For most people living in the US who are looking to trace their family history, most long lost relatives of recent years can be found in United States repositories. However, what happens when you discover the country your ancestors originally immigrated from?
Since the advent of the internet, there are quite a large amount of records available online but not all. There are also massive amounts of information on microfilm for viewing at your local family history center, but again, not all records worldwide have been put to film. This leaves only one option; performing research within the community your family originally hails from. »» Hiring A Professional Genealogist Abroad To Conduct Your Family History Research
When creating a genealogy, death records can be one of your biggest assets. Along with birth records and marriage records, death records can provide extremely valuable information about an individual ancestor as well as his family. When creating a family tree, designs and included information may vary from tree to tree. However, a family tree will always account for births, deaths and marriages. It is important to make sure that these dates and locations are accurate.
Modern death records for the United States can be located through the Social Security Death Index. This Index is fully searchable online at no charge. From the Social Security Death Index you can find the birth date, Social Security Number and state of issue, death date and last residence of your ancestor.
To search the Social Security Death Index, simply input as much information as you have. It is possible to search only by last name, thereby finding the death records of everyone who shares a particular surname. This can be useful in starting research on a possible ancestor about whom you know very little or finding a whole new branch of a family tree.
If you are seeking death records from another country or pre-1960s United States death records, you will have to go through alternative sources. If you know the town and approximate year in which your ancestor died, try contacting that town’s offices. You may be able to get information on how to proceed. Also try contacting genealogical societies both locally and online. Some societies publish their own databases of death records and other vital records. These sources are generally based on the members’ research and may not be 100% accurate, so use caution and document your sources carefully.
You may also want to check military, probate and even prison records to find the death records of a particularly elusive family member. Women’s records can be particularly difficult to find as during some eras, women were considered the property of her husband or father. Some lives of many women were never at all.
It is possible to use guesswork to fill in the blanks if you simply cannot find certain death records. This is often necessary in the case of persecuted peoples such as Jews or Gypsies as well as slaves. If you cannot find death records for one or more of your family members, then fill in as much information as you can and move on. It is possible that the death records will surface at a later date or you will be able to estimate the approximate time of death with a reasonable degree of accuracy as you obtain more information.
Of all the emotional processes you go through when studying and researching your family tree it is the hunt for birth parents that is the most challenging. The locale privacy laws can make it a lot more complicated to find exact names and addresses depending on where you live. It may well be difficult simply to find out the locations connected with your adoption either from the adoption agency or your adoptive parents. If your birth mother or father don't want to be found you would not be alone as this is fairly common. You should be prepared for a long time spent searching as it can be difficult.
One of the early steps is to ask your adoptive parents if they could assist you in locating your birth parents. Keep in mind that adoptive parents coul;d see this as a rejection of them and their affection for you. Don't just ask bluntly and try to be sensitive to how your questions might make them feel. If you make it very clear that you wish to know your genealogy has nothing to do with them or the love they showed you as parents that will reassure them. Don't let them think you are looking to replace them as your real family by searching for your birth mother. If you can get a forename for your birth mother then you are doing better than most. They may know no more than the name of the agency or adoption center that handled the paperwork. Finding information from overseas adoption agencies is likely to make things a lot harder for you. There are some adoptions that are a lot more open than others and your parents may have had some contact with the birth mother. This doesn't mean they will know her name but any descriptive information about her age or some physical features may help you in your search.
Check out the laws surrounding adoption in your state and country. It may be worth your while to invest in professional help to assist with understanding the laws. You must always abide by the law so make sure you stick to the rules. You will discover that you can get help from some agencies either online or from the local phone book. When searching you will find that having some legal advice will be a great help. Adoption reunions are worth looking into and you can usually sign up online. You never know, you may discover your birth mother is searching for you as well.
Eventually the agency that dealt with your adoption can be approached. It is worth asking but they may not be able to help much. It can happen that they will pass on a letter from you to your birth mother if you ask them. In your letter you would explain you want help to research your birth family tree. If the can give you some information about your mother's medical history you might learn something useful about your own medical health potential and risks.
It may be tough but try not to simply give up when you hit problems. If you can find out her name you can at least build up your family tree even if you never find her. You should assume that it will be very difficult to find your birth father. You could always research the family tree of your adoptive family if you come up against a complete brick wall when it comes to researching your birth parents. After all, it is their name you carry and their love that raised you.
Our latest addition made the MyHeritage Genealogy Search Engine more powerful, as we have expanded our database to include now 1,526 genealogically relevant databases, representing more than 12 billion names.
You can get to it by going to http://www.myheritage.com/research or you can still access it directly from our software Family Tree Builder.
We have expanded our database by 150+ new sources. Some of the new sources are:
· Facebook
· Digg
· Spock people finder
· Michigan Census
· German Emigrants Database
· BMD Registers UK
· USA Gov search
· Western Michigan Newspapers
· Palatines to America
· US Social Security Death Index
· Prague Police Headquarters Conscriptions (1850-1914)
· Consolidated Index of Sephardic Surnames
· Arizona Birth and Death Certificates
· European Patent Office
MyHeritage Research accesses only genealogical resources which helps researchers find those
websites and databases most relevant to their unique family histories. This allows you a much
quicker and efficient search, so you don’t have to wade through volumes of non relevant
records.
You can perform a name search using different spelling options: Exact, Soundex, or our
unique Megadex spelling variations. Megadex allows you to choose from the most commonly
used spelling variations of last names, cutting down on the time needed to research name
variations. Read more about Megadex here: http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/megadex.php
Using the Advanced Search option, you can add birth and death dates. Based on the
information you enter, our search engine will automatically select the databases most
relevant to your search.
In addition, MyHeritage allow you to store and annotate your searches for further reference.
These tools allow you to focus on the results of your search, not the mechanics.
We hope those extensions will make it easier for everyone to research their family history
and improve the family tree.
About MyHeritage
MyHeritage was founded by a team of people who combine a passion for family history with the development of innovative technology. It is now one of the world’s leading online networks for families, and the second largest family history website. MyHeritage is available in 34 languages and home to more than 28 million family members and 300 million profiles. The company recently acquired Kindo, a family social network, and is based in Bnei Atarot, near Tel Aviv, Israel. For more information, visit www.myheritage.com.
- Courtesy Legacy News
FamilySearch continues its massive record digitization projects. They have just added over 6 million new indexed records and 1.4 million new images to its Record Search pilot program.
The West Virginia birth, marriage, and death records, and the South Dakota state censuses for 1915 and 1925 are now complete. Many thanks to the thousands of online FamilySearch Indexing volunteers who helped make these wonderful records available. See the chart below for more details. The new records can be searched for free at FamilySearch.org (Click Search Records, then Record Search pilot).
Record Search visitors might also notice the following changes to the pilot site after the latest update.
Region map flyover now lists the number of collections in a region
Rotate an image clockwise or counterclockwise in the viewer
New full screen view in the image viewer
Search form now displays the collection being searched
Image navigation- moved previous, next & go to buttons to the bottom of the page
Collection list page is now a single column
Image only collections are identified
Changes to print selected area
New records include:
California
- 1920 U.S. census
Illinois - Cook County birth certificates and registers
South Dakota - 1915 state census
South Dakota - 1925 state census
West Virginia - birth, marriage, and death records are now indexed and complete
