Overcome Research Brick Walls

Use immigration patterns to solve brick walls in ancestry research.

Do you have an individual or family that your family has been looking for and can’t find the clues to where they came from? In his book, British Origins of American Colonists, 1629-1775, William Dollarhide describes a methodology for “finding the needle in the haystack.” I have several individuals who have been challenging to locate, and I have found the following very insightful for organizing and conducting a difficult search.

Overcome Research Brick Walls
Table of Contents

1. Review What You Know of Ancestors

What do you know about your family? Begin by building a list of what you know. Ask questions like:

  • What is their country of origin?
  • What are the surnames of the family and possible variations?
  • Do you know if they belong to a specific group? (such as Puritans, Scots-Irish, Huguenots, and so on)
  • About when do you think they came to America?
  • Where did they settle in America?

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2. Find What Has Been Written

Find out what has been written about the migration of individuals or family’s countrymen. Start with a Google search. For example, if your family came from Germany, start your search with “German Immigration,” or if they were Puritans, you could start with “Puritans” or “English Immigration.” Be patient—there are hundreds of sources. I usually find what I need in the first three pages of an Internet search.

  • Hint: As you review information on the Internet, look to see what sources are used in providing the information, such as books and other Internet sites. These provide valuable clues of where else to look if you need more information.

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3. Learn About Immigration Patterns

Learn what you can about the immigration patterns of the group of people your family belonged to. Read and take notes. With even the most limited information you gathered in step 1, you will start building your knowledge base and narrow the place in the “haystack” of where to look. As you read, ask yourself questions, such as the following:

  • What was the period in which the persons arrived in America?
  • Why did they come (regions, counties, states)?
  • What regions in the country did the group of people come from?
  • What ports did they leave from and arrive at?
  • Where did they settle, and why?
  • What were the names of the cities where they settled in America?
  • What were their social tendencies when they came to America?
  • What roads did similar immigrant groups take in their travels?
  • What maps or charts are included with the information you read to help explain what is being written?
  • What types of records were kept by related groups, countries, or agencies at a given period?

From my own experience: I had one individual for whom I had very little information. All I knew about them was they were from England. By reviewing English immigration, I came across a group called the Scots-Irish. The information I found about this group helped answer many questions about the family, from why they lived where they did to where they may have come from.

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4. Compile What You Have Learned

You are now starting to eliminate parts of the “haystack” where you don’t need to look and narrow your scope as much as possible.

Organize your notes, questions, and clues that you found. Identify the places or regions where the people came from and settled on a map. Types of maps that provide help include the following:

  • Maps that show cities today.
  • Maps of the period if available.
  • Maps that outline the country, counties, and states. If possible, color in the counties or states where specific groups come from if provided.

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5. Start a Systematic Search

Based on what you have learned, start sifting through the portions of the “haystack” that are left, one straw at a time. The narrower the place you’re searching is, the better your chances of finding individuals. Keep a log of where you have been, what you reviewed, and what you found. Frequently update your notes and questions with your findings.

Start your search in America.

  • Search the state, county, and city records where your family lived in America. The chances are good that you will find essential information about your family there. Don’t overlook searching and reviewing the records of people that lived in the area with your family at the same time, since they probably came from the same town or region as your family.
  • You can begin searching published county records. These may be published online, in book format (often available for interlibrary loan), or microfilm. Microfilm is available through family history centers of The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints and interlibrary loan. Since family history centers are located in LDS chapels, you can use a phonebook to locate the nearest LDS chapel and inquire if they have a family history center. They are all open to the general public.
  •  American historical and genealogical research is often keyed to the land a person lived on. Land ownership in America before 1850 was as high as 90 percent of all adult white males. As a result, United States land records are nearly universally helpful for finding clues. Also, central state transactions are recorded at the county level for most U.S. states. Indexes to deeds provide an excellent historical overview of the county’s residents in virtually every state.
  • Another advantage to American research is that nearly every federal census taken since 1790 lists the last names of immigrants or their descendants.

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When Ready, Start Your Search in the Country of Origin

Before you start, understand the type of records kept when you search and what types of books and online sources are available. For example, suppose you are doing British research for the 17th century. In that case, you should know that unlike American research—where land records and census records are practical tools—British land was mainly limited to landlords’ elite society. Nation-wide census records were not kept until 1841.

A good source of information in the British records comes from the parish records. An English parish is a jurisdiction where vital statistics are recorded, such as births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, and burials. In your research, you may have found the counties a group came from; this information will help search parish records. You can be even more effective by tying a surname to specific regions/parishes.

If a name or group can be connected to just a few English villages, parishes, or counties, your search in parish records will become narrowed. Having the male’s surname is required; having the wife’s maiden surname expands the opportunities to find the county. Remember your American research if you have a known name like Lee/Leigh. What were the names of the individual’s neighbors? You can use the surnames of the person’s neighbors to find possible counties to start searching if you also find the names of your person of interest in the same area. The neighbors of the individual you are searching for likely traveled with them—or at least from the same area—to America.

Let’s take the example one step further—what if you don’t have a particular location for a surname? Several sources are available that may help tie a surname to possible locations. Some sources you can use include the following:

  • Phonebooks and Directories. A phonebook is a good source for locating a name in a particular place. Current directories can confirm if surnames are in the same area, village, parish, or county. Privately published directories are available on CD (such as the Bret-phone directory) or through an online telephone search. These resources can also be found in more extensive libraries.
  • International Genealogical Index (IGI). The IGI is a great tool you can use simply online. The IGI index of surnames is divided by country and contains millions of names. For example, in the case of British records, much of the available information was extracted from parish records. You can enter the surname and will be able to find specific places where that surname is found. Even though you may not have a direct relationship to the persons listed, you will at least be able to narrow your search to the counties where the surname occurs.

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Other Resources to Help Trace Immigrant Ancestors

Are you developing a family history for an individual or family? Are you trying to find their immigrant origins? Start by seeing the articles

The following videos can help you get a head start in understanding immigration and country of origin ancestor research.

 

How to Find the Origin of Immigrants Coming to America
An introduction to immigration and migration historical research. You will be introduced to a five-step methodology to find the immigrant origins when conducting individual and family history research.

Addition videos include:

The following are records I have found extremely helpful and full of clues to finding an individual’s birthplace and immigrant origins. It is designed to provide a quick reference and direction for finding and searching for records as probable places to find information. You can use these records to develop an immigrant paper trail to assist you in finding and tracing an individual immigrant’s origins. Check out these articles:

Records for Tracing Immigrant Ancestors
Cemetery Records Census Records Church Records 
Colonial Town Records Historical and Genealogical Societies Histories and Biographies
Land Grant Records Maps and Gazetteers Naturalization Record
Obituaries Passport Applications Ship Passenger Lists
Social Security Applications Social Security Death Index

Check out the following country profiles to learn more about their immigration and migration in America.

Immigration and Migration in America
Czechs and Slovaks Danish Dutch
English Finnish French
German Greek Hungarian
Icelandic Irish Italian
Norwegian Polish Russian
Scandinavian Scottish Swedish
Welch United States Western Migration

Articles include:

Learn more about immigrant records at “Immigrant Records at the National Archives.”

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