Finding the Birthplace of Your Immigrant Ancestor

Once you've traced your family tree back to the immigrant ancestor, determining his/her birthplace is the key to the next branch in your family tree. Knowing just the country isn't just enough - you'll usually have to get down to the town or village level to successfully locate your ancestor's records. Often, however, this isn't as easy as you might expect.

Step One: Learn everything you can about your immigrant ancestor so that you will be able to identify him in relevant records, and distinguish him from others of the same name. This includes:

• the immigrant's full name including her middle name or maiden name, if applicable
• a date of birth or the date of another event (marriage, immigration, etc.) with which you may be able to identify your ancestor
• a place of birth, even if it is just a country of origin for now
• the names of all identifiable relatives -- parents, spouse, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, etc. Immigrants often traveled with relatives, or went to join one who had previously emigrated. These names will also help you to identify your immigrant's family in their country of origin.
• Any other information that may help identify your ancestor, including religion, occupation, friends, neighbors, etc.

Don't forget to check in with family members and even distant relatives for clues to your ancestor's birthplace. You never know who may have personal knowledge or relevant records in their possession.

Step Two: Once you've determined the country of origin, look for a national index to vital records for that country in the time period in which your ancestor was born (e.g. Civil Registration Index for England & Wales). If such an index exists, this might provide a shortcut to learning your ancestor's place of birth. You must, however, have enough identifying information to recognize the immigrant, and many countries do not maintain vital records at the national level.

Step Three: If there is no national vital records index available, the next goal in your birthplace quest is to find a record or other source that tells you specifically where to start looking in your ancestor's country of origin. While searching, it is important to remember that your ancestor's last residence prior to emigration may not necessarily be their place of birth.

• Look at research already done by others. In many cases, other researchers have already found where the emigrant came from. This includes searching through published indexes and genealogies, local biographies and town histories, and databases of compiled records.

• Next search for original records related to the immigrant's death, such as death records, church records, obituaries, cemetery records, and probate records.

• Check both civil and church sources for a marriage record and records of the children's births.

• Search other types of genealogical records which may reveal an ancestor's town of origin, including census records, court records, and land and property records.

• Immigration records such as passenger lists and naturalization records are another important source in the search for an immigrant's town of birth. While it may seem a better place to start, you usually need the information found in previous steps to enable you to locate immigration and naturalization records. In the United States, census records provide especially good clues to whether an ancestor was naturalized.

Search for these records in each place where the immigrant lived, for the complete time period when he or she lived there and for some time after his death. Be sure to investigate available records in all jurisdictions that may have kept records about him or her, including town, parish, county, state and national authorities. Be thorough in your examination of each record, making note of all identifying details such as the immigrant's occupation or the names of neighbors, godparents and witnesses.

Step Four: Sometimes after researching all possible records, you will still be unable to find a record of the home town of your immigrant ancestor. In this case, continue the search in the records of identified family members -- brother, sister, father, mother, cousin, children, etc. -- to see if you can find a place name associated with them. For example, my great-grandfather emigrated to the United States from Poland, but was never naturalized and left no records of his specific town of origin. I was finally able to locate the town in which they lived from the naturalization record of his eldest daughter (who was born in Poland). Church baptismal records for children of immigrant parents are another resource that should not be overlooked in a search for immigrant origins.

Step Five: Identify and verify the place name on a map, something that is not always as easy as it sounds. Often you will find multiple places with the same name, or you may find that the town has changed jurisdictions or even disappeared. It is very important here to correlate with historical maps and other sources of information to be sure that you have identified the correct town.