| Finding
Records
Robert
W. Marlin tells how to locate and obtain copies of your family’s
records.
Locating
and obtaining copies of documents relating to your ancestors
is sometimes a nightmare. However, it is also the most rewarding
part of your research. When you are able to locate a copy
of the marriage license or birth certificate of one of your
great-grandparents, you will experience a rewarding feeling
of continuity with your past which is difficult to explain.
 |
It
is probably possible to obtain copies of your grandparents’
marriage certificates, providing you know the approximate
date and location of the event. |
The hardest part of your job is establishing a time frame
and location for records that relate to your ancestors. Let’s
assume that you’ve finally discovered through various
sources that your great-grandfather Horace died about 1878
in the state of Maine. Can you obtain a copy of his death
certificate? Your great-aunt Sally was born in Padukah, KY
about 1900. Is a copy of her birth certificate available?
Your mother’s grandparents were married around 1910
in Sacramento, CA. Is it possible for you to obtain a copy
of their marriage license? To all three of these questions,
the answer is probably yes. In most cases it is necessary
for you to uncover the approximate date and location of each
event which you are trying to document. You are then on your
way to obtaining copies of the original document.
Perhaps the following numbers can give you some idea of why
it is necessary to establish a time frame and location when
trying to locate and obtain copies of records. There are literally
millions of records in thousands of repositories. We all know
that there are 50 states. Did you know that there are 3,998
counties within these states? The state of Delaware has the
fewest with three counties and the state of Texas has the
most with 254. Most of these counties make their own rules
and rates for the services they provide to researchers. In
addition, each state has some form of archives which houses
older records. In my experience, I have found the average
cutoff date for archive storage to be somewhere around 50
years. Many states require their counties to turn over all
records to the state archives that are more than 50 years
old. There are also thousands of federal, state and county
courts where records are stored.
The National Archives and its regional branches house millions
of records. These include military, land, immigration, naturalization,
ship passenger arrival records, Indian Nation and dozens of
other types of records. There are also thousands of cemeteries
around the US. The list of record sources seems endless. It
is now possible for you to contact most of the various agencies
holding these records. These agencies can tell you exactly
what information they require in order to provide you with
copies of your family records. You should have little trouble
expanding the basic information being provided. Although the
numbers above may seem overwhelming, modern technology has
made the search much easier.
When I discovered genealogy, more than 20 years ago, almost
all research had to be done via the US Post Office, a.k.a.
“snail mail”. It sometimes took three letters
back and forth and several months of time to locate and obtain
a copy of a marriage license, death or birth certificate.
The cost of postage was sizable as SASEs (self addressed stamped
envelopes) were almost always required.
| Reference
Books
The
Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy
Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra
Hargreaves Luebking, eds.
Ancestry Inc.
Ancestry
Red Book: American State, County & Town Sources
Ancestry Inc.
Genealogist’s
Address Book
By Elizabeth Petty Bentley
Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.
ISBN 0-8063-1580-6
County
Courthouse Book
By Elizabeth Petty Bentley
Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.
ISBN 0-8063-1485-0
Sourcebook
of Local Court and County Record Retrievers
BBB Publications
ISBN 1-879792-09-5
(A list of private companies, who will, for a fee, pull
files and documents from state and local courts and
from county agencies.)
Cemeteries
of the United States: A Guide to Contact Information
for U.S. Cemeteries and Their Records
Gale Research Inc.
ISBN 0-8103-9245-3
International
Vital Records Handbook
By Thomas Jay Kemp
(Contains forms necessary for requesting birth, death
and marriage records from all 50 states and all US Trust
Territories, plus information for ordering vital records
from more than 200 other countries worldwide.)
They
Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and
Ethnic Origins
By Loretto Dennis Szucs
Ancestry Inc.
(Contains loads of information about naturalization
records and lists numerous locations and websites for
getting more information about these documents.)
Find
Public Records Fast - The complete State, County and
Courthouse Locator
Facts on Demand Press
(Explains how the American court system is set up, enabling
readers to locate the court they are looking for easier
and faster.)
U.S.
Military Records
By James C. Neagles
(A guide to federal and state sources from colonial
America to the present.) |
The
Computer
Today it is possible to request information and have an electronic
answer in less time than it takes for a mailed letter to arrive.
The most important thing you can do now to expedite your research
is to upgrade and broaden your mind. If you don’t already
have access to the Internet, e-mail and the web, then you
are light years behind.
I rarely reveal my age, except to occasionally mention that
I was born in 1931. I didn’t start to use a computer
until about six years ago. Now I couldn’t do my research
without one. Snail mail inquiries are quickly becoming a thing
of the past. Almost everything today can be done by a combination
of e-mail, fax machines and websites. These methods are not
only faster, but they also save you a lot of money on postage.
With tongue in cheek I can honestly state that there are now
two types of genealogical researchers: those who work with
computers and those who don’t. My own experience has
shown me that the ones who don’t want to get into computers
usually fall into the same age group as mine. About six or
seven years ago I realized a truth. Although I may have been
around before computers, they are going to be around long
after I am gone. The bottom line is that anyone who is not
working with the new technology available is wasting a lot
of time and money. They are also expending far more effort
than needed.
You no longer even have to own a computer to take advantage
of the world of information which exists on the web. Most
libraries now offer web access as a regular service. Librarians
are happy to show you how to access these services from library
computers and can do so in a matter of minutes. The rest is
up to you. E-mail is offered free from numerous sources and
can be accessed from these same library computers. If you
want to fax a letter, it can be done at Office Depot, Staples
or almost any print shop or mail shop for a nominal cost.
They will also allow you to use their facility as a return
address.
This new technology is not a substitute for your basic research.
Your job will still be doing the legwork necessary to pinpoint
approximate time and place where the records of your ancestors
are likely to be located.
The first thing to remember is that almost all of the government
agencies involved are willing to help you obtain the information
you want. However, each agency sets its own rules as to what
information you must supply in order to obtain documents.
Therefore, you must clearly define what you are looking for.
When dealing with any of these agencies it is important to
remember that how successful you are relates directly to the
information you provide. In most cases more is better.
For example, if you find out that a great-grandfather had
been born in New Jersey in 1874, you could access the state
of New Jersey website. From the main menu you can link directly
to the New Jersey state library. This will let you know that
the state archives has birth records in their possession covering
the year 1874. This page will include instructions for ordering
the various documents, including the cost. If you are looking
for more recent records, you can also link directly to the
vital records page which includes birth, death and marriage
records. This usually tells you exactly what the cost is and
exactly how to go about ordering copies. Many sites now honor
most major credit cards and some even offer special handling
such as Federal Express delivery. It can be that simple.
Below is a list of the most common documents you will be seeking.
I have listed them in the order I feel is most important for
the purpose of this article:
Federal
Censuses
Federal censuses are available from all branches of the National
Archives. The Federal census has been conducted every 10 years
since 1790. At the present time, the most helpful censuses
are the ones conducted in 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920. The 1930
census will become available in 2002. The information contained
in most censuses can supply you with the approximate years
of birth, death and marriage as well as the location where
these events took place.
State Census Schedules
Many states conducted state censuses and they were usually
conducted midway between the federal censuses. They were usually
done in the years ending in 5 (1905, 1915, 1925). They are
usually not as comprehensive in scope as the federal, but
are also very helpful to genealogists.
|
National
Archives and its Regional Offices |
|
National
Archives
8th St. & Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20408
www.nara.gov
Tel.: (202) 501-5400
Fax: (301) 713-6905
inquire@arch1.nara.gov
NARA
Pacific-Alaska
654 W. 3rd Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501-2145
www.nara.gov/regional/anchorag.html
Tel.: (907) 271-2443
Fax: (907) 271-2442
archives@alaska.nara.gov
NARA
Central Plains
2312 East Bannister Road
Kansas City, MO 64131-3011
www.nara.gov/regional/kansas.html
Tel.: (816) 926-6272
Fax: (816) 926-6982
archives@kansascity.nara.gov
NARA
Great Lakes
7358 S. Pulaski Road
Chicago, IL 60629-5898
www.nara.gov/regional/chicago.html
Tel.: (773) 581-7816
Fax: (312) 353-1294
archives@chicago.nara.gov
NARA
Mid Atlantic
900 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107-4292
www.nara.gov/regional/philacc.html
Tel.: (215) 597-3000
Fax: (215) 597-2303
archives@philarch.nara.gov
NARA
Northeast - Boston
380 Trapelo Road
Waltham, MA 02154-6399
www.nara.gov/regional/boston.html
Tel.: (781) 647-8100
Fax: (781) 647-8460
archives@waltham.nara.gov
NARA
Northeast - New York City
201 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014-4811
www.nara.gov/regional/newyork.html
Tel.: (212) 337-1300
Fax: (212) 337-1306
archives@newyork.nara.gov
|
NARA
Pacific - Seattle
6125 Sand Point Way, NE
Seattle, WA 98115-7999
www.nara.gov/regional/seattle.html
Tel.: (206) 526-6507
Fax: (206) 526-4344
archives@seattle.nara.gov
NARA
Pacific - San Francisco
1000 Commodore Drive
San Bruno, CA 94066
www.nara.gov/regional/sanfranc.html
Tel.: (650) 876-9009
Fax: (650) 876-9233
archives@sanbruno.nara.gov
NARA
Pacific - Laguna Niguel
P.O. Box 6719
Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-6719
www.nara.gov/regional/laguna.html
Tel.: (949) 360-2641
Fax: (949) 360-2624
archives@laguna.nara.gov
NARA
Rocky Mountain
P.O. Box 25307
Denver, CO 80225-0307
www.nara.gov/regional/denver.html
Tel.: (303) 236-0817
Fax: (303) 236-9354
archives@denver.nara.gov
NARA
Southeast
1557 St. Joseph Avenue
East Point, GA 30344-2593
www.nara.gov/regional/atlanta.html
Tel.: (404) 763-7477
(404) 763-7033
archives@atlanta.nara.gov
NARA
Southwest
P.O. Box 6216
Fort Worth, TX 76115-0216
www.nara.gov/regional/ftworth.html
Tel.: (817) 334-5525
Fax: (817) 334-5621
archives@ftworth.nara.gov
|
Vital
Records
The three most common documents sought by genealogical researchers
are the vital records group which includes birth, death and
marriage records. Proper use of the federal and state censuses
will help you pinpoint time and place.
Naturalization
Records
These documents exist in most courts of the US. These records
fall into two groups which are pre-1906 and post-1906 records.
This was the year that naturalization proceedings became a
federal function. In most cases they consist of the Declaration
To Become A Citizen, which was also known as the first papers.
This was followed by the Petition For Naturalization. The
final papers were actually an original certificate issued
to the individual. Technically there were no duplicate copies.
Passenger
Arrival Records
These records are available at branches of the National Archives.
There are filmed copies of passenger lists for many American
ports.
Court
Records
Court records are available at the federal, state and county
levels. Court records cover name changes, naturalization proceedings
and dozens of other types of records. Most courts can already
be contacted by fax. It is only a matter of time before they
also have websites. The best current source to start on this
subject is with the reference books listed.
In most cases, the further you go back in the research, the
more scattered the records will be. Also, the further back
you go the scarcer written records will become. The mandatory
recording of vital records such as birth, death and marriage
records did not become law in most American states until about
the 1860s.
No matter what document you are requesting, always request
a copy of the original document if it is available. Otherwise,
in many cases you will only receive a certified transcribed
typewritten copy that seldom contains all the information
contained in the original document.
This
article originally appeared in the September/October 1999
issue of Family Chronicle.
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