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If you are
just beginning you may be
unsure of what to expect in
your own research or from hiring
a genealogist. Below are
case studies based on work
I've done for different
clients. In each case I
started with the
information we knew.
Sometimes it was sketchy and
uncertain, but even incorrect
information usually has a germ
of fact.
In the first case, I've
provided an example of the benefit
of being on site where I was able to
assist an experienced genealogist
because I lived near where her
great-grandfather once lived.
The second case is a
more typical search in that the
objective was broad; gather as much
information as possible about
related family from a few pieces of
information that may not be
accurate.
The third case looks at
locating towns of origin and family
in Poland.
Much of my work is also
documented in my blog posts which
can be found at the Articles page.
To learn more about my process, I
would encourage you to access the
following links:
Validating
Instincts
A Puzzle in
Ten Steps
The
Safe-Cracker's Work
On the
Articles tab, you will find
additional articles on client
work under the headings of
Genealogy Searches, Names, and
Searching the Lodz Ghetto.
Locating
Minnesota Records
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What
We Knew:
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Client’s
great-grandfather came
to the Twin Cities in
the 1880s. My
client was an active
genealogist and had
already found
considerable information
and developed an
extensive family tree.
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What
We
Wanted:
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The
client was located in
another state and did
not have easy access to
all of the resources
within Minnesota.
The main value I could
add was to identify and
access information in
Minnesota to which she
did not have direct
access and continue to
pursue the remaining
puzzles in her search.
One of the puzzles she hoped to solve was
to learn where her
great-grandfather came
from in Europe. Because
he came over fairly
early the typical source
of immigration records
wouldn’t provide that
information.
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What
We Searched:
What We Found: |
Initially
I focused my efforts on
information specific to
Minnesota. I then explored
census and immigration
records as I found new
branches to the
family. Information
I found or sought
included:
- Death
certificates
- Obituaries
- Probate records
(wills)
- Naturalization
records
- Cemetery
tombstone photos
- City
directories
- Draft records
- Census records
- Immigration
records
- School records
- Synagogue
records
I successfully located
relevant death records
and obituaries as well
as pictures of
tombstones. Many
documents were available
at the local historical
archives. As the
research was local I
drove out to cemeteries
to take photos, went to
a synagogue to check on
any old records and went
to the school
district to check
on old school
records. Not all
efforts pan out and
there were no records at
the synagogue or from
the school.
I did; however, hit the
jackpot with probate
records that were held
at the County
Courthouse. There I
found her
great-grandfather's
will. It revealed
the European town he
came from, a new family
branch from a sister of
whom we were unaware and
many of the causes that
he supported.
Identifying the town
from the name in the
will required some
creative analysis given
the name changes that
had occurred over time.
In the process of my
search, I also had a
serendipitous
discovery. At the
Jewish Historical
Society I stumbled
across a scrapbook for
the local high school
and inserted into its
pages was a program from
1911 of a theater
performance for the
Jewish Home for the
Aged. Performing
in that program were her
grandmother and two of
her grandmother's
siblings.
Sometimes we're just
lucky!
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Finding
Prior Generations
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What
We Knew:
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We
started out with the
birth year of my
client’s grandmother, an
estimated immigration
date and a few of the
names of her
grandmother’s
siblings. There
was no family left who
would be able to provide
additional information.
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| What
We Wanted: |
My
client wanted to learn
where her grandmother
came from. She
also wanted to identify
family members
associated with her
grandmother and work
back several
generations. The
client’s family records
were primarily in New
York and Eastern Europe.
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What We
Searched:
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I
located immigration,
census, naturalization
and death records. I
also reviewed both
European revision lists
(a type of census) and
Holocaust records for
family names from the
identified town.
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What We
Found:
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From
these records I
identified 27 family
members going four
generations back
including:
- Names of great-grandparents and great-great
grandparents
- Siblings to her grandmother, many of whom
were unknown
- Siblings to her great-grandfather in the US
and Europe
- Cousins of her grandmother and their
spouses and
children
In addition I
was able to identify
the European names of
these relatives and
their dates of birth
and immigration as
well as the name and
location of her
ancestral town.
Interestingly
we discovered that her
widowed
great-grandfather
brought over the older
children in 1904 to stay
with his brother, his
sister and her
husband. Ten years
later he returned to
stay bringing over the
younger children.
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| Tracing
Back to Poland |
What
We
Knew:
What
We Wanted:
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We
started out with the
names of grandparents
and some possible towns
of origin. Additionally
the client was able to
photograph tombstones of
key family members.
My client wanted to
learn where his
grandparents came
from. He had some
possibilities from
family stories, but no
evidence on which to
base them.
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What We
Searched:
What We Found:
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I
began with census
records which led me to
immigration
records. I also
searched death records
in the US. I found
Polish records which
appeared to be the
marriage record for the
grandparents and
translated them. I
also compared tombstone
information. Using
information from the
Polish record I again
searched for immigration
records by town.
I began with census
records and then
located the
grandfather's
immigration record.
While the immigration
record gave Warsaw as
the town of origin, I
was skeptical as many
immigrants gave the
nearest large
city. I then
searched Polish vital
record indexes and
found a marriage
record from a smaller
town not too far from
Warsaw that I
suspected was that of
the client's
grandparents. The
record was in Russian
so I translated the
key information.
I also translated
tombstones for Hebrew
names and fathers'
names. When I
matched them up,
everything was close
with some minor
spelling and name
variations.
I was convinced I was
on the trail, but
needed something more
to be sure. Using that
town, I again did an
immigration search and
found the immigration
record of the
grandmother with the
children. That record
gave the mother's name
as the nearest
relative in Europe,
the exact name that
was on the marriage
record as the bride's
mother. It also
indicated that she was
going to her husband
in Minnesota. All the
pieces fit
together.
Now knowing I had the
correct record I
sought additional
vital records from
Poland that tied to
this record, finding
additional relatives
of this family.
In addition to these
records, I identified
death records in the
US which gave parents
names.
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