One thing I've learned from working on this project is how to pinch pennies while still gathering valuable information. I don't have much in the way of new research findings to share so instead I'll share with you how I do my research without spending an inordinate amount of money. Researching your genealogy should be fun and not discouraging because you can't afford to do so. If you're interested in researching but not sure where to start or don't have cash to blow, try out the below resources.
Relatives: This may be the most obvious step but you'd be amazed at what you can find out from your own family. When you're researching genealogy, you're piecing back together family memories and the older living members in your family are a fountain of this invaluable information. If you are fortunate enough to still have this resource at your disposal, stop reading this and talk to them... NOW! Not only will they give you clues for names, dates, and locations, family stories can provide a lot of context for your research that you couldn't possibly gather from vital records. That context is what makes the research experience that much more fulfilling so please don't ignore this source if you have access to it.
Family Search: Familysearch.org is a free genealogy research site run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and it is an absolute gold mine. There is a wealth of free material here, ranging from old census searches, complete vital record indices for some states, the Social Security Death Index and beyond. Even more interesting for beginners such as myself were their free video classes. I took comfort in knowing that they have a 48 minute video dedicated to researching German town origins (which I've already started struggling with but that's a different story). They have videos for how to search the censuses as well as practical researching advice. This site is really worth checking out as a first stop in your research.
Local Libraries: I would not be able to do my research if it were not for my library. Your local library is a very good place to start when it comes to beginning your genealogy research. In a lot of cases, your local library will have a public license to at least one of the major private research databases (Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com are the two big examples that initially come to mind) that you can use for free just by being a library patron. Compared to what would normally be a $200 annual subscription just for one major database, I'd say you got a good deal right there. This is not to mention all the other goodies you could find there, such as local historical records if your family has lived in the area for a long time and old newspapers. This is probably one of the best single sources of information I can think of so trust me when I say do not ignore your library.
Interment.net: If you can find your family's burial site, then you are likely going to find A LOT of data for multiple deceased family members at once (birthday, date of death, possibly where they lived depending on the cemetery record). Interment.net contains thousands of cemetery records based on location and lists of who is buried there. While I have not personally had luck with this site yet, you can take it from me that there is some great data here. The site seems to be regularly updated by their dedicated volunteers so the information here will just keep getting better as the cemetery rolls become more comprehensive. It will be a lucky find for the descendants of those it currently has included in its search.
Religious Records: If the parish your families attended still exists, you may be able to uncover some surprisingly easy to find and valuable data. Depending on how well the records of the religious institution are kept and how long your family lived in the area, you may be able to find baptismal, marriage, and burial records all in one place. I don't care if your queasy about religion - for the sake of your research, put that bias aside and don't be afraid to contact the institution you know your families worshiped at. At worst, they won't have anything and you'll be where you would have been anyway. At best, you may be pleasantly surprised at what you stumble across.
Cyndi's List: Cyndi's List is the equivalent of a genealogical flea market. They have everything and you'll be amazed at what you can find. Need a list of New Zealand birth and death records? They have it. If you want links to old newspapers from around the world, it's there. Interested in other genealogy blogs but don't know where to look? I got two words for you: Cyndis' List. There are such a mind-boggling number of sites and databases on the internet, it becomes difficult to track. Cyndi's List breaks the multitude of these sites down into categories and from there, you'll never stop being amazed at what you find (I personally only just discovered the free New York Times archive search through Cyndi's List). If you're just starting out, this site may be a bit confusing since you have to know what you want to find something of value so I'd say hold off on this until you have some sense of direction. However, when you get that direction, go to Cyndi's List.
As I get further into my research, I will undoubtedly find other cool sites I'll add to this list. If anyone knows of any other sources, please let me know through the comments as I do not claim to be omniscient in this field =)
Monday, October 25, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Meet My Great-Great Grandparents
I have very exciting news! After complaining in my last post that New York records take forever to process, I received a letter in the mail from the NYC Archives that contained my great-grandparents marriage certificate! This is the first significant find I have ever had in my genealogy research and I am absolutely ecstatic!
I'm not sure where to even begin. The certificate has confirmed that the 1920 census match I found where a George and Florence are living together with my great-great grandparents (though not as the heads of the household) is actually them. This means I know not only where they lived but also the names of George's parents and siblings. I am actually able to fill in an additional generation on the Koehler side! As you can see below, my great-great grandfather George Koehler (apparently there were many Georges in my family history) and my great-great grandmother Mary Koehler have been added back to the tree in my RootsMagic account. Not included in this screenshot (because RootsMagic doesn't have space for siblings) is George Jr's sister Lela Koehler.
It's really exciting for me to have this document on hand not only because I re-discovered another Koehler generation but also because I can now trace back where my family lived at one point. I had mentioned in my previous post that I stumbled upon the Italian Genealogical Group site by accident when reviewing historical Bronx neighborhoods. Well, now I know that my great-grandparents were living at 997 Washington Ave when they were married and that the Catholic parish they were married at still exists.
It's funny because the area they lived and married is not far from Yankees Stadium and I've been to a few Yankees games when I still lived in NJ. I had no idea I was traveling so close to where my family historically once lived. I will definitely have to take a trip to check out the church and re-walk their steps. A quick street-level walk with Google Maps has confirmed that the building they lived at no longer exists but at least the church has stood the test of time.
My next step now is to try to trace my great-great grandparents back far enough to find the names of George Sr's parents. According to the 1920 census, George Sr's parents were born in Germany which means I am that much closer to finding the exact origin of my family before they came to America. I'm not currently able to locate George Sr and Mary in either the 1910 or 1900 censuses (always baby-step progress) so I'm going to do another record request but for my great-grandfather's birth certificate. Hopefully that will tell me where they were living when he was born so I can cross-reference their location on the earlier censuses and track them backwards one step at a time. We will see.
For now, I am just simply going to enjoy the afterglow of having my first real success in building out my family tree and brushing aside nearly 100 years of overgrowth.
I'm not sure where to even begin. The certificate has confirmed that the 1920 census match I found where a George and Florence are living together with my great-great grandparents (though not as the heads of the household) is actually them. This means I know not only where they lived but also the names of George's parents and siblings. I am actually able to fill in an additional generation on the Koehler side! As you can see below, my great-great grandfather George Koehler (apparently there were many Georges in my family history) and my great-great grandmother Mary Koehler have been added back to the tree in my RootsMagic account. Not included in this screenshot (because RootsMagic doesn't have space for siblings) is George Jr's sister Lela Koehler.
It's really exciting for me to have this document on hand not only because I re-discovered another Koehler generation but also because I can now trace back where my family lived at one point. I had mentioned in my previous post that I stumbled upon the Italian Genealogical Group site by accident when reviewing historical Bronx neighborhoods. Well, now I know that my great-grandparents were living at 997 Washington Ave when they were married and that the Catholic parish they were married at still exists.
It's funny because the area they lived and married is not far from Yankees Stadium and I've been to a few Yankees games when I still lived in NJ. I had no idea I was traveling so close to where my family historically once lived. I will definitely have to take a trip to check out the church and re-walk their steps. A quick street-level walk with Google Maps has confirmed that the building they lived at no longer exists but at least the church has stood the test of time.
My next step now is to try to trace my great-great grandparents back far enough to find the names of George Sr's parents. According to the 1920 census, George Sr's parents were born in Germany which means I am that much closer to finding the exact origin of my family before they came to America. I'm not currently able to locate George Sr and Mary in either the 1910 or 1900 censuses (always baby-step progress) so I'm going to do another record request but for my great-grandfather's birth certificate. Hopefully that will tell me where they were living when he was born so I can cross-reference their location on the earlier censuses and track them backwards one step at a time. We will see.
For now, I am just simply going to enjoy the afterglow of having my first real success in building out my family tree and brushing aside nearly 100 years of overgrowth.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Trail Magic
There is a phenomenon known as "Trail Magic" to hikers of the Appalachian Trail which is an event that lifts your spirits and gives you hope of continuing after flirting with thought of giving up. "Trail Magic" could be anything, ranging from a break in storm just long enough for a hiker to progress along a dangerous pass to free cookies from a nice picnicking family. Although I have not yet had the pleasure of experiencing "Trail Magic" in its original meaning, I have certainly just experienced the genealogical research version of it.
I FINALLY HAVE A LEGITIMATE LEAD!! And it was completely by accident that I found it. While doing some 1920 census record checking, I stumbled across a match on Florence and George Koehler living in the Bronx. If this is my great-grandmother, she would have been the correct age of 20 at the time of the census (I still don't know when George was born so I can't cross-reference his age of 25 against anything yet) and they were apparently living with George's parents. While that wasn't enough to make an assertion that it was really them, I got very giddy and decided to see where they lived in the Bronx. It was in doing this that I found the coolest website EVER for NY genealogy research.
New York is particularly annoying when it comes to genealogy research. I love the city for its culture and museums but they are absolutely terrible when it comes to working with genealogical data. Their Hall of Records is a nightmare of bureaucracy and from what I can tell, a lot of valuable information is kept hidden behind lock and key. That is why me finding www.stevemorse.org is so great. Whoever you are Steven, I love you! The site is chock full of historical maps to the city (updated for the modern era and lain over a Google maps picture of the city so you can locate where your ancestors lived) and vital records! Vital records are extremely difficult to find if you are not sure of a specific date and/or location of the event and New York charges $20 per date just to check if a record exists (they keep the money even if it doesn't). I am lucky enough to know from my grandmother's important date list that Florence and George were married on December 7, 1919 but was never able to confirm it. Thanks to Steven Morse, I was able to!
There is a link from his site to the Italian Genealogical Group who have done a fantastic job putting old marriage and death records from NY online (located here www.italiangen.org). If you're not familiar with genealogical research, it's difficult to explain how annoying it is to have to reference all the different sites that MIGHT have your family information in it. Its not until you dig around a little bit on Goggle that you stumble across this gem of an organization that has hard to find records not even paid sites like Ancestry have and it's entirely free! It was through this site I was able to confirm that New York City does in fact have a record of a George Koehler and Florence Black being married in the Bronx on Dec. 7, 1919.
There are so many things this means, I cannot even fathom the depth of its importance to me. Aside from being able to research one generation closer to when my family came to the US, I am also putting back together pieces of my family puzzle that were lost decades ago. I will be able to trace my family movements, where they lived, who they were, what they did. I'll finally know my great-grandfather's birthday and the information about my great-grandparents so I can add them back to the tree. Then again, it's not that they were ever gone from it; the overgrowth of time had simply gotten to thick so see through on the Koehler family tree. These sites truly were accidental but amazing finds.
I submitted for a copy of the marriage record about a week ago and, in a few weeks, I will have it to review and add to my tree. I could not be happier! Trail Magic indeed!
I FINALLY HAVE A LEGITIMATE LEAD!! And it was completely by accident that I found it. While doing some 1920 census record checking, I stumbled across a match on Florence and George Koehler living in the Bronx. If this is my great-grandmother, she would have been the correct age of 20 at the time of the census (I still don't know when George was born so I can't cross-reference his age of 25 against anything yet) and they were apparently living with George's parents. While that wasn't enough to make an assertion that it was really them, I got very giddy and decided to see where they lived in the Bronx. It was in doing this that I found the coolest website EVER for NY genealogy research.
New York is particularly annoying when it comes to genealogy research. I love the city for its culture and museums but they are absolutely terrible when it comes to working with genealogical data. Their Hall of Records is a nightmare of bureaucracy and from what I can tell, a lot of valuable information is kept hidden behind lock and key. That is why me finding www.stevemorse.org is so great. Whoever you are Steven, I love you! The site is chock full of historical maps to the city (updated for the modern era and lain over a Google maps picture of the city so you can locate where your ancestors lived) and vital records! Vital records are extremely difficult to find if you are not sure of a specific date and/or location of the event and New York charges $20 per date just to check if a record exists (they keep the money even if it doesn't). I am lucky enough to know from my grandmother's important date list that Florence and George were married on December 7, 1919 but was never able to confirm it. Thanks to Steven Morse, I was able to!
There is a link from his site to the Italian Genealogical Group who have done a fantastic job putting old marriage and death records from NY online (located here www.italiangen.org). If you're not familiar with genealogical research, it's difficult to explain how annoying it is to have to reference all the different sites that MIGHT have your family information in it. Its not until you dig around a little bit on Goggle that you stumble across this gem of an organization that has hard to find records not even paid sites like Ancestry have and it's entirely free! It was through this site I was able to confirm that New York City does in fact have a record of a George Koehler and Florence Black being married in the Bronx on Dec. 7, 1919.
There are so many things this means, I cannot even fathom the depth of its importance to me. Aside from being able to research one generation closer to when my family came to the US, I am also putting back together pieces of my family puzzle that were lost decades ago. I will be able to trace my family movements, where they lived, who they were, what they did. I'll finally know my great-grandfather's birthday and the information about my great-grandparents so I can add them back to the tree. Then again, it's not that they were ever gone from it; the overgrowth of time had simply gotten to thick so see through on the Koehler family tree. These sites truly were accidental but amazing finds.
I submitted for a copy of the marriage record about a week ago and, in a few weeks, I will have it to review and add to my tree. I could not be happier! Trail Magic indeed!
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