Pursuing Our Roots

Last month I talked about the information that can be found on two documents that are filled out when an immigrant applies for citizenship: The declaration of intention, and the petition for naturalization. The information is quite similar, with the petition containing data about the spouse and children as well as the immigrant himself. Since I wrote that column, I have spent a lot of the past month looking for records of any relative in my file who was born outside the United States and who likely spent time here. I have found out quite a bit of new information …

Anyone who was born in America can take his citizenship for granted. Many others who were born in Italy and elsewhere and moved to America had to decide whether to become an American citizen or not. Many Italian immigrants to American 100 years ago presumed they would only stay here long enough to make money to send home, and then return to Italy when they were rich! That dream eluded the vast majority of Italian immigrants, and many settled in American permanently. At some point, when the reality settled in that they would not return to live in Italy, they …

Last month we talked about all the information you can find from a death notice, and all the information you probably won’t find. I spent a lot of time this summer and fall looking for death notices and then visiting the graves of the dearly departed. I have found that both can lead the curious genealogist to the names of other relatives who you might not have known about. The death notice might list the names of other relatives who have passed away, and the gravesite might have other people in the same lot that are related that you didn’t …

In a number of recent columns, I have mentioned that one of the steps is to go out and find the death notice. It took a couple of e-mails asking “um ok. How DO you find the death notice?” to get me to thinking that I need to explain this process to you. The death notice is a great tool for finding the names of the descendants of long-lost relatives. It’s not guaranteed and never comprehensive, but it’s always worth looking for. From a death notice, you can (most of the time) find the following: * Maiden names — Most …

In a few columns, I talked about finding free birth, marriage and death certificates for Cook County. Some time ago, they pulled the free certificates off the familysearch.org website. Not to fear. Thanks to the Family History Center located in Wilmette, you can find some of the certificates. Hours and location can be found at the center web site at http://www.wilmettefhc.org/. The procedure is very simple and I can speak for its effectiveness because I have found hundreds of certificates I need, and all I paid was the gas to get there. You need the following tools: * Name of …

Last month, we talked about the priests and civil clerks who had a bad day, just like we do sometimes, and made mistakes in the official records. You and I, as genealogists who look at these records, need to be aware that mistakes are made, how to recognize them, and what to do about them. So what other kinds of mistakes happen when the clerk doesn’t have enough espresso in the morning? Last month, we saw how they messed up dates by forgetting what month it was, and writing the wrong month in the book. The bigger problem is that …

I have two types of friends: the kind that has a list of 47 things to do and remembers to do every one of them in order, and then there’s the other kind. I forget what it’s called! Forgetful! Early in the morning, I am highly caffeinated, alert, focused, and capable of getting a lot of things done (like writing my column!). Right after lunch, I might as well be asleep. I think I know why our forebears and Italian cousins like to take that nap in the afternoon! Without ever meeting them, it seems like the clerks who wrote …

I have found some great tutorials on Italian genealogy on the always-growing Familysearch.org!! Last month I talked about web sites available at the Family History Center Services Portal. That can be found at https://fhc.familysearch.org/ This part of the portal can be accessed from home. You do not have to visit a Family History Center to access these areas. The databases are limited due to site licensing issues, but these help areas are meant to be free to the world. Once you are in the portal, click on Family Search Research Wiki — it is on the right side of the …

I have written a number of columns about changes going on at Family History Centers, from film ordering changes to the Family Search web site. Today is no exception! I am writing this column at the Buffalo Grove Family History Center but these changes are happening worldwide and apply to all centers. This column deals exclusively with web sites you can ONLY access while visiting a Family History Center. The familysearch web site has changed significantly (and may need to be described in its own column) but when you are at the Family History Center, your home page is the …

In my last column, I advocated that you need to tag the people in your photos, so you can find all photos of a particular person, place, or event easily. So I have spent the better part of the past month tagging photos in my collection. My photo collection contains everything I have taken with digital camera and cell phone camera, plus scans of my parents’ entire collection, including color slides dating back to 1952, polaroids, photos stuck in albums, loose boxes of prints, and some negatives from the late 1940s. Then there are the older photos found in various …