20th Century Immigrants -- Home Sources and Vital Records

The first axiom of every family historian is to begin with home sources, and the same is especially true when researching 20th century immigrants. Immigrants who arrived after about 1890 are still within the memory of many of their living family members. Indeed, many of these immigrants themselves are still alive. Of course, if your immigrant ancestor is still alive, such as this writer's father, you should immediately ask the immigrant for information about his or her town of origin. Nobody knows more about an immigrant's origin than the immigrant himself! However, it's not that simple for most of us. Indeed, if your immigrant is still living, you've already realized that he or she has all (or most of) the answers you seek. The only important advice to add is to contact the immigrant NOW. Don't wait another day before asking questions -- they will be gone all too soon.

Now, for the rest of us, for whom the immigrant has already died, remember that the recent nature of their immigration means that many more records about them are available. Records are available from various government and private organizations. During the 20th century, each of us, especially immigrants, filled out numerous forms, wrote letters, and, above all else, kept an astounding number of papers that document our existence. For immigrants, many of those documents mention their home town.

Family and Home Sources

Usually the easiest place to obtain these records is from family members. In almost every family, one or two members, perhaps more, become the "unofficial" family record holders. Perhaps we should call them the "family archivist." For some reason, key family documents end up in their hands. This is not referring to a child's birth certificate, church baptismal record or similar records, which the parents usually have on file, but rather to older documents pertaining to (usually) deceased relatives. If you don't already know who is your "family archivist," ask around. It may be a second cousin, great aunt, reclusive uncle, or other family member, but if you ask enough relatives, someone will tell you.

There are a wide variety of sources you may find among family and home documents. The list is too long to repeat here, and may be found in any number of beginner books about starting genealogical research. Just remember, any document about you that you may have had in your possession during your lifetime, represents a similar document about your immigrant ancestor that may have ended up with your family archivist. This includes family Bibles, passports, naturalization certificates, insurance papers, school records, church certificates and a host of others. For most 20th century immigrants, many such papers will mention their home town in the old country.

There are a wide variety of sources you may find among family and home documents. The list is too long to repeat here, and may be found in any number of beginner books about starting genealogical research. Just remember, any document about you that you may have had in your possession during your lifetime, represents a similar document about your immigrant ancestor that may have ended up with your family archivist. This includes family Bibles, passports, naturalization certificates, insurance papers, school records, church certificates and a host of others. For most 20th century immigrants, many such papers will mention their home town in the old country.

However, the reason these records are so much better for recent immigrants than for earlier ones stems from two situations. First, the more recently documents were created, the less likely that they have been lost or destroyed. Second, the more time that has elapsed since an immigrant arrived with such records, the more descendants have been born and have migrated to various places in the new country. For any 18th century immigrant, these records may exist, but you may not have any way of locating where they are. Of course, some, such as photographs, can only exist since the mid- to late-19th century.

Family Bibles

First on everyone's list of family or home sources is the traditional family Bible. Many, if not most, immigrant families had a family Bible, and they dutifully recorded many family events in it. However, the greatest problem with most family Bibles, including those of immigrants, is that places were seldom recorded, although dates and names are always listed. Be cautious in reading any handwritten information. Immigrants from northern Europe (as opposed to Britain or southern Europe) used a much different handwriting style that may be difficult to read. Some letters are easily confused for other letters. You may need to find someone familiar with the old handwriting to insure you read any place names correctly.

In the absence of places in an immigrant's family Bible, note the publication place. While this certainly does not indicate the city where the immigrant lived, if it was published in a foreign country (and particularly a foreign language), it is still a clue. Sometimes there is a notation regarding the bookseller, which is a better indication of a town near where they lived. Always consider the publication date in evaluating the information. If the Bible was published after the immigrant left the home country, he may have obtained it in America, despite it being published overseas.

Family Pictures

Popular, and commonly preserved, family records include pictures of the immigrant and his or her family. Examine them carefully for clues to the home town. Read any handwritten notes. While such notes usually only identify the persons in the picture, they may also name a place. However, these may be cousins who lived in a different foreign town. Even with this problem, at least you have a foreign town, and a relative. If necessary, you can research these cousins and find the common ancestor, and then come forward to your immigrant.

Also take note of printed material on the backs of commercial pictures. Often the name of the photographer is printed on the photograph. This may include his address, naming the town where his business was established. However, this may not be the town where the immigrant lived. Photographers were not established in every small town. Again, this is a clue to the region where the immigrant likely lived.

Correspondence

One of the most useful type of family or home record is any correspondence that remains between the immigrant and family members left in the old country. Letters provide significant insight into the family, but they also usually include the city where they were written. Again, these may be relatives in a different town from the ancestral home, but they are still important clues. Also, the longer the letters were written after the immigrant left, the more likely that those writing the letters had themselves moved from the ancestral home to another place.

Even post cards and envelopes have significant value. Watch for postmarks, indicating from where the correspondence was mailed. If it is a picture postcard, it may be of a scene in the ancestral home. On the other hand, it may simply be from the town the correspondent is visiting when he or she wrote to the immigrant.

Passports

For the past 200 years, most emigrants were required to obtain permission to leave their former country before immigrating to a new land. In the early years, such as the period before the U.S. Civil War, many emigrants disregarded this requirement. After all, it cost money to obtain such permission, and once you left, what could they do to you? By the 20th century, however, most immigrants did apply for, and receive permission to emigrate. Indeed, after the 1920s, the more difficult permission was that needed to enter the United States, as quotas of immigrants had been established to stem the growing tide of new immigration.

Passports, or permission to emigrate, from the former country, are perhaps the most valuable of family documents for an immigrant. These records were created by governments in the ancestral home and are highly accurate. Furthermore, they were created by persons who knew the language and geography of the old country. Almost invariably they will indicate the name of the specific town where the immigrant lived, as well as the district to which that town belonged. As with the other records discussed above, if they are not written in your native language (such as English), you may need assistance from an expert in that language, or handwriting, to learn all of the information in that record.

Difficult Family Members

While there are some families where one member hoards the family records, and does not share, this is relatively uncommon. In such situations, be as kind and persuasive as possible in asking the family archivist for permission to view (not take) such records. In most families where this is a problem, the record holder is worried about preserving the records, and that if he or she loans them to a family member, they may get lost, or destroyed, accidentally. Gain their confidence by first asking just to see or read the records, in their presence. Make careful notes. At a later date, as you get closer to your family archivist, they will come to trust you more, and may volunteer to let you take the records to make photocopies. Rome was not built in a day, and overcoming barriers within a family often takes time as well.

Vital Records

Another important record, especially for 20th century immigrants, is government registration of key vital events in their lives, specifically births, marriages, and deaths. Of course, immigrants were not born in North America, but they did die here, and many married here.

By the 1890s, most states were requiring the official, government registration of these events. Copies of birth and death records were (and still are) usually forwarded to state offices, while copies (or the original) often remain at county (or town) record offices. Marriages often were not collected by the state until well into the 20th century, often in the 1950s. However, they too were required at the county level. One of the key reasons to search these records for immigrants, as well as for all ancestors, is that they were required of all persons.

All births, marriages or deaths were to be recorded by local authorities, in behalf of the state. Thus they are comprehensive for this time period, regardless of the religion, ethnic group, age, or gender of the immigrant. However, they do not always provide the original home town. Often only the country of origin was required. The further forward in time these events happened, the more information was requested on the appropriate forms. Even when only the country was requested on the form, the informant may have given more detailed information, such as the home town. This presupposes that the informant knew the information. In the case of a death record, this may not be the case, but with marriages, surely the bride or groom knew where they were born, and would have provided that information.

Death Records

Every immigrant died in their new country (except for a very few who may have been visiting their old home country). After all, this is what made them immigrants. However, the information the informant provided about the birth place may be suspect. It may be spelled quite wrong, because the informant did not know the immigrant's original language, or it may be a nearby city that the immigrant talked about, but was not born in. Perhaps the informant confused the town with the home town of a different relative, such as the other parent's home, or that of a grandparent.

Therefore, always determine who the informant was. This will help you interpret the information he or she provided. When the spouse was the informant, the information is likely to be more correct than if one of the immigrant's adult children provided the information. However, an adult child is preferred over the doctor, or some unknown hospital staff member. On the other hand, it is possible that a hospital worker obtained the information from hospital papers created while the now deceased immigrant was alive and could provide accurate information (unless the final sickness made it difficult for the immigrant to remember or communicate the information).

Even if the immigrant's home town is not given on the death record, other important information on the death certificate may lead to other records which will provide that information. This is why vital records, and especially death records, should be located early in your research about the immigrant. In addition to the possibility of naming the foreign birth place, death records generally give the birth date (or the age in years, months, and days) of the immigrant, as well as the parents' names. As we have discussed, these are key elements of identification needed for research in the old country. However, other significant pieces of information on a death certificate may include the name of the cemetery where the immigrant was buried (which may suggest the church he or she attended) and the mortuary who serviced the family. By the 1950s, many death certificates include the social security number of the deceased. For immigrants, this is a significant source, which will be discussed in a later lesson. Even the name of the hospital where the immigrant died may lead to additional records.

Marriage Records

For marriage records, it is not enough to ask only for a copy of the marriage license. A license was just a record of the county permitting the marriage to take place, and may not have all the information they gathered about an immigrant. Beginning in the 20th century, counties began having the prospective bride and groom fill out a marriage license application. These documents often asked much more information than what actually appears on the license itself. Such information usually included the parties' birthplaces. You will have to ask the county clerk specifically for the marriage license application, as it may be kept separately from the licenses. Most clerks are never asked for this information and may not know where to find it, or even what to charge for a copy! Be persistent, but be sure to learn when a local county or city began keeping the applications, and where you can examine them.

Birth Records

It may seem unusual to discuss birth records when dealing with immigrants born outside the U.S. or Canada, but consider obtaining the birth records of all the immigrant's children born in North America. By the mid-20th century, most birth records asked for the parents' birth places. Again, while usually only the country or state is given on such records, foreign cities do appear in a few cases. This further illustrates the necessity of searching every record of the immigrant and his family.

Conclusion

Well, were off and running. Finally, we are talking about the records you need to search to find your immigrant. Remember, even if your immigrant(s) did not arrive after the 1890s, some of the above discussion is valuable for your research. But, these are just the first two sources to search. You may be among the lucky ones, and locate an ancestral town name in family sources, or vital records, but most others will have to look further. There are a host of other records still to discuss. For recent immigrants, passenger arrival lists top the list, and are the subject of our next lesson.

Assignment

Now, go review your "Immigrant Overview Chart" from Lesson 7. Which of your ancestors do you think may have lived during the time period covered by these government vital records? For which ancestors can you locate some kind of family source?

It is always difficult to get started, so you might want to begin while this lesson is still fresh in your mind.

About Genealogy Research Associates

Karen Clifford is the Founder and President of Genealogy Research Associates. She is an Accredited Genealogist, an instructor in an Associates Degree program in Library Science-Genealogy and Computers at Hartnell College (Salinas, California) and Monterey Peninsula College (Monterey, California). She has authored several family histories and textbooks including Genealogy & Computers for the Complete Beginner; Genealogy & Computers for the Determined Researcher; Genealogy & Computers for the Advanced Researcher, and Becoming an Accredited Genealogist.

Karen currently serves as Vice-president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and Vice-president of the Utah Genealogical Association (UGA). She is a member of the California State Genealogy Alliance, the Association of Professional Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society, and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. In 1998 and 1999, Karen served as Director of UGA's Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy.

She has received several awards for her volunteer work in the genealogy community including the FGS Award of Merit and the FGS Outstanding Delegate Award.