number for that person. The SSA does not offer any support of these commercial products, nor do they answer questions about the material in the SSDI.

    • California Death Index (vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi)
      Information on persons who died in California from 1940 to 1997 is available via this free online death index. The state registrar of vital statistics has kept California's vital records since July 1, 1905. Information prior to 1940 is available on microfilm. Just as with the SSDI, several commercial online services provide this information on their websites.

  • Military Records
    For the United States, the National Archives and Records Administration (archives.gov) is the official repository for records of military personnel who have been discharged from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard. There are offices in Washington, D.C. and in St. Louis, Missouri. NARA maintains a page on its website of information on which office keeps which records, and how to obtain them. (tinyurl.com/gp6j).

  • Other Records
    (Note: the following table was created with information from Melissa Scroggins, Genealogist at the Fresno County Public Library. Counties vary in what kind of records they keep.)

    chart

    *National Archives and Records Administration website (www.archives.gov/research_room/arc/)

Lineages

People may want to verify a family story that they are related to someone famous (or infamous). Some researchers will find that this is indeed the case in their family. There are benefits to being part of a famous past. People want to know if they have a Revolutionary War patriot in their family tree, if their family has a coat-of-arms, or if they can claim to be part Native American. If there is a specific famous person in history from whom the patron wishes to trace her lineage, the first step is to check a large database such as the Library of Congress catalog (catalog.loc.gov), OCLC, to determine if a family history has already been published. Another thing to try is to locate a genealogical society that covers the right geographical area or nationality and see if they publish a journal. Societies frequently publish online indexes and/or catalogs to their journal's articles, including an archive.

Organizations

Here are some of the more well-known organizations that library users may want to research:

  • National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution (dar.org)
    The DAR is one of the oldest organizations in the United States, "dedicated to the preservation of American Revolutionary War genealogies." To be a member of this organization, a person must prove that they are descended from someone who fought in the Revolutionary War. This society provides assistance in proving lineage.

  • General Society of Mayflower Descendants (mayflower.org)
    Any person able to document their descent from one or more of the Mayflower Pilgrims is eligible to apply for membership in the Mayflower society. The society assists with the ancestor search process.

  • Jamestowne Society (jamestowne.org)
    Membership to the Jamestowne Society is by invitation only and based on one's proving to have an ancestor who lived in the Jamestowne colony. This society will also help with the ancestor search.

Finding Out about Native American Lineage

Resources are available for people who want to find out if they have Native American lineage. These websites may provide useful information and ideas on where to look:

Heraldry and Coats of Arms

Many resources exist for people who want to find out if they have a royal coat-of-arms or family crest in their history. Proving one's rightful claim to a royal coat-of-arms involves researching back many centuries. There are books and websites to help with this type of research. Use the keyword "heraldry" in the catalog to find out what your library has.

Books

  • Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 2003, by Charles Kidd, David Williamson (Palgrave MacMillan,2003)
    A standard reference title with exhaustive listings. The title below is a more general guide.

  • Debrett's Guide to Heraldry and Regalia, by David Williamson, Sir Colin Cole (Abbeville Pr, 1993)

  • Heraldry: For the Local Historian and Genealogist, by Stephen Friar (Alan Sutton Publishing, Ltd, 1998)

  • Introduction to Heraldry, by Stefan Oliver (Chartwell, 2000)

Websites

For many reasons, people like to find out about their ancestors and family history. Library staff should have a basic understanding of what type of information these family researchers may be looking for and what their libraries can provide.

What to Do Next

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