2. Where to start…
Put together an autobiography of yourself
Basic facts: Immediate family
makeup, occupation, residence, personal
activities, important dates, etc.
Interview living relatives
Collect family photographs
Look for genealogical records at home:
Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce records
Obituaries/Newspaper clippings
Funeral/Memory Cards
Family Bibles
3. Photographs
Show family resemblances that have been passed
on from generation to generation.
Demonstrate the context and environment an
ancestor was living in as well as show further
details of their life.
Occupation
Interests
Living arrangements
4. Photographs - Example
Petoskey High School Junior Class – 1922
Edna and Grace Kuberski
5. Obituaries and Newspaper Articles
Birth/Death information
Religious beliefs
Organization affiliations
Military service
Interests
Family information
Occupation
Living arrangements
Jacob Kuberski
Obituary - 1880
7. Federal and State Census
Federal Census conducted every 10 years since 1790
1790 – 1930 Census manuscripts are available to the
public (except 1890 Census – mostly destroyed due to a
fire in 1921)
Census records and data specific to individual
respondents are not available to the public until 72 years
after a given census was taken
1940 Federal Census will be available April 2, 2012
State Censuses were typically conducted between the
years of the Federal Census
Michigan State Census records are available (but not
complete) for: 1837, 1845, 1854, 1864, 1874, 1884, 1894
8. Federal and State Census, cont.
Example:
1930 US Federal Census
Orris Family – Detroit, MI
Back: Herb, David, Wilbur
and Vernon
Middle:
Warren, Helen, Lucile, Mary
and Nancy
Front: Wilma
(Jean), Dorothy, Bob, Ralph
and Pearl
9. Federal and State Census, cont.
Individual’s
Household occupation
Individual’s personal Individual’s
members description birth location
(sex, race, age and and parents’
marital status) and birth location
education
1930 US Federal Census – Michigan, Wayne Co., Detroit
http://www.ancestry.com
10. Vital Records
Forms
Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce
Record contents
Full name, birth/death year, birth/death
location, spouse/parents names, gender, burial
location, occupation.
Where to get records – varies between states
Michigan - County clerks and Michigan Department of
Community Health (State only has birth/death records)
Birth, Death and Marriage records can also be found
through county indexes
11. Vital Records, cont.
Cause of
death
Name and
personal
information Carrie Hillock
Parents Burial
location
Carrie Hillock – Certificate of Death Ridgelawn Cemetery
http://seekingmichigan.org Breckenridge, MI
12. Vital Records – County Indexes
James and
Carrie Hillock
Gratiot County Marriage Returns
http://www.familysearch.org
13. Vital Records – County
Indexes, cont.
Names, ages Birth locations Couple’s fathers
and race of and occupations
couple
Witnesses and
individual who
Couple’s Date and location performed the
mothers of marriage marriage
14. Immigration Records
Main ports of entry:
New
York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadel
phia, New Orleans, San
Francisco
Immigration records are online
for Castle Garden (1855 – 1890)
and Ellis Island (1892 –
1924), main entry facilities of
immigrants coming to the United
States on the east coast Jannetje (Van Duijn) Elferink
http://www.castlegarden.org/
http://www.ellisisland.org/
15. Immigration Records, cont.
S.S. Nieuw Amsterdam
Rotterdam
November 22, 1913
Age, sex and Occupation Nationality, race and last
Full name marital status and education Nieuw Amsterdam
permanent residence
www.ellisisland.org
16. Draft Registration
World War I and World War II Draft
Registration cards
Example: Harrison Oster
Front: Bernice
Hillock, Marjorie
Oster, Merle Oster
Back: Glenn
Hillock, Viva
Oster, Carol
Oster, Harrison Oster
Year: 1922
17. Draft Registration, cont.
Name and
birth Physical
information description
Occupation
Harrison Oster – WWI Draft Registration
http://www.ancestry.com
18. Draft Registration, cont.
Name and
Address
Birth
Information
Occupation
Harrison Oster – WWII Draft Registration
http://www.familysearch.org
22. Searching Tips – Names
The names of individuals and how their names
are spelled can change over the course of their
lives
Example 1: McCrillis Pride
McCrillus – 1870 Census
McRillas – 1880 Census
M.C. – 1900 Census
MoorCrillus – 1910 Census
McCrillis – 1910 Census
23. Searching Tips – Browsing
Methods
Antonia Kruskie Antonia Kruskie
and Belle Kuberski gravestone
Seeking Michigan.org
Search Terms
Death Year: 1917
Death City: Cross Village
Results
14 Records
“Anatonia Graseky” Certificate of Death “Anatonia Graseky”
http://seekingmichigan.org
25. Ancestry.com
World’s largest online resource for family history
Contains over 7 billion records
Available through personal subscription or via
Library Edition at subscribing libraries
Price for personal subscription:
Monthly 3-Month 6-Month
US Records $22.95/mo. $17.95/mo. $12.95/mo.
World Records $34.95/mo. $29.95/mo. $24.95/mo.
26. Heritage Quest
Genealogy database produced by ProQuest
Available free of charge to all Michigan residents
through the Michigan Electronic Library (MEL)
and Kent District Library website
Key source for searching a complete index of the
1790 – 1930 US Federal Census (except 1890)
27. FamilySearch.org
Family History web application created by the
LDS Church (Mormon)
Compilation of numerous online databases
Digital scans of documents from the Family
History Library’s microfilm collection
Free access for anyone (no subscription
required)
28. Seeking Michigan
Seeking Michigan – Online digital collection of
historical and genealogical materials from the
Library of Michigan and Archives of
Michigan
Includes Library of Michigan collection of
statewide death records between 1897 and 1920
29. Find-A-Grave
Alphabetical and geographical listing of the final
resting places of both celebrities and not-so-
famous individuals around the world
Contains over 74 million grave records
Records provided by public contribution
Can search by individual name or cemetery name
31. Local Genealogical Collections
Kalamazoo Public Library
Portage District Library
Grand Rapids Public Library
Library of Michigan/Archives of Michigan
Features one of the 10 largest genealogy collections in
the United States
Western Michigan University - Archives and
Regional History Collection
Has collections of Kalamazoo Valley Genealogical
Society
Central Michigan University - Clarke Historical
Library
32. Information Storage
Digital Software
Examples: Family Tree Maker, Personal
Ancestral File (free online through Family
Search)
Paper Format
Pedigree charts
Family group sheets