By Nancy Menton-Lyons

1. Organize what you know by downloading a pedigree/ancestral chart from a site such as Ancestry.com. Fill it out, using what you know or suspect from records or family tradition.

2. Note the gaps in names, dates, and places for your parents or grandparents and start your search there.

3. By generation (do not skip), go back in time by searching the Census, coupled with the records of death, marriage, and birth (called vital records, many of which are available from your state, city, county or town archives). Consult church as well as civil records of these events.

In the Census, note the neighbors and others with the same last names. Why? Immigrants were notorious for locating in cities, towns, and neighborhoods where there were already other family members and fellow townspeople from their native country. When researching any ethnic group, but particularly the Irish, I like to do what is called ”the greater family research." It is vital to be aware of not only your immigrant ancestor, but those who witnessed their marriages, stood for children at baptisms, witnessed deeds and wills, and were neighbors. As you progress with your research, the same names can keep turning up, and often when the place of origin is found, the names will also appear in or near the same area.

Do not just use the indexes—go to the actual records! An index, particularly a Census soundex index, will give bits and pieces of what is on the actual Census sheet. Beginners often don’t realize that there is so much more on the Census records themselves. Being able to take a tour of the neighborhoods, house by house, is a benefit. Depending on the Census year, the following are some examples of information found in these records:

• Occupations
• Whether people owned or rented their homes, the value of their personal property
• Naturalized or not, and year of immigration
• Number of years married, mother of how many children, how many living
• Military service

4. Think outside the box for obtaining names, relationships, dates, and places of events by:

• Using bible records, land records (deeds of sale may give you ancestors’ names and relationships), church records, and county histories when vital records are not available.
• Visiting cemeteries—record the tombstone information and obtain interment lists from the cemetery to see who else is in the plot to expand what you know about the “greater family.” (See Welcome to Tombstone)
• Searching probate indexes, then get the records. Probate indexes can be found in books or on film in county courthouses in departments that deal with probate records, such as the Register of Wills. They may also be found in a variety of formats at state archives, historical societies, genealogical societies, and, in many cases, through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and its local branches. There are some probate indexes on line, depending on the community or state.
• Looking for death, marriage, and birth notices in old newspapers found at your local library, historical society, state archives, or in online collections.
• Obtaining Social Security records as a source for parent’s names, as well as the date and place of birth and death for recent generations.
  

5. Search online “world tree” sites and surname lists (like those on RootsWeb) but be aware the results should be verified in original records.

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