An ongoing journal of the history of the Bolles Family. From the first settler, Joseph Bolles of Wells, Maine in 1640, all past and present facts, thoughts, events, research and items of interest on this and allied families.
Looking for your birth parents, cousins and other relatives? Curious
about how to determine relationships from shared DNA? This guide can
help.
Autosomal DNA testing companies report the amount of DNA you and a
match share to give you an estimate of your relationship. The chart
below expands on those estimates (measured in centimorgans, or cM) to
help you more figure out how you and a match are related. Use this chart
to learn how to use shared DNA to determine relationships with matches.
Follow the steps on this cousin chart to figure out what
kind of cousins you are with a relative, including percentage of DNA
matches and average shared centimorgans.
In the “Average Percentage” column below, find the number nearest to
your shared cM. The Relationship column shows the likely
relationship(s). Other relationships are possible, though, as shown in
the “Range” column. For example, if you share 900 cM with someone,
possible relationships include first cousins, half-aunt/uncle and
half-niece/nephew, great-grandparent/great-grandchild, and
great-aunt/uncle and great-niece/nephew.
Estimating Relationships from Shared DNA
The closer the relationship, the more useful the match will be in
your genealogy search. For example, second cousins share
great-grandparents. If you have a second-cousin match, find the person’s
great-grandparents in his family tree. Then research that couple’s
descendants—one of them may be your birth parent.
Note that a given relationship, such as first cousins, can share
varying amounts of DNA because of recombination (“shuffling” that occurs
at conception). You usually share about 850 cM with a first cousin, but
that number could be as low as 553 or as high as 1,225 cM. Likewise, a
single shared-cM value could indicate a variety of relationships. For
example, 1,200 shared cM could indicate a first cousin,
great-grandparent, grandparent, or great-niece. You’ll need more
information to sift through these similar values.
In addition, note that different DNA testing companies have different
methods of calculating and presenting amounts of shared DNA. As a
result, you and a match may share different amounts of cM when comparing
at different services.
Last Updated: February 2020
How to Determine Relationships with Shared DNA Matches
By Family Tree Editors
Looking for your birth parents, cousins and other relatives? Curious
about how to determine relationships from shared DNA? This guide can
help.
Autosomal DNA testing companies report the amount of DNA you and a
match share to give you an estimate of your relationship. The chart
below expands on those estimates (measured in centimorgans, or cM) to
help you more figure out how you and a match are related. Use this chart
to learn how to use shared DNA to determine relationships with matches.
Follow the steps on this cousin chart to figure out what
kind of cousins you are with a relative, including percentage of DNA
matches and average shared centimorgans.
In the “Average Percentage” column below, find the number nearest to
your shared cM. The Relationship column shows the likely
relationship(s). Other relationships are possible, though, as shown in
the “Range” column. For example, if you share 900 cM with someone,
possible relationships include first cousins, half-aunt/uncle and
half-niece/nephew, great-grandparent/great-grandchild, and
great-aunt/uncle and great-niece/nephew.
Estimating Relationships from Shared DNA
The closer the relationship, the more useful the match will be in
your genealogy search. For example, second cousins share
great-grandparents. If you have a second-cousin match, find the person’s
great-grandparents in his family tree. Then research that couple’s
descendants—one of them may be your birth parent.
Note that a given relationship, such as first cousins, can share
varying amounts of DNA because of recombination (“shuffling” that occurs
at conception). You usually share about 850 cM with a first cousin, but
that number could be as low as 553 or as high as 1,225 cM. Likewise, a
single shared-cM value could indicate a variety of relationships. For
example, 1,200 shared cM could indicate a first cousin,
great-grandparent, grandparent, or great-niece. You’ll need more
information to sift through these similar values.
In addition, note that different DNA testing companies have different
methods of calculating and presenting amounts of shared DNA. As a
result, you and a match may share different amounts of cM when comparing
at different services.
Q: How can you easily remove photos that have been placed in
albums that have a sticky glue-type surface without ripping the photos?
Conservators generally don’t recommend freezing, using solvents or
melting the wax to free photos from the page. Instead, loosen the print
from the page with a micro spatula. If the plastic page is stuck to the
print, don’t attempt to remove the image. Try these tricks if photos are
stuck to the page:
Starting at a corner, gently hold the photo with one hand and
work the micro spatula blade between the page and photo. Make your way
around the edges of the photo, working toward the center.
Slide regular dental floss under the photo with a gentle back-and-forth sawing motion to cut through the wax.
Copy
any caption onto the back of the photo if it’s is relatively clean,
using a soft No. 2 lead pencil or an archival pen. Use a light touch to
avoid indentations. Or you can place the photos in an archival paper or
plastic sleeve and write the caption on the outside of the enclosure. If
you want to reassemble the album, choose archival materials and mount
photos with corners or photo-safe sleeves, rather than adhesive.
What is a micro spatula?
This thin, flexible tool isn’t for flipping tiny pancakes. The long,
narrow blade is an archivist’s best friend for handling old photos and
fragile paper: It aids in lifting photos from albums without digging
your fingers underneath the edge, slipping pictures out of photo
corners, turning back bent pages, removing staples and extracting photos
stuck to the pages of magnetic albums. Micro spatulas are available
from archival suppliers such as Gaylord Archival.
Drop-Front Archival Box
A drop-front box like this one from Gaylord Archival
makes it easier to remove your album from the box and put it back in.
Just be careful not to slide the album in and out of the box, which
could damage the covers. Instead, open the box lid, lower the drop front
and gently lift the album with clean hands.
Preserving Victorian Photo Albums
Elaborate, heavy Victorian albums gained popularity with the rise of
portrait photography in the mid-19th century. Photographers saw a ready
market for photo albums as families purchased multiple tintypes, large
“cabinet cards” and smaller carte de visite photographs. Care for your
heirloom antique album as you would any special book, with extra
consideration for the photographs inside.
1. Wash your hands.
When working with old photos and albums, wash your hands first. You
also could wear white cotton or nitrile gloves. Handle photos by the
edges, never touching the surface with bare fingers.
2. Take note of the album’s materials.
Victorian photo albums came in various sizes, from tiny books for
miniature prints to large tabletop display volumes. Velvet, celluloid,
leather, metal, and fabric were used as decorative covers, held together
by embossed brass hinges. Take note of the materials that make up your
album and use appropriate preservation techniques. Avoid using any kind
of cleaner or solvent. Keep metal parts scrupulously dry and dust with a
soft, clean cloth. Don’t set anything on top of velvet or fabric books
where it might leave an impression in the fabric. Dust with a soft cloth
or use a screen-covered vacuum hose if needed.
3. Protect the pages.
These early albums were designed with thick, double-sided pages with
gilt edges. Openings in the page or along one side allowed one or more
photographs to be inserted and viewed through decorative cutout windows.
You can protect the photographs and any decorative printing from
abrasion by inserting sheets of acid-free tissue paper, available from Gaylord Archival, between the album pages.
4. Check the back and edges of photos.
You may want to remove each photo from the pages to check the back
and edges for notes or a photographer’s imprint (which gives the name
and location of the photography studio). Take care to avoid damaging the
album or print. It’s helpful to use a thin micro spatula or pair of
long-handled tweezers. Scan both sides of the image at a resolution of
600 dpi (dots per inch) or higher in full color (even for a
black-and-white image), and replace the photo.
5. Use a digital camera to photograph pages.
Most antique albums are too large and fragile to place on a flatbed
scanner for digitizing. Instead, use your digital camera to take
photographs of the entire book. Place a table in front of a north-facing
window for diffused natural light, and use a pillow to support the open
album. Position your camera at right angles to the book on a tripod.
Use a remote shutter release for a shake-free photo. Start with the
covers (front, back and spine) and take close-ups of any decorative
detail, then move to the inside pages. Fill the camera frame with the
page, but don’t cut off the edges. When you’ve finished digitizing the
album, import images to your computer for renaming with meaningful
filenames and keywords. Back these up along with your other family
history files.
6. Store safely.
Our ancestors displayed their albums with pride in the main parlor
for visitors to admire. But you’ll want to preserve an old album away
from light, dust, pests and other environmental hazards. Store it inside
an acid-free, archival-quality drop-front box. Allow for an inch or two
of space on all sides and prevent movement by cushioning the album with
lightly crumpled acid-free tissue paper. If the binding is intact,
store the box upright like a book on a shelf. Store fragile or damaged
albums flat in their boxes. The best spot for the boxed album is inside a
closet with moderate temperature and humidity (ideally, 68 to 70
degrees Fahrenheit and 50 percent relative humidity). Avoid temperature
fluctuations.
7. Isolate foreign objects.
Acid migration and abrasion from newspaper clippings, notepaper,
souvenir ephemera, dried flowers, locks of hair and other objects can
permanently damage photos and album pages. If you find such items inside
your album, photograph the page to show the context and then remove the
item to store elsewhere (small polyester envelopes make viewing these
items easy). If you wish, you can photocopy the item onto acid-free
paper and include it with the album in the archival box.
The way photos are arranged in your album can be a clue to
identifying unfamiliar faces. “Portraits of husbands and wives were
typically displayed alongside each other,” says British photo expert
Jayne Shrimpton. “On the same or adjacent pages were often inserted
pictures of any children, while photographs of other family members
branched out further throughout the album.” That said, it’s also common
to find family members scattered throughout the book in seemingly random
order.
10. Note famous faces.
Having a picture of a famous person in your album doesn’t mean you’re
related to him. Photos were sold much like trading cards, and people
enjoyed collecting and sharing pictures of famous people and places.
A version of this article appeared in the May/June 2017 issue of Family Tree Magazine.
Preserving “Magnetic” Photo Albums
Almost every family has at least one old “magnetic” album, usually
filled with deteriorating color prints. The combination of acidic
materials, adhesives and plastic work together to damage whatever was
placed between backing and plastic cover. Prints changed hue; newspapers
grew brittle. The items families meant to preserve deteriorated faster
than if they’d been housed in a simple paper enclosure.
These albums weren’t really magnetic. Instead, regular acidic
paperboard was coated with a grid of sticky wax. Photos and paper stayed
put when pressed onto the wax lines and covered with a thin plastic
overlay. Unfortunately, none of these materials was manufactured for
long-term preservation of the contents.
Today, archival-quality albums feature acid-free, lignin-free paper and only plastics that have passed the Photographic Activity Test.
This laboratory test assures consumers that the plastic will not harm
photos placed inside. Look for plastics made of polypropylene labeled
“archival.” Archivists recommend quick action when it comes to old
magnetic photo albums. Use these tips to rescue and preserve your
precious family photos.
1. Be proactive.
Made from cheap polyvinyl chloride plastic sheets and high-acid
cardboard pages, these magnetic photo albums create a toxic chamber.
Plastic gases speed up photo deterioration and damage, causing color to
fade and paper to become yellow and brittle. Don’t let your family
memories fester any longer!
2. Take photos of the album.
Before doing anything else, preserve the context of the album by
taking page-by-page photos of the entire book with your smartphone or
scanning each page at 600 dpi resolution in full color. Include the
front and back covers and any loose items, and capture notes and
captions that might help identify unknown relatives and events. Remember
to back up photos to your desktop computer, and send another copy to
cloud storage. Peel back the plastic, if you can. To fit the pages on
your scanner, you can carefully cut the pages from the binding using a
utility knife. (The album itself is so harmful there’s no need to
preserve it.)
Instead of individual names, use a simple standard filename with
sequential numbers to maintain the page order of the book. For example, smith-wedding-album_1954_001, smith-wedding-album_1954_002, etc. Create a “master image set” to help you read captions and see the photos in context.
4. Carefully remove images from the album.
Now that you’ve photographed the album’s pages, examine them to decide if photos can be safely removed.
5. Scan high-res versions of the photos.
Scan individual photos on a flatbed scanner
with a resolution of 600 DPI for prints at full color. If available,
use your scanner’s color restoration feature to automatically correct
colors that have shifted or faded over time. A photo-scanning app on
your mobile device (such as QromaScan,
which uses voice recognition to add captions and other metadata to
images) can be a fast alternative. For best results, use a tripod or
photo stand to keep your smartphone level and steady during the photo
shoot. If possible, save files in the archival TIF format. Create JPG
copies for emailing to relatives, sharing and printing.
6. Store your photos.
Preserve individual photos that you’ve removed from the album in an
acid-free box, or reassemble them in a new archival-quality album that
has acid-free pages. Purchase archival materials from a reputable dealer
such as Gaylord or Hollinger. If photos have residual wax on them, use acid-free paper between prints to keep them from sticking together.
Upload your photos to an online photo-book creation service, such as Shutterfly or Snapfish.
Select a book size and style close to the original then select your
image as a “full bleed” photo to fill the entire page. Remember to
include the covers. Add an information page with your name and contact
information, and a short history about the book itself and the person
who created it.
8. Write down the album’s history.
Save the story of your family photo album by writing down a short
heirloom history to record the creator’s name and why the album was
assembled. Include a note about the total years included in the book
(e.g., “1965 through 1982”). Add an index of people, places and events,
and keep a copy with the photos for later reference.
Versions of this article appeared in the October/November 2016 and July/August 2019 issue of Family Tree Magazine.
We tend to assume that future generations will always know who people
are in photos, but (as you may have learned) that’s not always the
case. So it’s important to understand how to safely label photos to
preserve the information in them.
This is a common problem for our readers. One wrote in that, “Before I
knew any better, all my family photos are marked on the back in
ballpoint pen. Will this damage them? Will the ink eventually seep
through? I now have an archival marker for pictures going forward.”
Another wrote: “It seems that all the articles about
photo restoration say not to write on the back of photos with anything
other than a soft-lead pencil. Several years ago, I wrote names, etc. on
the back of some of my photos using a waterproof and permanent ink
marker that I purchased at a photography store. The pictures are still
in perfect condition today. Is there any reason I shouldn’t be using
this marking pen?”
Both of these questions address a similar issue: How do you safely
label photos to identify information in them for future generations?
Photo-safe products on the market can help you—as can these three tips
for marking photos.
Is your collection of family photos less than
picture-perfect? Turn your piles of pictures into a model of photo
organization in eight steps.
1. Write on back of photo using a soft lead pencil
If you can, use a soft lead pencil to write information—including
who’s in a photo, the date it was taken, the occasion, and where it was
taken—on the back of a photograph (where the information will never
become separated from the image). Soft lead is important because hard
lead pencils will leave an indentation. Place the photo face down on a
clean, dry surface and write with light pressure.
Consider writing some of the following details on the back of the photo:
name(s) of the individual(s) pictured, as well as their birth or death dates
when and where the photo was taken
where you found the original image, or who has/had custody of the image
2. Use soft-tip markers for photos with coating
Unfortunately, pencils won’t work on the coated papers used for
today’s photographs. Instead, purchase an odorless (when dry),
waterproof, soft-tip marker. Just be careful to let the ink dry
completely before you stack or store the image, because it is permanent.
Ballpoint pens and regular felt-tip markers are not good
choices for labeling photos: Ballpoint pens smudge and leave
indentations in the photograph, and felt tip markers can bleed through
the image. The good news is there are lots of choices for safe labeling
tools in art supply stores and craft shops.
Time can take a toll on old photographs. From humidity to
water damage, here are our tips for how to fix your damaged family
photos.
If you have photographs marked with ballpoint pens, any damage is
already done. Previous generations didn’t have access to the photo-safe
tools we have today. Don’t worry too much about it. You can scan the photos to preserve the image and digitally repair ink smudges, and make sure that you use appropriate products when identifying your photographs.
Photos are great sources of family history information, but their
genealogical value can be much more than meets the eye. Photos can
include clues to your ancestors’ relationships, occupation, religion and
much more. Learning to analyze the details in old photos is one way to tease out additional information, but another great way is conducting photo interviews.
Do you have any relatives who might be able to supply additional
material or stories related to the photo? See if they would be willing
to be interviewed and try to record their recollections in case you need
to refer to them again later, by transcribing their memories or recording them. Make sure you keep track of full contact information for anyone you interview and follow best interviewing practices. With luck you’ll find that your photos are indeed worth a thousand words!
Use this handy downloadable worksheet to record your notes during family photo interviews.
Photo Interview Questions
Here are some sample questions you can ask:
What do you know about the image?
Who was its previous owner?
How did it come to be in your possession?
Is it part of a larger collection?
Are there any stories associated with it?
Do you know why it was taken?
Do you know when it was taken?
Do you know any of the people in the picture?
Did a family member supply the identification?
Information to Record
In order to draw conclusions based on your inquiries, document your
research using a worksheet. This will also help you develop a research
plan. You’ll want to include such basic information as:
Owner’s name: Your name or the person who currently owns the image.
Address and telephone number: Any contact information that may prove helpful.
Condition: Is the photograph difficult to read because of mold damage or fading?
Type of image: Make sure of the photographic process before you fill in this information.
Size: Measure in inches, height x width
Mounting: Is it on a backing such as thin cardboard?
Original: Is it an original, copy image or digitized?
Photographer’s imprint:
Does the name of the photographer appear anywhere on the image, front
or back? Do you know the name of the photographer because family legend
has it that your family always frequented the same studio?
Props/background: What other elements are visible in the photograph?
Style of dress:
Write a short description of the type of clothing shown in the picture.
Be sure to include hairstyle, jewelry and hats—it’s often the
accessories that add the final piece of documentation.
As much as we’d like to, it isn’t always possible to check out that
family history book from the library or borrow a copy through
interlibrary loan. Unlike books by Stephen King or J.K. Rowling, most
genealogy books don’t have thousands of copies in libraries around the
world. Some books are literally one-of-a-kind.
Keep track of books you want to check for your ancestors’ names with this free form.
That’s why titles in genealogy departments tend to be restricted to
in-house use—they don’t circulate. If that book were to get lost, the
librarian can’t just jump onto Amazon and order a new copy.
That’s when, unfortunately, genealogy librarians have to send a letter like this:
Dear Mr. Bookborrower,
Thank you for asking about borrowing our copy of The Bookborrower Family in America. Unfortunately, we cannot let it out of the building.
With
the exception of genealogy how-to books and general history books,
nothing in the genealogy and local history department circulates. All
items must be used within the library.
The book does have an index
and we would be happy to do a quick look-up in it. We can also provide
copies of some pages. (Unfortunately, the book is still under copyright,
so we cannot copy the entire book for you.)
Let us know if there is a name we could look up for you.
Sincerely,
Your Genealogy Librarian
But this isn’t to say that there aren’t ways to access that book. Here are some suggestions:
1. Check to see if the book has been digitized online.
You might get lucky and find a copy of it somewhere else online. Even
if the book is out of print, it could still pop up on sites like Amazon and AbeBooks.
3. Give WorldCat.org a try.
WorldCat.org is also an
excellent tool for finding genealogy books. It gives you access to
thousands of library collections, both locally and globally. Because
WorldCat is such a plentiful source, you will want to word your queries
carefully. For example, if you are looking for a certain name, include
the word family and even a specific location in your search. Also be
sure to provide your zip code so that your search yields the libraries
closest to you.
4. Use the FamilySearch Catalog.
Although FamilySearch discontinued its microfilm loaning service, a staggering 2.4 billion rolls have been digitized. Search the FamilySearch Catalog
to see if the book you’re looking for is among their collection. When
searching for your book, be aware that the FamilySearch Catalog allows
you to search many different categories, including keyword, place,
surname, author and subjects. You can even combine searches to optimize your results.
5. Request photocopies.
Even if the book hasn’t been digitized or microfilmed, your situation
isn’t hopeless. Most libraries offer a copy or scanning service for a
small fee. They might not be able to copy the entire book, but they
could copy the index or table of contents. That would give you a
starting point to work with.
6. Hire a researcher in the area.
It’ll likely cost you more than the copy charges from the library,
but it might be faster than the back-and-forth involved with requesting
the index and then copies of specific pages. If you don’t know of a
researcher in that area, contact the local genealogy society. Most
maintain a list of researchers and some offer their own research
service.
Of course, you also could go to the library yourself. Chances are if
it has one book you need for your research, it also has several more you
need! It isn’t always possible to go in person, but if you can go,
it’ll likely be a worthwhile investment of your time.
Marla Hathhorn sent in this picture with a simple question. On the
back someone wrote, “Ann Hicks.” Is Ann Hicks the baby or the mother?
Marla knows that her ancestor Anna Foley Hicks was born in Canada in
1844 and died in Oklahoma in 1914. With that information in mind, let’s
take a closer look at the photo and see if the clues we find can solve
this mystery.
Portrait
of a mother, father and baby. The bottom reads “Hudson Bay Parlors” and
lists the name of the photographer, T.R. Colpitts, as well as an
address.
A lot of people ask me, “What do I look at first in a photo?” The
answer depends on the image. In this case, I read Marla’s e-mail and
quickly glanced at the photographer’s imprint at the bottom of the card
to see where the picture was taken.
T.R. Colpitts took this photo. The Rock Lake Herald of 1881
featured a short bit of news about him. It stated that he was taking a
trip into southern Manitoba to take scenic views for resale. It appears
from this photograph that he also found employment with Hudson’s Bay
Parlors, a photographic establishment possibly connected with the Hudson
Bay Company. A list of photographers on The Manitoba Historical Society’s website lists a Thomas R. Colpitts and states that he was active between 1883 and 1887.
Next, I examined their clothing. The woman’s dress is from the circa
1880 period. The bodice extends over the hips, extra fabric drapes over
her upper legs and there are two layers of pleats. Her choice of jewelry
is also typical for the time — a thick chain with a charm was very
popular. In the early 1880s, women wore their hair pulled back with
short bangs. This young mother is very stylish in an understated way.
Dad’s clothing agrees with this time frame as well.
The baby is very cute in it’s long dress, thick tights and buttoned boots. Around it’s neck is a lovely bib.
Could the mother be Anna? In 1880 she’d be 36 years of age, a likely fit.
In today’s America, where children are named after reality-show stars
and parents christen their offspring Khaylee and Jaxon, it’s hard to
imagine such a thing as naming traditions. But not that long ago,
parents routinely followed patterns for passing on given names from
generations past. The traditions varied by country, but if you know your
cultural heritage, you often can use these patterns to make educated
guesses about the brick walls in your past.
Just because your first-born British ancestor was named John doesn’t
prove his paternal grandfather shared that name, of course. But once you
have a name to investigate, you can research possible connections.
Here, then, is a look at traditional first-name patterns in some of the
most common ancestries that found their way to these shores.
Use this free form designed to keep track of surnames you’re
researching, as well as their variant forms and spellings.
British Isles
Because British colonists made up so much of early America, their
first-name traditions often continued in the colonies. This scheme was
common in England, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries:
the first son was named after the father’s father
the second son, after the mother’s father
the third son, after the father
the fourth son, after the father’s eldest brother
the first daughter, after the mother’s mother
the second daughter, after the father’s mother
the third daughter, after the mother
the fourth daughter, after the mother’s eldest sister
In families where this pattern would lead to duplicate names—both
grandparents were named Robert, for example—the parents might skip to
the next in line. In this case, the second son would be named after the
father.
By the 16th century, this English naming pattern was also common in
Wales. The Irish followed this scheme, too, with the fifth son typically
named after the father’s second-eldest brother or mother’s eldest
brother. A fifth daughter might similarly be christened after the
mother’s second-eldest sister or the father’s eldest sister.
Scottish families often followed this pattern, though sometimes the
parents’ names were skipped for the third son or daughter, going right
to the grandparents. Some traditions then christened later children
first for the father’s and mother’s paternal grandparents for boys, and
their maternal grandparents for girls. Other Scots gave precedence to
the father’s paternal side and mother’s maternal side for sons, but
honored both paternal grandmothers first for daughters. Some Scottish
traditions provided for as many as 14 offspring of each gender, just in
case, working their way similarly through the parents’
great-grandparents (the father’s first for boys, the mother’s first for
girls).
French and French Canadian
French families followed a similar naming pattern to the British,
with a few twists. The first son was typically named after the father’s
father; the second son, after the mother’s father. The first two
daughters were named after their grandmothers, but the order varied
depending on whether Grand-mère was still alive—deceased grandmothers
got precedence.
Most children were given hyphenated first names, which could cross
genders. A boy might be named Pierre-Marie, in honor of his female
patron saint. In French Canada, many boys were named Joseph-something
and many girls named Marie-something, in honor of the Holy Family.
Italian
From innkeepers to inventors, everyone has a patron saint. Italian
villages adopted them, too, and the locals traditionally celebrated
their saint with an annual feast day. In America, Italian immigrants
continued to observe their patrons’ designated days. Neapolitans honor
St. Gennaro; Sicilians from Palermo laud St. Rossilia; and in Torino,
John the Baptist rules. If you don’t know where in Italy your ancestors
originated, note saints or feast days that pop up in your research. If
you find a promising mention, search for the saint’s name here.
Both are compilations of patron saints listed alphabetically by the
groups that adopted them. This may lead you to your ancestral village.
Then look for genealogical evidence to back up your detective work.
If you know your Italian ancestors’ traditional naming patterns, you
can use the names of bambini to guess the parents’ and grandparents’
identities:
the first son was named after the father’s father
the second son, after the mother’s father
the third son, after the father
the first daughter, after the father’s mother
the second daughter, after the mother’s mother
the third daughter, after the mother
Italians also used necronymics—naming a baby after a deceased
sibling—so if you see two or more Anna Francescas in one family, don’t
assume it’s a mistake. Because parents chose names to honor older
generations, they’d pass a moniker onto their next-born if the first
child given that name died.
Polish families adhered to an entirely different first-name
tradition—one that might help you narrow down when an ancestor was born.
Catholic parents typically named their children after the saint whose
feast day fell close to the child’s birth or baptismal date. So a boy
born in early August, for example, might be named for Saint Dominik
(Dominic), whose feast day is traditionally celebrated Aug. 4.
Russian and Ukrainian
Similarly, children born in Ukraine and Russia were named for saints
on the Byzantine calendar, which differed from the Roman Catholic feast
days. If a girl’s birth or baptismal date fell closest to a male saint’s
day, she might still be given that name, feminized by adding an “a” to
the end. See common Russian name days here.
Not surprisingly, Jewish families’ naming traditions in Eastern
Europe differed from their Christian neighbors. Biblical names were of
course popular, and beginning in the 1200s, many Jewish children were
given two names—a religious name to be used in the synagogue, plus an
everyday, secular name. In Jewish tradition, these names are not
assigned until the eighth day after the child’s birth (which means birth
certificates may read simply “male” or “female”). Jewish children were
often named for ancestors, though not in a hard-and-fast pattern.
Ashkenazic Jewish children were never named for a living ancestor.
Rather, a child might be given a secular name that honors a recently
deceased ancestor, often with a similar but not identical name.
German and Dutch
Families in the Netherlands might follow this pattern:
the first son was named after the paternal grandfather
the second son, after the maternal grandfather
the first daughter, after the maternal grandmother
the second daughter, after the paternal grandmother
Given the prevalence of infant mortality, these four names—recycled
as necessary—were often enough. In a family with all daughters, a third
child might receive a feminized version of a grandfather’s name, such as
Wilhemina or Hendrika.
Parents in northwestern Germany, including East Friesland and
adjacent areas, often followed this Dutch system, too. So did the
Palatines who migrated to New York state in the early 1700s, because
they mingled with earlier Dutch settlers.
But, according to German-genealogy researcher Arta F. Johnson, claims
that most Germans adhered to this or any other naming scheme are
unfounded. Most later German immigrants to America, Johnson points out,
came from areas farther south, where no naming pattern was used.
“Parents named the kids what they wanted to,” according to Johnson, “and
chose a (baptismal) sponsor who usually had the same name, and up to
five more sponsors who did not.”
German parents also seemed fond of naming offspring after themselves.
But Johnson cautions that this is difficult to document because of the
small pool of German given names: Was little Jacob named after his
father or after his uncle Jacob? Or his grandfather Jacob?
In German settlements in Pennsylvania, some experts have identified
three different naming patterns. One follows the British scheme for the
first three sons and daughters, switching to great-grandparents for the
fourth through seventh of each gender (with precedence to the paternal
side throughout, starting with the father’s paternal grandfather). A
second pattern is the same for boys, but switches precedence for
daughters, naming number four after the mother’s paternal grandmother. A
third pattern inserts the parents’ eldest siblings in position three,
before the parents themselves. Both Dutch and German families typically
gave children two Christian names—Maria Wilhelmina, for example. This
may have been to keep a favorite name in the family. All the sons, for
instance, might be named Johann plus a second name. In daily life the
child was usually called by the second name, though sometimes Dutch
parents might choose a third name for everyday use.
Greek
Traditionally, Greek families named their children after the father’s
parents and then the mother’s parents. In this male-dominated naming
scheme, girls also can be named after their grandfathers (e.g. Dimitra
for Grandpa Dimitris). The father’s name often was added as a middle
name.
Exceptions to the pattern occurred when, for example, a relative died
soon before a child was born, in which case the newborn might be named
in honor of the recently deceased. Children were also named after patron
saints, particularly if the child’s birth coincided with a saint’s
feast day. Unlike many cultures that have a paucity of given names,
Greek families enjoyed a wide variety of names to choose from.
Your Arabic ancestors’ names offer family tree clues. Here’s how to find them.
Scandinavian
The patronymic surname system common throughout Scandinavia into the
late 19th and early 20th century solves one genealogy puzzle while
creating another: There’s seldom any question about the first name of a
person’s father, because children took their surnames from their
father’s first name. In Sweden, Magnus’ son’s last name became
Magnusson; his daughter’s would be Magnusdotter. In Denmark and Norway,
if Hans Pedersen had a son named Lars, the boy would be known as Lars
Hansen (or Hansøn) and his sister Anna would be Anna Hansdatter. Urban
Danes began to adopt permanent surnames about 1850, while rural areas
kept patronymics until about 1875. Permanent surnames didn’t become
official in Sweden until 1901 and Norway until 1923. Iceland still uses
patronymics. Changing surnames create their own challenges, but at least
you know the father’s given name.
Children’s given names were generally assigned as follows:
the first son was named after the father’s father
the second son, after the mother’s father
the third son, after the father (often resulting in a doubled name, as in Haakon Haakonson, due to patronymics)
the first daughter, after the mother’s mother
the second daughter, after the father’s mother
the third daughter, after the mother
Subsequent names honored the parents’ siblings. This pattern wasn’t a
hard rule, so there can be exceptions, cautions Elisabeth Thorsell,
editor of the Swedish-American Genealogist.
She adds: “If the children in the family do not seem to follow this
rule, it might be that you have not found all the children, like babies
who died soon after birth. If a spouse died, the next child of the right
sex in the next marriage was often named for the deceased spouse.”
Whereas most countries skipped duplicates, if both grandfathers were
named Per, a Scandinavian family might wind up with two sons named Per.
Other duplicates may arise if a child was sick when the younger one was
born, and the family wanted to make sure to have a Lars (or whatever),
just in case.
Note that after about 1840, upper- and middle-class families and
those living in towns began to use two given names, and rural people
slowly followed suit. Anna Maja Pehrsdotter, when she got to America,
might go by Anna or Mary or Maria, or even switch back and forth. No
matter your ancestors’ nationality, it’s smart to abide by this advice
from Thorsell: “It might be dangerous to build ancestral trees by just
assuming that these naming rules are very strong, as you might not have
found all the children of a couple,” she says. “But used carefully, it
can be regarded as a hint or a possibility.” And sometimes a hint, like a
chink or a crack, is all you need to break down those brick walls.
A version of this article appeared in the January 2012 issue of Family Tree Magazine.
Second, third, fourth and beyond cousins, who may be a generation or
more “removed” from you, are a huge asset to your family history search.
They may have new family information and photos that weren’t passed
down through your line. They might be able to shed light on your
research brick walls or lend a DNA sample. Heck, you might even enjoy
swapping stories with them at family reunions. Think about it for a
minute: When your ancestors died, they passed bits of their lives on to
descendants. They passed those bits on to more descendants. Gathering
your cousins together is like reuniting an ancestor’s lost treasure
trove of personal items and ephemera.
So the real question isn’t how many cousins you have, but how do you
find them? I’ll outline 10 ideas for finding distant cousins—and all
those lost treasures. And in the box on the bottom of this page, you’ll
find tips for contacting those cousins. With a little hard work and some
gumption, you’ll soon be making connections everywhere. Maybe you’ll
discover I’m your cousin, too!
1. Frequent family tree websites.
Build-your-own-family tree websites are sprouting up everywhere. Nearly every online genealogical database site (including Ancestry.com, MyHeritage and Findmypast.com) has a place where you can put your tree, or add to one giant communal tree, such as FamilySearch.org. Some sites, such as Geni and Tribal Pages, are especially for trees; these might match your tree to records from another genealogy site.
Bloom Where You’re Planted
Researchers typically will pick a site they like and stick with it.
But as a cousin hunter, you’re better off trying to investigate as many
as you can. Some sites require you to register (whether for free or a
fee) to view their trees. Typically, you must register before you can
contact a tree submitter through the site. If you take the time to join a
site, upload a GEDCOM (or start a fresh tree), so cousins can find you,
too. One way to manage several online trees is to keep a fully fleshed
out tree with notes and attached records on one site or in your
software, and export a GEDCOM to post on other sites. A spreadsheet can
help you keep track of where you have your tree. Periodically replace
those trees with a new GEDCOM so they’ll stay updated.
I like to look through sites’ online trees and see who shares an
ancestor with me. Then I attempt to make contact by starting a
conversation about our common family. Most family tree sites encourage
collaboration, increasing your chances that the person is open to such
communications and will respond. In addition to the sites already
mentioned, consider frequenting the family trees on WikiTree and OneGreatFamily.
2. Test your DNA.
Genetic genealogy is a hot topic, and researchers take DNA tests for
any number of reasons. Many are curious to see what those tests will say
about their ethnic roots. Someone might be looking for an adopted
ancestor’s birth parents, or want to see if he’s related to another
family of the same surname. Even if you’re not expressly looking for
cousins when you take a DNA test, the ability to find relatives is a
benefit not to be overlooked.
First, you’ll want to make sure you take the right test. A Y-DNA
test, if you’re male (or if you’re a woman whose brother or father
test), can match you with male cousins along paternal lines, such as
your brother’s son or your father’s father’s brother’s son. But that
leaves out much of your family tree. Autosomal DNA testing, which
examines your entire tree along paternal and maternal lines, has the
most potential to help you find close and distant cousins. It’s offered
by the major genetic genealogy testing companies: Ancestry DNA, Family Tree DNA (called the Family Finder test), MyHeritage and 23andMe.
Passing the Test
Your testing company will search its results database for matches and
show them to you when you log into the site. Start by reaching out to
your close matches—those estimated as fourth cousins and closer—so
you’ll have a higher success rate in finding a common ancestor. With
Ancestry DNA and MyHeritage DNA, if you subscribe to each respective
site, you’ll be able to view online family trees of matches who’ve
posted them. If you subscribe and have a public tree on the site, you’ll
be placed in “circles” with others who share an ancestor and match at
least one other person.
Family Tree DNA also hosts group testing projects. Some of these are
surname-specific, using Y-DNA to trace the heritage of surnames and
variants, while others are family-specific, testing all of the
descendants of one couple. These projects are great places to learn more
about your family and collaborate with others who are as passionate
about their family history as you are.
3. Seek surname studies.
Members of surname groups, also called one-name research groups,
collaborate online to piece together the common family tree (or trees)
for that surname. Their studies can show how far-flung branches are
related and when and where name variants occurred. And of course,
members can discover cousins from all over the world.
Genealogists love to share a good family story and talk about
hard-to-find ancestors. That makes social media sites great places to
find cousins. Facebook and Google+ have genealogy-minded groups (on
Facebook) and communities (Google+) focused on members’ surnames;
ancestral cities, states and countries; and just about any research
topic you can think of. They’re great for cousin hunting because you
share at least one thing in common from the get-go: the topic that
brought you there.
You also might uncover a cousin, although it can be hard to tell if
someone’s related based on just a name and the limited information you
can view if you’re not linked to that person on the site. If you feel
confident the person is a relative, you can send a friend request on
Facebook. You also can message the person on Facebook, although the
message will go into his “Message Requests” folder if you’re not
friends. (Let this be a reminder to check your own Message Requests
folder in case a cousin has messaged you.) Use the sites’ search boxes
to look for surnames and places of interest. Results will show you
matching people, pages and groups. You also can download Katherine R. Wilson’s list of genealogy groups on Facebook.
Branching Out
When you join a group, you’ll send a request and wait to be added.
Once you are, read the posting guidelines, introduce yourself and
briefly say why you’re there. Share just enough information about your
family tree to see if you get a cousin nibble. No cousins in the group?
Another member may be able to point you the right direction.
GenealogyWise
is a free, genealogy-focused social network where you can chat, create a
personal page, join a group, write on a blog, watch videos, post photos
and more.
Whatever social network you use, put yourself out there. Especially
on the mainstream sites, make it clear in your profile that you’re a
genealogist. In posts, talk about your ancestors, brick walls, finds and
anything that could bring cousins to your page. Join hangouts (on
Google+) and chats (on GenealogyWise) on subjects related to your
family.
5. Find family forums.
Genealogy message boards now tend to play second fiddle to social
networks, but they have a big advantage over their newer cousins:
Whereas social media posts get pushed down and forgotten over time, your
forum posting will remain easily available for others to find and
respond to as long as the forum exists. A forum post of mine once took
three years to get a reply, but finally the right cousin joined, and we
were able to help each other knock down a brick wall. Forum posts are
categorized for efficient browsing, and those that have been around for
awhile, such as RootsWeb’s, have a rich supply of stored cousin queries and hints.
A Funny Thing Happened…
Forums have boards for all topics under the sun, but it’s the surname
boards where you’ll find the most potential relatives. You might be
able to browse to your surnames in an alphabetical directory or type a
name (and the associated place, if it’s a common name) to find posts
mentioning your family. If you register with the site, you can join the
conversation or contact the poster by clicking on his or her username.
Look for contact guidelines before messaging someone. Messaging
capabilities vary by site. If you can’t get a hold of the person, try
searching online for his username. You may find an email address you can
use to get a hold of the person.
Of course, you also should post your own questions and queries. After
the first few messages on different forums, it can be difficult to keep
up with where, when, and what you posted. It’s a good idea to keep a
correspondence log to track your postings and replies. Besides RootsWeb,
my log tracks posts on the Family Tree Forum.
6. Sign up for societies.
Genealogists are proud of their research, and we like to gather with
like-minded individuals share information. I think this is why so many
different types of societies revolve around genealogy or history. If
you’re not a member of a genealogical or historical society, consider
becoming a member of one from your ancestor’s county or state.
Through this group, you’ll discover new resources and meet people who
not only can point your research in the right direction, but who may be
related to you as well. Or because they know the area, they might be
able to put you in contact with other descendants of your ancestors. (A
cousin hunting two-fer!) To find a society, search online for the state,
town or county plus “genealogical society” or ask at the local library.
High (Value) Societies for Genealogists
Many societies produce newsletters and journals you’ll want to read.
These wonderful resources often contain family histories, case studies
and cousin queries from other members. Consider placing a query of your
own. If you find an article mentioning your surnames, you may have found
a potential cousin in the author. The writer might include contact
information with the piece or you can contact the editor and ask that
your message be passed on.
Organizations founded around a specific surname or lineage also can
bring you into closer contact with potential cousins. If you qualify for
an organization such as the Alden Kindred of America or the Pilgrim Edward Doty Society
—each dedicated to a Mayflower pilgrim—joining virtually guarantees
you’ll find distant cousins. Lineage societies with broader focus
include the Daughters of the American Revolution (for those connected to Patriots), the General Society of Mayflower Descendants
(for descendants of any Mayflower pilgrim) or any number of pioneer
societies (for founders or early settlers of a county or state).
Blogs are useful resources for the cousin hunter when used to their
fullest potential. Why would someone post stories about his or her
ancestors on a blog? To preserve those interesting tales about
fascinating people for posterity, but they also want someone to contact
them and say “Hey! I think we’re related.”
Often bloggers put their brick walls on the internet, hoping someday,
someone who searches for that topic, person or other bit of information
will have a helpful clue. Read blog posts that pop up when you search
for your ancestors, and subscribe to blogs about the history of your
ancestral places. You’ll find a categorized directory of genealogy blogs
on GeneaBloggers.com.
Look for a Contact or About Me link if you want to contact the
blogger. Be sure to comment on posts related to your ancestral places
and surnames, too. Someone else looking for the same family history
details might see it.
8. Meet and greet.
In this age of Facebook, forums and email, we forget that some of the
best connections come when you’re at a genealogy conference or class
and you realize that you and the person you’re chatting with are
related. That instant connection is hard to explain unless you’ve
experienced it. Look for local genealogy classes and meetings through a
society or at the library, and ask others about their research. Tell
them about yours, too. You could write a couple of surnames you’re
searching on your name tag or have business cards listing your surnames
and email address. When you go to a genealogical library, ask if there’s
a surname registry you can add your name to. On a research trip,
particularly overseas, ask about descendants at the records office or
library in your ancestors’ hometown.
9. Peruse the papers.
Not everyone left the towns and cities where their families settled.
Many stayed put and grew deep, deep roots. Looking in local newspapers
from today and the recent past might turn up surnames from your family
tree. Check obituaries, marriage and graduation announcements, and
special-interest stories. Then do a little genealogy detective work for a
connection to a common ancestor. In small towns, the paper might even
forward a letter to the person for you.
10. Go to reunions.
If you’ve been letting that annual family reunion invitation from
second cousin Edna go ignored, do something different this year: RSVP
with a yes and attend with a smile—and with copies of old family photos
folks can identify. A family reunion is a great way to reconnect with
your long-lost cousins and meet new ones you didn’t know you had. If
you’re shy about socializing in a big, unfamiliar group, consider
helping to organize the event (a good way to mingle) and go with a
spouse or sibling for moral support.
If your family doesn’t have a reunion, maybe you can find one. Many
large families have websites that announce when the next gathering will
take place. Just search for your surnames and the associated locations
plus the term “family reunion” (with quotation marks to find the exact
phrase). The site may have family history information to help you
determine if you’re related or you could contact the site administrator
for information.
A version of this article appeared in the the May/June 2015 issue of Family Tree Magazine.
Genealogists love to commiserate about the brick walls blocking their
backward march into their families’ pasts. Often these brick walls turn
out to be merely detours that you can find your way around with a fresh
look, different records or some sideways or “cluster” research.
Other times, your brick wall proves to be a genuine dead end. After
all, every family history reaches a point where you can go no
further—otherwise we’d all be connected to Adam and Eve, or at least to
Cleopatra and Caesar.
How can you tell when you’ve really hit the end of the road and it’s
time to stop beating your head against a brick wall? Just how far back
do historical family records go, anyway?
The answers depend on the nature of your brick wall and why you can’t
seem to make progress in this branch of your family tree. Let’s look at
10 possible ultimate brick walls, in roughly increasing order of
finality, and find some potential paths around them.
1. You’ve run out of online records.
A few years ago, it would’ve seemed silly to list this as a brick
wall. But we’ve come to expect an abundance of online records, and this
convenient access has drawn even the most time-crunched people into
genealogy. So it might feel like a brick wall when you can’t continue
tracing your tree at home in your pajamas. But even though Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org
and other sites have millions of historical records, many more millions
are offline, on microfilm or paper at repositories. Exhausting what’s
available on the internet isn’t a genuine dead end. Use online library
catalogs and research guides to point you to resources you can access by
visiting libraries,courthouses, archives and even cemeteries not yet cataloged on Find A Grave.
2. The records you need aren’t (yet) available to the public.
Privacy concerns protect certain vital records (depending on the
state), and the 1950 US federal census won’t be released until April 1,
2022. Patience is a virtue in this case, but you may not be willing or
able to wait years or even decades to discover ancestral details. Other
records, such as medical or certain military records, may never be
available to the public, and your connection to the individual may not
be close enough to get them released to you.
This could indeed spell the end of the trail, but it’s too soon to
give up. First, find out about any hoops you could jump through, such as
proving a relationship to the person named in the record or petitioning
a court to open the records. For relatively recent ancestors, for whom
censuses aren’t available and whose vital records are probably still
under restriction, substitute sources such as city directories, phone books, newspapers, and tax and voting lists.
Ancestry.com even has a 1950 census substitute search page
if you can’t wait until 2022. Church records, obituaries and probate
records may help replace unavailable vital records. Find city
directories on sites such as Fold3 and church records and probate records on FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com and AmericanAncestors.org.
Use old city directories and other publications in your genealogy research with this detailed guide.
3. You face maiden and other name mysteries.
Sometimes, you simply can’t find the name you need to keep following a
branch of your family tree. This is of course common with those elusive maiden names,
but may also occur when any ancestor’s parentage remains stubbornly
unknown or unprovable. You might even suspect an ancestor’s identity but
can’t put the pieces together, or can’t tease out your ancestor with a
common name from a welter of same-name individuals.
It’s possible that such mysteries will never be solved, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. Try all the time-tested tricks and advice about overcoming brick walls.
Land, court and church records can be especially helpful in solving
maiden-name and parentage puzzles. Some of these records are available
on FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com and Findmypast. Many US land records are available at the Bureau of Land Management. Researching the ancestor’s siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, neighbors and other associates is another effective strategy.
Still stumped? Set the problem aside for awhile—a fresh perspective might yet find the answer.
Want to know more about surnames? Follow our guide to find
out where hereditary family names came from and how to learn more about
your last name.
4. The records you need have been destroyed.
This is probably the most common cause of a true dead end, and the
issue need not lie very far back in the past. If you need military
records to make your case, for example, it might be crushing to learn
that a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, a
branch of the National Archives,
destroyed approximately 16 to 18 million 20th-century military
personnel files. Losses included most records of Army personnel
discharged from Nov. 1, 1912, to Jan. 1, 1960, and Air Force personnel
with names alphabetically after “Hubbard, James E.” discharged from
Sept. 25, 1947, to Jan. 1, 1964. Read more about the 1973 National Archives fire and research workarounds.
The aftermath of a fire also destroyed most of the 1890 US federal
census in 1921. The only surviving fragments cover a few areas of
Alabama, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey,
New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas. Many substitutes for the lost 1890 Census
have been developed, though of course none can completely replace the
actual census. You also can work around this gap using the 1880 and 1900
censuses, although sometimes the answers you need can be found in only
1890. State censuses taken between 1880 and 1900, or city directories,
also can help fill in the gap.
A separate 1890 enumeration of Union veterans was spared. But there’s
a cruel twist: Nearly all of those schedules for the states of Alabama
through Kansas and approximately half of those for Kentucky were
destroyed prior to transferring them to the National Archives in 1943.
(Fragments for some of these states were accessioned by the National
Archives as bundle 198.) You can search the remaining schedules at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com.
Another famous series of losses affects Irish census records: The
original census returns for 1861 and 1871 were destroyed shortly after
they were taken. Censuses for 1881 and 1891 were pulped during World War
I, likely due to paper shortages. Worst of all, the returns for 1821,
1831, 1841 and 1851 were mostly destroyed in a 1922 fire at the Public
Record Office. Read tips on working around these destroyed Irish census records.
Aside from such large-scale destruction, the most common problem
encountered in US research is “burned courthouses.” Many early
courthouses, especially in the South, were made of wood, and when they
went up in flames, so did the records they held. Before despairing,
investigate whether the records (or copies) might have been transferred
to a state archive, and make sure you’re looking in the right place:
Changing county boundaries often meant older records remained in the
parent county, where perhaps they survive.
Courthouse fires and other record-destroying disasters
can create big research brick walls. Use our five-step plan to rebuild
your family tree from the archival ashes.
In Europe, the long history of wars has taken a toll on records as
well as the populations they recorded. Nations relatively unscathed by
war since the beginning of modern record-keeping, such as those in
Scandinavia, are most likely to have intact records stretching back
centuries. In other countries, such as present-day Germany, record loss
may be spotty; here, too, copies of destroyed records may still exist in
regional archives or diocese or archdiocese repositories. Blame the
Thirty Years War (1618-1648) for the loss of most pre-1650 German
records.
Eastern European records generally fared the worst in wars as well as
from Nazi and Soviet occupation. The ever-changing map of this part of
Europe may hold out hope, however, as the records you need might have
been created when your ancestors’ village was actually part of a
different country than where it lies today and might still be in an
archive there.
In short, make sure that the records you need have really been
destroyed and you’ve exhausted all possible workarounds before throwing
in the towel.
Record-destroying fires like the 1890 census fires have
likely impacted your research. Raise your family tree from the ashes of
these disasters with these tips.
5. The specific records you need were never created in the first place.
Many beginning family historians are shocked to find how relatively
recently many jurisdictions, especially in the American South, started
keeping vital records. Even the US federal census, begun in 1790, leaves
more than 180 years of colonial populations since Jamestown
unenumerated. Other countries can prove even more frustrating: Italy
didn’t get around to taking a census until 1871, for example, and the
enumerations before 1911 aren’t very useful.
Much as with records that have been destroyed, you can often find
substitutes. Tax lists and colonial censuses can stand in for early
enumerations. Church records typically pick up where government vital
records leave off. Start your workaround to check for these records on
sites such as FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, AmericanAncestors.org and
Findmypast.
Native American ancestors are a special case for whom many of the
records we take for granted were never created until the reservation
era. See our guide for tips on researching Native Americans in your family tree.
The question of exactly when record-keeping of any sort began for
your ancestral area does come up—and we’ll explore in depth below.
6. The only “records” you can find are compiled genealogies.
Although we’re constantly warning in these pages about the perils of
assuming someone else’s research is correct, sometimes you reach a point
where that’s all you can find about your ancestors. Colonial kin, for example, may be traced in compiled genealogies available in libraries or online.
Some of these are notorious for errors repeated as fact, such as the
genealogies of southern families cranked out by John Bennett Boddie from
the 1930s through the 1960s.
You already know you should use these “facts” as clues to prove with
original records. But what happens when the records run out and such
secondhand compilations are all you can find? While continuing your
quest for hard evidence, you may have to accept that you’ve hit a brick
wall of sorts. Such secondhand pedigrees are (probably) better than
nothing, so at that point go ahead and cautiously make use of them.
Are you really at a genealogy brick wall? Use this flowchart to find out.
7. You’ve run out of American records.
A cruel sort of brick wall comes when the trail on this side of the
Atlantic goes cold and you have yet to “jump the pond” back to records
in the old country. Immigration records and passenger lists can
sometimes enable you to skip over your ancestors’ earliest American
presence and start researching abroad. But these often don’t prove
detailed enough to pick up the trail in your ancestors’ homelands, where
you’ll need to know a specific parish or village of origin.
Home sources such as letters, family papers and Bibles may help you
break through. If you’ve exhausted all the resources of your own family,
check with cousins. I once peppered my second cousin with so many
questions about our mutual ancestors that she finally shrugged and said,
“I might as well just send you the family Bible.” In the pages of that
Bible I didn’t know existed was the scribbled name of the parish in
Sweden I needed to jump-start my stalled research.
Failing such a breakthrough, just because you can’t find any more US
records doesn’t mean answers don’t exist abroad. Give FamilySearch.org
and its ever-growing collection of global online records a
shot—especially those databases you can search by name rather than
browse (which requires narrowing down by dates and places). In countries
with databases that can be searched without knowing a specific
locality, try some best guesses and see if you get lucky. Examples
include the subscription site Findmypast for the British Isles, ScotlandsPeople, the Norwegian archives, the Netherlands’ Wie Was Wie (“Who Was Who”), and Denmark’s Demographic Database and Digital Danish Emigration Archives.
If your ancestors left records on the other side of the Atlantic, you
ought to be able to find them with perseverance and luck.
8. You’ve reached the end of written records—at least for commoners.
As much progress as I’ve made with my Swedish ancestors, I know
eventually I’ll hit an insurmountable brick wall. Swedish church
records—the oldest records generally kept for that country—were first
mandated in 1688, although some parishes began keeping them as early as
1622. The oldest Swedish genealogical record of any sort is a letter
from Ingeborg Jonsdotter about a donation of land to the church in 1308.
For many European ancestries, widespread recordkeeping of use to
genealogists began with the Council of Trent’s 1563 decree that Catholic
priests should note baptisms, marriages and deaths in their parishes.
This rule was widely ignored, however, requiring a papal reminder in
1595. Again, some places were early adopters; the earliest known Spanish
church records date from 1307, and many Spanish parishes have records
prior to and shortly after 1500. In England, the earliest surviving
series of public records are called the pipe rolls (after their
resemblance to pipes when rolled up) of the exchequer, accounts of royal
income and taxpayers initially kept by sheriffs. The oldest date from
1129 and 1130, with continuous records from 1155 to 1832. Many have been
published and indexed by the Pipe Roll Society.
An even earlier one-time enumeration is the famous Domesday Book,
commissioned in 1085 by William the Conqueror. It covers landholders in
13,418 English settlements south of what was then the Scottish border.
Even the most fortunate research into European ancestries of
non-nobility will reach an ultimate roadblock at the beginning of
written records. If you’ve traced your English family tree back to a
landholder in the Domesday Book, you can congratulate yourself on a job
well done and move on to another branch.
Those with ancestors elsewhere just might get extremely lucky and do
even better. On PBS’ “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.,”
celebrity chef Ming Tsai’s ancestors were on the only still-standing
stone record (stele) in his ancestors’ part of China. Using that data
and ancient books, the program’s researchers traced his family tree to
his 116th-great-grandfather in the 27th century BC.
Use our flowchart to decide if you’re really at a brick wall.
9. You’ve exhausted records of your noble or royal ancestors.
This truly is the end of the line, but it can take you back a very
long way. Genealogical record-keeping of royalty is how many people
trace their trees back to Charlemagne (747-814); there is even a US society of Charlemagne descendants.
If you can connect to Charlemagne, that Frankish king’s proven
ancestors will actually take you back to at least Arnulf of Metz, born
in 582. Similarly, a project tracing the ancestors of England’s King
Henry II (1133-1189) goes all the way back to Fergus, king of Dál Riata,
in the fifth century.
Even if you don’t have royal roots, a noble ancestor can connect you
to recorded lineages much earlier than the written records of common
folk. For English nobility, the most reliable source is George Edward Cokayne’s Complete Peerage, several versions of which are available online. It traces some lines as early as the 13th century. The better-known Burke’s Peerage, with 107 editions beginning in 1826, is online in subscription form. Read more about Medieval English genealogy research.
Other countries have their own noble lineages. German nobility, for
example, generally began in the eighth and ninth centuries. It’s
unclear, however, how often these titles were handed down by virtue of
inheritance rather than at the discretion of a sovereign, at least
before the 11th century.
In Asia, too, some of the oldest family trees rely on royal roots.
The Japanese emperor’s family claims to descend from a line dating to at
least 660 BC, though this genealogy may incorporate legend along with
fact. The royalty of Malaysia was said to descend from Alexander the
Great, who invaded India in 326 BC.
In April 2015, Guinness World Records confirmed the genealogy of
Confucius (551-479 BC), with 2 million descendants, as the “world’s
longest family tree.” Royalty helped reach the record, as the Chinese
sage was a descendant of King Tang, born about 1675 BC. (Apparently the
Guinness folks missed the Ming Tsai episode of “Finding Your Roots.”)
Wherever your ancestors come from, if you’ve exhausted their records
in noble and royal genealogies, you’ve definitely hit a brick wall. It’s
OK to move on to another line—no one can call you a quitter.
Not sure what the surname of the royal family is? You’re not
the only one! Join us for a brief history and explanation of the
beloved family’s last name.
10. You’ve reached the “begats.”
Of course, there’s one other possibility for extending your ancestry
even further back in time, if you’re a believer in the literal truth of
the Bible. In 1 Chronicles, the genealogical “begats” list a lineage for
Hebrew peoples all the way back to Adam and Eve. If you could prove a
connection to a Biblical person, theoretically you could follow the
“begats” to the beginning. How far back would that be? The Bible’s
internal chronology places the patriarch Abraham at about 2000 BC, and
Adam is said to be Abraham’s sixth-great-grandfather. But because the
Bible also has the early descendants of Adam living hundreds of years,
the begats go back quite a ways. In the mid-1600s, Bishop James Ussher
famously calculated that Creation began around 6 p.m. on Oct. 22, 4004
BC, putting Adam’s creation a few days later.
Now that’s a brick wall.
Tip: Can’t find an ancestor? Try looking for other relatives who lived in the same place. Their records may name your ancestors.
Tip: Even if
you discover you’re not at a “true” brick wall, it’s fine to put the
problem aside for awhile. This might give you a fresh perspective—or
time for new resources to come to light.
