Colonial Ancestors

It is usually more difficult to identify the immigrant homeland of ancestors who lived during the Colonial Period; however students who tap into resources previously published on their ancestors, often identify immigrant(s). In this case, provide the evidentiary sources to prove from that ancestor back to your own line as well as link to the homeland in the old country. Then you will feel confident about being on a solid research foundation.

It may happen that while researching back in time in previous courses, you realized that your the ancestor being traced was born before 1620 and was not a Native American. He or she would most likely be the immigrant ancestor, and most likely of English origin, since few people came to these shores before the 1620s and most who did came from the British Isles.

Was There a Different Foreign Name?

Names are the primary means by which we tell ourselves apart from others--thus the necessity of identifying the ancestor clearly. The majority of those who came to America had some minor or major modification to their name due to onamastics (the sounding of the name), the spelling of clerks, or if from a non-English speaking country, the Anglicizing of the name. Names can change due to various foreign versions, prefix changes (did they drop the O' or Mac, add the Van or den), patronymics (drop the "son" at the end or convert the "dotter" to "son, for example), was the name translated from another language or modified to sound as it did in the old country? Several examples are giving in Chapter 1 as a forewarning. Seek out name books for the ethnicity to locate the proper information. Suggestions will be provided to you in the future.

The best way to learn what the immigrant's name was before arrival is to search as many documents as possible, especially those close to his or her date of immigration. This means one must find the approximate date of immigration. The following record groups are the most helpful:

• Naturalization and passenger records
• Immigrant church records
• Early census records
• Civil records, including court and land records

Books about research in the country where your ancestor originated will help because they may help you understand the most likely version of the family name. But first we need to find the place. This is beginning to sound like, “What came first, the chicken or the egg.” Fortunately there are other identifiers.