How Do I Find Immigration Records of My Family.

See also Coming to America: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors in the FamilySearch Learning Center.

Successful researchers follow a series of steps as they conduct enquiry. This section describes the steps to have to detect an immigrant's place of origin.

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Step one. Place What You Know about the Immigrant [edit | edit source]

To successfully make up one's mind an immigrant's place of origin, you lot need to acquire some minimum facts virtually him or her. This will assist you select record types to search and place the immigrant in those records. Boosted information can as well be helpful.

Minimum Identification [edit | edit source]

Before trying to find an immigrant'southward identify of origin, be sure you lot take learned equally much of the following equally possible:

• The immigrant's proper noun. Detect both the given names and surname (last proper name), including middle names (such every bit Johann Friedrich Wolfgang Sticht). Endeavour to learn the proper noun used in the land of origin and any variations of it.
• A date. A nascency date is about preferable, but if yous cannot notice ane, use a marriage, confirmation, baptismal, or war machine release appointment, or another appointment of an issue that happened in the land of origin. Endeavour to discover an entire date (day, month, and twelvemonth), but you may be able to identify the immigrant with an estimate year.
• A identify. Acquire as much equally you lot can about where the immigrant came from, such as the province, county, or region. Knowing as specific a identify as possible helps yous distinguish between the immigrant and others of the same proper noun. Somewhen, you lot will have to learn the specific boondocks where the immigrant came from. Use this portal to larn this information.
• A relative. Learning the name of a relative of the immigrant, such as the male parent, helps yous identify your ancestor in country-of-origin records. If yous cannot learn the father's name, try to learn the name of the mother, spouse, brother, sister, or other close relative (such as an aunt or uncle).

Additional Information [edit | edit source]

While minimum identification helps you recognize your ancestor in country-of-origin records, additional information could provide clues to the place of origin or confirm that you have constitute the correct family. If possible, learn the following well-nigh the immigrant:

• Other family members. Larn most both parents, his or her spouse, all brothers and sisters, and whatsoever children. This information helps you identify him or her in native records. Also, yous may discover the place of origin past finding a relative's place of origin.
• Friends and neighbors. Many immigrants traveled in groups or settled among friends from their native lands. Searching for friends or neighbors might reveal an immigrant'southward place of origin.
• Family unit stories and traditions. While many family unit traditions are exaggerated (such every bit those near stowaways), they may include accurate facts. Such things as the surface area of the land he or she came from, the industry in the native district, occupations, nearby towns, rivers, mountains, or other features could provide clues to the place of origin.
• Religion. Religious groups in many countries create records. By learning the immigrant'due south religion, you tin can further identify him or her, determine others he or she may take traveled with, limit your searches to the records most likely to incorporate useful information, and gain clues to the region where he or she lived. For example, a Protestant Irishman virtually probable came from northern Ireland, not central or southern Ireland.

Step 2. Decide What You Desire to Learn [edit | edit source]

Select an immigrant you want to learn about. Choose one for whom you take minimum identification. It helps to know where the immigrant lived in the country of arrival and any names used there (such equally a woman's married name).

Choose ane of the goals discussed below. And then use the appropriate "Records Pick Table" to select records that might contain that data.

Primary Goal [edit | edit source]

The primary goal is to observe the immigrant's place of origin . With the place of origin you tin can begin using records from the hometown to extend the immigrant's beginnings or pursue other enquiry goals. If y'all do not still have plenty information to detect the place of origin, choose ane of the secondary goals below.

Secondary Goals [edit | edit source]

Other information about an immigrant is often helpful when searching for a place of origin. Even records that say goose egg near the place of origin may requite clues leading to records that proper name the hometown. One clue tin can lead to another until you find a record showing the town of origin. Possible secondary goals include—

• Appointment of immigration. An immigration date leads to rider lists and other records. With the immigration appointment, you can also figure out when the immigrant first appears in other records in the new country, when he was released from the military in the one-time country, or when he or she practical for citizenship.
• Place of difference. Knowing where an immigrant left from may assist you detect divergence lists and indexes, the send's proper noun, and newspaper and police lists.
• Place of arrival. Immigrants oft stayed in the port of arrival for months or years earlier moving on. In such cases, you tin search naturalization, church building, and vital records in that location.
• Transport'due south name and related data. The name of the ship a person traveled on volition aid you lot use passenger lists or detect the names of other immigrants in the group.
• Names of other immigrants in the group. Immigrants oft traveled in groups or with relatives. They oftentimes settled close to people they knew in the quondam country. If you cannot observe a person'due south identify of origin, learn near relatives, neighbors, fellow passengers, or a minister who may have immigrated from the aforementioned hometown.
• Immigrant's original land or region. Sometimes knowing the land or region a person left from lets yous brainstorm searching the records of that area. It may also imply the identify of departure.
• Immigrant'south name earlier immigrating. This helps place a person in state-of-origin records. Sometimes the name, or part of one, is a inkling to the immigrant's original country or region.

Pace 3: Select the Records to Search [edit | edit source]

This portal can help you evaluate the content, availability, ease of utilise, time period covered, and reliability of records. Information technology tin can too indicate if your ancestor is likely to be listed. For information on a specific land, search this Wiki for the name of the state and the words "Emigration and Immigration."

It is most e'er best to get-go search the sources in the country where the immigrant finally settled. Do not switch to records from the country-of-origin too soon in your search. You will nigh likely detect the immigrant's birthplace or hometown in country-of-inflow records, which are ordinarily easier to apply.

Genealogical Records [edit | edit source]

The genealogical and historical records needed to determine an immigrant'south place of origin fall into two categories:

Compiled Records. Someone else may take already researched the immigrant. This is especially true if the person immigrated before about 1800. Compiled records include—

• Printed family histories and genealogies. To discover these search:

  • FamilySearch Catalog Surname Search. Search using just the family unit'southward surname. This searches the globe's largest genealogical library for works with this family proper name as a main subject.
  • WorldCatalog Advanced Search . In the Subject area field enter the surname and "family" like this, Greenwell family. This searches the catalogs and displays the results from thousands of Northward American libraries at once.
  • Periodical Source Alphabetize (PERSI) People Search for a family proper name in over a million article titles in genealogical periodicals.

• Local histories often include individual family unit histories. Find county or town histories in the FamilySearch Catalog Place Search under [Land, County] — HISTORY, or [STATE, County, TOWN] — HISTORY.

• Manuscript collections of family information.

• Hereditary and lineage society records.

Original Records. Afterwards searching compiled records, search the existing records of—

• Each identify where the immigrant lived.

• The complete time period when he or she lived at that place.

• All jurisdictions that may have kept records about him or her (town, church, county, land, and federal).

Most record types described in this portal are original records, such as "Church Records," "Emigration and Immigration," "Naturalization," or "Vital Records."

Reference Tools [edit | edit source]

If you exercise not have enough information to select or use compiled or original records, utilise reference tools from the post-obit categories:

Background Data. You may demand some geographical, linguistic, historical, or cultural information. This information tin salve yous time and effort by helping you lot focus your research in the right identify and time menstruum. Y'all may need to—

• Locate towns or places.

• Review local or ethnic histories.

• Larn about jurisdictions.

• Use linguistic communication helps.

• Understand native customs.

Background information sources are not discussed in this article, but they are discussed in the Wiki "History" or "Historical Background" manufactures for virtually countries.

Finding Aids. Catalogs or bibliographies place where a record is available. Indexes aid find the person's name in a record. A few finding aids are discussed in this article. Search Wiki articles for more information on finding aids for a country.

Step 4. Find and Search the Records [edit | edit source]

Suggestions for Obtaining Records [edit | edit source]

You may be able to obtain the records you need from the post-obit:

• Internet. The Cyberspace has genealogical indexes, databases, document and book images and search engines to help find information nearly ancestors. Most sites are free simply some sites require a subscription.
• Family History Library. Y'all are welcome to visit and use the records at the Family History Library. The library is open to the public. There are no fees for using the records.
• Family History Centers. Some family history centers have record on microform from the Family History Library. Locate your nearest family unit history center and phone call ahead to detect record availability.
• Archives and local churches. About original documents are at federal, country, church building, and local archives or in local parish offices. While the Family unit History Library has many records on microfilm, boosted records are available only at these archives. You tin can request searches in their records through correspondence or past visiting these offices.
• Libraries and interlibrary loan. Public, bookish, and other inquiry libraries may accept compiled records and some original records for tracing immigrant origins. Some libraries provide interlibrary loan services to borrow records from other libraries. In addition, many indexes and catalogs are available through local libraries.
• Professional person researchers. You tin hire a professional researcher to search the records for you. Researchers in the country of origin may continue lists of emigrants compiled from various sources. For data on hiring a researcher, see Hiring a Professional person Researcher. When requesting services from libraries or professional researchers through correspondence, you volition have more success if your letter is brief and specific. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope when writing within your own state. You normally need to transport a check or money order in advance to pay for photocopy or search services.

Suggestions for Searching the Records [edit | edit source]

Follow these principles as you search the various records for your antecedent:

• Search for the immigrant'southward unabridged family. The records of each person in a family may include clues for identifying other family members. Look at other records and in other places to discover a missing family unit member. Other people with the aforementioned surname may be relatives.
• Search each source thoroughly. Notation the immigrant's occupation and the names of witnesses, godparents, neighbors, relatives, guardians, and others.
• Search a broad fourth dimension period. Look several years earlier and after the date you think an event occurred.
• Use indexes. Many records have indexes that help you use the records faster and better. However, many indexes are incomplete. They may just include the name of the specific person the tape is nigh. They may not include parents, witnesses, and other incidental persons. Likewise, the original records may have been misinterpreted, or names may accept been omitted during indexing.
• Search for previous residences. Data virtually previous residences can lead to boosted records that may accept more information.
• Watch for spelling variations. Spelling was not standardized when most early records were made. You may discover a proper noun spelled differently than information technology is today.

Pace five. Use the Information [edit | edit source]

After you observe data about an immigrant'southward place of origin, you lot must interpret your findings. Y'all may want to enquire an experienced researcher or native speaker to help you lot understand strange terms. You should—

• Evaluate the place-proper noun.

• Empathize foreign spellings.

• Prove that the person you constitute is really the immigrant.

Identify-Names [edit | edit source]

Apply gazetteers and other reference tools to evaluate the information. Watch for the following issues:

• Language and terminology. If you do not know the native version of a country proper noun, you may recollect the country name is a town. For example—

Native Proper name	English Translation
Germany	Germany
Sverige	Sweden
Cechy	Bohemia
Eire	Republic of Ireland

Other foreign terms can exist mistaken for place-names. "Königreich Preußen," for example, means the "kingdom of Prussia" and does not refer to a boondocks called Königreich in Prussia. Other foreign terms that may confuse researchers include—

Native Term	English Translation
Kreis	commune (High german)
Powiat	district (Polish)
Megye	county (Hungarian)
Socken	parish (Swedish)

Many town names are spelled differently in the native language:

Native Spelling	English Translation
Anvers	Antwerp
Napoli	Naples
München	Munich
Plzen	Pilsen
København	Copenhagen
Wien	Vienna

• State, regional, and provincial names. Instead of the town, some sources simply name the county, region, or province. Foreign states, counties, provinces, or regions are unfamiliar to many researchers. Some examples include—

Native Term	English Translation
Sachsen	Saxony
Mazuria	Northeastern Poland
East Anglia	Eastern coastal region in England
Hunsruck	Mountain range in western Germany
Holland	Provinces in the netherlands

• Cities and counties with the same proper name. Frequently the name you find is both a urban center and a province or county name. In well-nigh records, names such every bit Baden, Hannover, Luxembourg, Posen, or York probably refer to a county or country, non a metropolis or boondocks.
• Nearby large city. If you discover the name of a big or well-known city in a record, the ancestor is often non from the city itself but rather from a smaller, lesser-known place nearby. For case, many immigrants said they came from London or Berlin when they really came from towns near London or Berlin. Nevertheless, some immigrants did live in a big urban center for a flow of time earlier emigrating.

  Hints: If the immigrant is said to take come up from a large metropolis, look for clues that he or she really came from a nearby boondocks. A person from a big city should not accept an occupation associated with pocket-sized town life, such as farming. Conversely, other occupations and trades are more than likely to exist constitute in larger population centers. Family traditions about trips to the marketplace or traveling several miles to church are as well clues that the immigrant came from a small-scale town.

• Port cities. Sometimes a identify-name is the port from which the immigrant left the old country. Few immigrants were actually born in port cities. Common European port cities include Amsterdam, Antwerp, Bremen, Copenhagen, Gothenberg, Hamburg, Le Havre, Lisbon, Liverpool, London, Naples, Oslo, Rotterdam, Stockholm, and Trieste.
• Several towns with the same name. Many towns in a land have the aforementioned or similar names. For example, there are 57 places named Mount Pleasant in Great U.k. and 14 towns and dozens of hamlets named Schönau in Germany. In holland, there are two towns named Nibbixwoud. To distinguish betwixt towns with the same or like names, find out about the surface area the immigrant came from. Look for the name of the country or canton or a nearby urban center. If you all the same do not know which town the immigrant came from, you may need to search the records of each town with the aforementioned name.
• Place-proper noun changes. Some places have been known by more than one proper name. Such changes frequently occurred when another country took over and translated the proper noun into its language. Gdansk in Poland was known as Danzig under High german rule. Some name changes were political. For example, Kitchner, Ontario was Berlin before Earth War I. Other changes have evolved over time. Shropshire, England is sometimes still called Salop, its old proper name. Other examples include—

Old Proper name	New Proper name
Breslau	Wroclaw
Leningrad	Petrograd
Pressburg	Bratislava
Chemnitz	Karl-Marx-Stadt

Spelling [edit | edit source]

Foreign names are frequently spelled differently from mutual spellings. At that place are many reasons for the variations:

• Phonetic spelling. Some letters have a different sound in other languages. For example, the High german j is pronounced like the English y ; j in French is pronounced like zhi in English.
• Misreading. Handwritten or gothic printed letters are easily misinterpreted. Be aware of this every bit you lot search handwritten records or indexes to handwritten records. For example, the German handwritten letter w tin can exist confused with m , and the letter k frequently looks like r .
• Special characters. Many languages use special marks chosen diacritics that alter the sound, and sometimes alphabetical order, of letters. These characters are sometimes eliminated or changed into another alphabetic character when written in another linguistic communication. This is called "transliteration" and transliteration standards change over the years (e.g., Beijing was previously transliterated Peking ). The German ä oftentimes, only not ever, becomes ae in English. The Czech š may become sh or sch . The Dutch ij is usually translated as y .

Use comprehensive gazetteers to identify all possible towns that fit a spelling you have constitute. You should too be familiar with the spelling rules, phonetics, and handwriting of the immigrant's native language. The Family History Library and family unit history centers have word lists that explicate such information for some major languages. You may as well want to ask for assistance from another researcher who knows the culture, language, and history.

Proving You Plant the Immigrant [edit | edit source]

When you detect a place that appears to be the immigrant's hometown, search the civil or church building records of that place. If you lot find records in that location of a person with the immigrant'southward name, you must verify whether the person is really the immigrant.

• Employ the minimum identification. Use the information from footstep one to identify your ancestor. The person's nascency date and parents (or other relatives) should correspond with the information you know about the immigrant. Although the spelling of names may have inverse from one state to the other, the names should exist substantially the same. Names may have been translated or shortened, or the immigrant may have used a eye name after emigration.
• Test the new data. Make sure the information you found in country-of-origin records matches the information in country-of-arrival records. Some names are so mutual you may find several families whose children have the same names. The more you lot know about the immigrant's family, the more likely you tin can verify that yous found the correct person.
• Try to disprove the connectedness. One useful tactic is to endeavour and prove that the person you establish is non the immigrant. You know the person you found is not the immigrant if he or she died before the immigrant left the land of origin or if he or she appears in records while living in the country of arrival.

If yous cannot disprove the connectedness, it does non mean yous have found the immigrant. Weigh the bear witness of these three factors to decide if you establish the correct person and if you are ready to seek earlier generations.

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Source: https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Tracing_Immigrants_Search_Strategies