Search Ship Manifests for your Family's History

Before the days of airplane travel, emigrants typically left their countries of origin on ships and braved long and difficult journeys across the ocean. Finding evidence of an ancestor's journey to a new world through passenger lists and ship manifests can be a thrilling experience for anyone who is interested in their family history. Such valuable documents, kept by most shipping companies across the world, can be incredibly difficult to search, however, leading genealogists to spend countless hours in fruitless inquiry. Many of the lists, for instance, have not been put into indexes and lay moldering in some obscure or unreachable archive. At other times, even when genealogists do find their ancestors on a ship manifest, only their name and country of departure are listed; no other exciting information, such as birth date, country of origin, or occupation, is included. Such warnings aside, however, there are ways genealogists can increase their chance of success in finding their ancestors on passenger lists. First, remember that your ancestors may have been included on a number of lists, not just the ones made upon arrival in their new country. Lists were made when they first got on the ship and whenever they stopped along the way. Newspapers and organizations that may have paid for their journey, such as aid societies, would also have kept lists. Even passport applications and naturalization papers can provide valuable clues to your ancestor's journey.After becoming aware of the variety of places in which you can look for your ancestors, try and keep the time period in which they arrived in consideration. Passenger lists made for immigrants arriving in America before 1820, for example, are particularly difficult to search for because they were not standardized or carefully preserved and either do not exist anymore or are extremely difficult to find. The search for immigrants arriving between 1820 and 1891 is slightly less difficult but information is still limited. Finally, in 1891, the Immigration and Naturalization Service came into existence in the United States, and passenger lists were greatly improved, becoming more reliable, informative and well-preserved. Before you begin searching passenger lists, you need to know your ancestor's complete and original name, the date of his arrival in America, and the port at which he arrived. It is also helpful to know his age; the port from which he departed; his country of origin; his ultimate destination in the United States; and the names of his ship or of any fellow travelers. You can find this information through a piece memorabilia, such as a letter or ticket; through previously researched family history; through census records, which are available on the internet and on purchasable computer programs; through naturalization records, which are actually more informative than passenger lists for immigrants arriving after 1906; and through passport records, if your ancestor applied for one to visit his country of origin.If you discover that your ancestor arrived before 1820, there is no centralized place to search for passenger lists. Many ships did keep lists, which they left at the ports of arrival, but since the government did not require these lists to be kept or saved, they were lost, destroyed, or scattered in different libraries or private collections. Many of the surviving lists have been published on the web or in books, so these are the best places to search. Newspapers from the time which have been microfilmed are also valuable resources. Finally, the government does have records in the national archives for arrivals in New York from 1789 to 1919, in New Orleans from 1813 to 1819, and in Philadelphia from 1800 to 1819.If your ancestor arrived after 1820, then your main job will be in consulting the variety of resources available. Customs Passenger Lists, compiled by ship captains from 1820 to around 1891 and indexes for these lists can be found at the National Archives; in libraries, including the comprehensive genealogical archives of the Church of Latter Day Saints; online in images, transcripts, and indexes; on purchasable CD-ROMs; and in books. The archives and other resources contain notable gaps in information and errors, so it is best to search in a variety of indexes.Beginning around 1891, Immigration Passenger Lists replaced Customs Passenger Lists due to the flood of immigrants to the United States and the establishment of a Superintendent of Immigration. Immigration Passenger Lists are much more detailed and two pages long by 1906. They can be found in the National Archives, in the Latter Day Saints library, on the Ellis Island on-line database, and on other on-line sites. Once again, errors were made in microfilming lists and a variety of resources should be consulted. In the end, genealogy is like a scavenger hunt where you must use the clues provided to you and search in a variety of places before you find what you are looking for.

Article Source: http://www.familyhistoryarticles.com

Create your Own Traditions with Family to Help Future Genealogists

Have you ever wished you could ask your Great-Uncle George how soldiers felt about World War I or your Great-Aunt Georgina how she weathered the Great Depression? Or perhaps you rue the loss of your Grandmother Gretel's recipe for delicious German strudel? Family traditions and lore can be completely lost in a generation or two if families do not actively take steps to preserve their history. A family history is a legacy, and preserving your legacy for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren can be an invaluable gift. You don't have to sit down and write out a laborious record of your family history, however, in order to preserve your legacy, although that would indeed be an incredible gift. Small projects and new family traditions can instill an invaluable sense of history in future generations.If your house burned down tonight and you could only save one of your belongings, what would it be? A frequent reply to that question is "family photos." As the old saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Nothing is more interesting than realizing you have your grandfather's nose or your great-grandmother's eyes. Photos can become disorganized, scattered, and, in the end, meaningless, however, if you don't take steps now to compile them into some semblance of order and to share them with younger generations. Ask family or friends if you can copy any original photos that you don't own. Describe the people in the photographs, either orally or in writing. Regale your children and grandchildren with anecdotes about your summer trips to the beach or the day you caught the prize-winning fish. Placing your photos in a scrapbook is a particularly powerful way to preserve their meaning and message, and be sure to incorporate captions and other written descriptions of the pictures. Also, don't forget to include other important documents, such as birth certificates, old report cards, or original art work, poetry, or songs in the scrapbook. Even if you are not artistically inclined, the acid-free scrapbook paper and glue will preserve your photographs and memorabilia for years to come, so just slap them onto the paper as best you can. A lovingly-composed scrapbook will really become a family treasure. Another way to capture an image is on video. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, take your home video camera and sit down with an older family member. By asking certain questions, you can mine their memories for gems of wisdom and valuable family anecdotes. You can also help steer the interview so that it is relatively chronological or comprehensive. Perhaps the interviewee may even want to prepare his answers beforehand. Ask about family residences, including physical descriptions or even a room-by-room verbal tour. Sensory descriptions are particularly interesting. Talk about ethnicity and religion and its impact on family traditions or customs. Ask family members about major historical events. Move the discussion from childhood friends to high school events to college, career, and romance. Perhaps you could even interview people from the past, such as old friends or current spouses, about the interviewee. Also encourage your family members to share the disappointments and struggles that they faced as well as the life lessons and wisdom that they gained. A permanent record of not only your family member's memories but also the way they looked and talked is an invaluable gift to future generations.If you don't have a video camera, then use a tape recorder; and if you don't have a tape recorder, then use a pen and pencil to record your family history. Start a journal, and include not only thoughts and feelings but also descriptions of current events and culture. Such a record will be fascinating to your descendants, no matter how mundane it may seem in the present. There are numerous book and internet sites about journaling or writing a memoir that can help you get started.Finally, make your family history an interactive experience for your children and grandchildren. Visit the house where you grew or the country from which your grandparents immigrated. Seeing a place first-hand will give future generations a sense of their background and roots. Permanent edifices also provide valuable clues about the economy, architecture, and culture of the time in which family members lived. In addition, make your grandmother's German strudel with your children, or teach them how to play a harmonica like their Great-Uncle George. Pass your skills and wisdoms down to them in ways they can enjoy. Such highly sensory experiences are not easily forgotten.
Article Source: http://www.familyhistoryarticles.com

Family Unity and Relationship Enhanced on a Family Tree

If you would take a Poll Titled: “What is the most important “thing” in your life?” you would get an 80% or higher return with the Number 1 answer being: Family Unity. In an Age, where Generations no longer are only divided by age but also by distance, Family get together, the sharing of Traditions are now largely lost. The strong sense of Identity that comes with strong family Bonds is mostly a thing of the Past.

GenerationDB.com has made it their focus to give a modern day way to bring Family back together. Think of it as the 21st Century Version of Family Reunions. Their unique system, enables all who join, to reach even to most displaced Family Members thousands of miles away. Grandparents clear across the Ocean, can now share their family traditions, wisdoms and pass along those loved Recipes.

Photos of Family members are easily stored in their Databanks, uploaded and shared. Profiles are simple to create and browse. Family Anecdotes about Ancestors are no longer condemned to be forgotten. Once again, they can be revived, and told with the gift of the Family Storyteller. Siblings, Cousins, Parents and more can once again form that Bond, which will survive Family Trials and Tribulations.

Think of all those that are no longer in their Homeland and can not explain what produces in their Bloodline the unique individuals they are. Every Person has wondered at one time or the other about their Background and History. Here it is. A Community of not only the close family but extended universally. Neighbors and Friends, a global Village at your disposal. Family Unity and Relationship Enhanced on a Family Tree.

The good People at GenerationDB.com, have made it their Mission to create a warm family atmosphere. To give you the tools to grow a living, breathing Family Tree. To allow you to once again reach deep into your Roots and experience a long forgotten sense of Pride in who you are.

Think of it as a Calender of Events. It is no longer necessary to spend endless hours sending letters and emails announcing Birthdays, Marriages, Divorces and Death. It is all there in one simple Entry.

Find a Family here, within the Community at GenerationDB. Likeminded People create and “adopt” you into their Family. Learn from each other, share ideas, show your concern.

Create a Group of your own. Prayer Groups, the universal knitting society, tea drinkers’ unity, belly dancing through the generations… The Options are as varied as your imagination can produce.
You are responsible to share as much or as little of your-self and your Branch as you feel comfortable. GenerationDB has a very strong Privacy Policy and are available to answer any of your Questions. You have a choice to make your Information public or private. Only Data marked as Public will be displayed. Your Information will be treated with the up most respect and discretion.

Finally think of our Troops deployed in the war torn Countries. What a wonderful way to send Photos of the Newborn Babies of our Service Man, to give our Support, be there for each other in this torn Society.

Visit GenerationDB and become a Member of our Family. You will enjoy and delight in the Bonds that form, reducing Miles / Kilometers to mere seconds in the click of a Mouse. All right there at your Fingertips. Read about the News that you can not find on any Radio or TV Station. Learn the History that can not be found in any Schoolbook. A Piece of the old Values, couple with a slice of modern Communications without hassle or difficulties.


Source: Articles on www.generationdb.com