Precise Identification of Who Actually Immigrated?

Don't rely on family tradition. Locate documents in America that tell who the immigrant was or if there were several who came at once. The most abundant records for doing this are federal records, but were they kept during the years the ancestor was living in the United States, and is access available to them for those years?

For those arriving after the early 1800s, the federal census is a key source. Beginning in 1850, the census recorded where a person was born (the state or country). Wherever you can find an ancestor in an 1850 or later census, you will usually be able to tell if he or she was an immigrant so be sure you have copies of every census year for the ancestor you are researching.

As you will discover in this lesson’s reading assignment, “Whatever you do, do not rely on just one record to document who the immigrant was. Errors appear in all types of documents, and on occasion, persons deliberately obscure their origins.”

As you build an identifying page on your ancestor either as a Website Home Page or a traditional typed manuscript, be sure to include all pertinent identification. To make this easier, a chart entitled “Immigrant Ancestor Biography” is shown below and a copy of this can be downloaded and printed. Fill out this information as a work sheet in the next few months as more information is learned about your ancestor. If you can fill this out completely at this time, try to pick another ancestor who is more challenging so that you will learn how to find the information as the course progresses.

Click here for a printable version of this Immigrant Ancestor Biography Form