You’ve heard the term “paper trail”, defined as “a series of documents providing written evidence of a sequence of events or the activities of a person or organization.” That, my friends, along with photographs and memories, is all we leave behind. And DNA.
If you’re interested in researching those that came before you, the best place you can start is with the memories of your parents and grandparents. But that will only get you so far: memories fade or even deceive, or perhaps your older family members are no longer living. So what can you do? Where can you find facts and figures about your ancestors?
• See bottom of page for a list of helpful online genealogical resources •
In one case I got lucky because I have a copy of a handwritten family tree created back in 1966 by an elderly family member who was in a position to know who was who. My father and his family are on this chart, so I immediately knew where I fit into this group of people, going back to the early 1800s:
Turns out the chart is not 100% accurate (further research showed revealed some discrepancies), but it is an indispensable framework nevertheless.
Another lucky break came from the family Bible of an ancestor who was born in 1830. Right there in his (?) handwriting are the names of his parents and their birth/death dates! I also used this information as a springboard for further research, both confirming and fleshing out the lives of these particular people:
Then there are the photo albums! Thankfully various branches of my family took and kept many photographs. These are perhaps THE most valuable pieces of family information, because not only can you look your ancestors in the eye but often the photos are labeled in handwriting with highly relevant details. Here’s an example from the early 1900s. After scanning the albums it dawned on me there may be writing on the backs of each photo, so I carefully removed them, doing battle with ancient rubber cement and construction paper to reveal pencilled comments not seen by anyone for over a century. Now I had further tidbits of data to work with as I compared these photos and notes to other similar photos and known info:
Here’s another great example of a family photo album that actually stayed with the family (as opposed to ending up in an antique store, flea market or dumpster), this time from the late 1800s. I actually hand-carried this hefty book from a family reunion in NJ on the plane back to California, where I scanned it before returning it to my aunt by mail. At the time I knew which particular branch of the family this was from but most of these people looking back at me were mysterious strangers. Further research helped reveal the certain and probable identities of some of them, but not all:
You may be thinking, “That’s great, but I don’t have any of this type of stuff.” No problem, so long as you know your parents’ names and locations and (ideally) your grandparents’ as well. This basic info then gives you a couple of linear data points to follow backwards in the right direction.
Here are a few examples of online sources of information referencing my actual ancestors. If I had nothing else to work with, these sources (for which I will never see the originals) would have been very helpful (and are indeed very interesting).
The first is an example of handwritten birth records from New England (Massachusetts), in this case referencing my known family members from the mid-1700s, before America even gained its independence. From this single page I get my ancestor Jesse (written as “Jefse”) Marble’s actual birthdate, the names and birthdates of his siblings as well as his parents’ names:
Fast forward to 1816 and this same Jesse Marble is advertising in the newspaper to sell his farm in Rutland MA, as well as some land in Stratton VT. (I have not yet pinpointed the location of his Rutland farm property, but I have learned that the VT mountainside plot is now a specific area of the trails at a popular ski resort there.) I also know Jesse died in 1821, so maybe he was downsizing his holdings in advance:
Online sources we’ve seen so far are birth records and newspaper clippings, both incredibly revealing as to the details of my ancestors’ lives. Believe it or not, church roll books are online too! Here is an example from the 1870s-90s in Jersey City NJ, referencing my Buss family (I am descended from 1873 member Caroline Buss on the first line). The book gives each congregant’s name, state in life, when, how and by whom received into the church and remarks (in these cases, home addresses):
Then there are the ubiquitous census forms, perhaps the most obvious way to locate and track your ancestors through the years. The census is like a “snapshot” of your family standing out on the front stoop, the parents and all the kids lined up nice and neat with nothing to hide. Names, ages, occupations and other fun facts are all included, the more recent the census, the more detail. Here is the 1910 census for a certain block of Ocean Ave. in Jersey City where my great-great-grandfather Morris J. Mara and his family lived. And guess what? His son Francis, my great-grandfather, actually enumerated the census for their neighborhood (see his name at upper right)! So here I have lots of info on this Irish family (with a servant no less) plus the bonus of 28 pages of Francis’ actual handwriting as well:
But what about the years where the census is missing (did you know most of the 1890 US census burned in a fire!)? Before telephone books there were city directories, again listing your ancestors by name and street address, and sometimes including their occupation. There they are, year by year, living here, living there, doing this and doing that.
Here’s one of my favorite finds from the Jersey City directories: Not just a boring (but still useful of course) listing, but a full ad for an iron foundry run by my great-great-grandfather Morris Mara (“Bro.”) and his older brother John. I know Morris spent the rest of his working life as a roller in a local steel mill, but this joint business venture from 1884 was on the early end of his career (age 29):
Those Grand Street addresses today are exactly where a block-long hospital now stands. I know this because, well, the address is easy to look up to acquire modern day information, and once you have an address, you can also refer to historical sources for that area’s historical information, using insurance maps, old photos, etc. (In later blog posts I’ll discuss using an accumulation of varied information to build a fuller understanding of your ancestors.)
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Earlier I promised I’d list some specific sources for you to access as you begin (or continue) your own historical research. After you’ve exhausted your relatives’ memories, the attic, basement and closets, you would normally need to visit some family-related geographical locations in person (not a likely scenario, given that people have moved all over the place in the last several decades and your trip might be a long one) or, much more likely and much less work, track down documentary material available online. And while of course not everything relevant to your searches would be currently online, a huge amount actually is.
Here is a list of websites I have found to be very helpful in my research:
American Ancestors (subscription-based)
Ancestry.com (subscription-based)
FamilySearch.org (free)
Fold3.com (subscription-based)
Genealogy Bank (newspapers; subscription-based)