1. Online Genealogy
Research
Adam Oster

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

6. Records to use…

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

19. Draft Registration, cont.
Physical
description
Harrison Oster – WWII Draft Registration

20. Gravestones
 Birth/Death Information
 Religious beliefs
 Organization affiliations
 Military service

21. Online Resources

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

24. Resources
 Ancestry.com
 HeritageQuest
Online
 FamilySearch.org
 Seeking Michigan
 Find-A-Grave

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

30. Additional Tips…

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

33. Pedigree Chart - Example
*Chart from: www.ellisisland.org

34. Family Group Sheet – Example
*Chart from: www.ellisisland.org

35. Questions &
Comments