Whether your ancestor was a Smith, Jones, Brown, or Johnson, Juliana Szucs Smith will share tips for tracking them down. Using charts, spreadsheets, search tips, and a little common sense, you’ll leave this class with some ideas for narrowing your search.

1. Juliana Szucs Smith
6 February 2014
Common Surnames: Finding Your Smiths
1

2. Your Ancestor Was Unique
• Looking for the things that
make your ancestor stand
out and assembling the
information.
• Create a search strategy.
• Zeroing in on their location
with records and tools.
• Putting what you’ve found
to work.

3. What makes your ancestor unique?
• Create a profile of your ancestor
• Names (given, middle, and
nicknames)
• Occupations
• Birth date and place
• Residence
• Religious affiliation
• Autograph
• Family structure
• Friends, neighbors, business
associates, sponsors, witnesses, etc.
• Anomalies

4. Create a Profile

5. Where do we find the details?
• Older relatives
According to Aunt Olive, “[Catherine’s]
family were the Kellys of 12th Street.”

6. Where do we find the details?
• Older relatives
• Letters and
correspondence

7. Where do we find the details?
• Older relatives
• Letters and
correspondence
• Documents

8. Where do we find the details?
• Older relatives
• Letters and
correspondence
• Documents
• Photographs (Look for
house numbers and
match them to
directories.)

9. Where do we find the details?
• Older relatives
• Letters and
correspondence
• Documents
• Photographs
• Books
• Heirlooms

10. Records!!
Extract every single clue, every
single fact, from every single
record you can find on him or
her.

11. Have a Search Strategy
• Start wide and
grab lowhanging fruit
with a global
search.
• Big 3
− Name
− Residence
− Age/year of birth

12. Putting the Details to Work with a Search
Advanced Search Can Give You an Edge.

13. Advanced Search Options
• Name options

14. Advanced Search Options
• Name options

15. Go wild with wildcards!
• * matches zero or more characters
• Kell*y matches Kelly or Kelley
• ? matches one character
• Sm?th* matches Smith, Smyth,
Smythe
• First letter can now be a wildcard
• Either the first or last character must
be a non-wildcard character
• Names must contain at least three nonwildcard characters

16. Advanced Search Options
• Name options
• Events

17. Advanced Search Options
• Name options
• Events
• Don’t include death unless
you’re looking for a deathrelated record. (Most
records were created when
your ancestor was alive.)

18. Searching With What You’ve Found
• Name options
• Events
• Don’t include death unless
you’re looking for a deathrelated record.
• Estimate dates & click exact
− Grandpa born 1906
-25 years = 1881
+/- 5 years = 18761886
Would include a
parent aged between
age 20 and 30 in 1906
when he was born.

19. Searching With What You’ve Found
• Name options
• Events
• Don’t include death unless
you’re looking for a deathrelated record.
• Estimate dates
• Include event locations

20. Searching With What You’ve Found
• Name options
• Events
• Don’t include death unless
you’re looking for a deathrelated record.
• Estimate dates
• Include event locations
• Include family members
− Only those that you expect to be
living with them in the time
frame you’re searching.
• Explore other fields if you
think they may help.

21. Search Strategy, Part 2
• Identify collections
your ancestor should
be included in, and
search directly.

22. Search Strategy, Part 2

23. Searching Directly With What You’ve Found
• Advantages
• Less records to
wade through/less
cluttered results
• Customized
forms created for
the content within

24. Searching Directly With What You’ve Found
• Searching directly
gives you more search
functionality.
• 1900 census form
includes:
− Marriage date

25. Searching Directly With What You’ve Found
• Searching directly
gives you more search
functionality..
• 1900 census form
includes:
− Marriage date
− Arrival date

26. Searching Directly With What You’ve Found
• Searching directly gives
you more search
functionality.
• 1900 census form includes:
− Marriage date
− Arrival date
− Place to specify other family
members (Censuses beginning
in 1880 included relationships to
head of household.)

27. Searching Directly With What You’ve Found
• Searching directly gives
you more search
functionality.
• 1900 census form includes:
− Marriage date
− Place to specify other family
members (Censuses beginning
in 1880 included relationships
to head of household)
− Marital status, relationship to
HOH, gender, ethnic
background

28. Searching Directly With What You’ve Found
• Searching directly gives
you more search
functionality.
• 1900 census form
includes:
− Marriage date
− Place to specify other family
members (censuses after
1880 included relationships
to head of household)
− Marital status, relationship
to HOH, gender, ethnic
background
− Parents’ birthplace

29. Dig Deep for Collections
• Title searches for terms in the database title only
• Keyword searches title and descriptive materials

30. Dig Deep for Collections
• Title searches for terms in the database title only
• Keyword searches title and descriptive materials

31. Catalog Filters
• Filter by:
• Record Collection
• Location
• Time Frame (Century or Decade)

32. Dig Deep for Collections
• Access Place pages by clicking on
the Search tab and then selecting a
location from the map.

33. Place Pages

34. Place Pages

35. What You Can Find
• Records of the New York Emigrant Savings Bank
New York Emigrant Savings Bank, 1850-1883, on Ancestry.com

36. State Pages

37. U.S., IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918
•
U.S., IRS Tax Assessment Lists, 1862-1918

38. Find Additional Identifiers in Censuses
• Find birthplaces of parents on federal censuses,
1880-1930
1880 U.S. Federal Census, Detroit, Wayne Co., Michigan
• Find records of your ancestor’s siblings
1860 U.S. Federal Census, Kings County, New York
• Whole family research is a huge help!

39. Where were they?
• Timelines help you put the items you’ve found into
context. Noting sources helps resolve conflicts.

40. Finding Immigration Records
Huggins—alternate spellings include Huggans, Higgins, Higgans, Hugans, etc.
William and Mary Ann Huggins arriving in New York on the Ashburton, 29 July 1844

41. A Family’s Trip to America
A timeline showed children born to them both here and in Ireland. Where are the Irish
born children?
William and Mary Ann Huggins arriving in New York on the Ashburton, 29 July 1844

42. Chain Migration
• Sometimes
families didn’t
travel together.
One or both
parents may have
gone ahead and
secured a place to
live and sent for
the children.
•On the ship Liverpool,
09 March 1849

43. Family and Extended Family and Friends
The names and ages
of the Huggins
children (listed as
Higgans here) help to
identify them in this
passenger list.
•On the ship Liverpool,
09 March 1849

44. Family and Extended Family and Friends
A Biddy Murtagh is
listed as Catherine
Huggins sponsor in her
baptismal record.
Murtaghs are also
living very near a
related Huggins family
in Griffith’s Valuation.
•On the ship Liverpool,
09 March 1849

45. Family and Extended Family and Friends
In 1857, a John Walsh is
listed as the sponsor for
another of the Huggins’
children in Brooklyn, New
York Catholic Church
Baptism Records, 18371900 (St. Paul’s R.C.
Church) – available on
Ancestry.com
•On the ship Liverpool,
09 March 1849

46. The Stories in the Manifest
Timeline
• 1844 - Wm. And
Mary Ann Huggins
immigrate
• 1846 - Potato
famine strikes in
Ireland
• 1849 – Huggins
(Higgans) children
immigrate
•On the ship Liverpool,
09 March 1849

47. The Stories in the Manifest
•
The Liverpool arrived in the Port of New York 09 March 1849. Since the
Atlantic crossing typically took 1-2 months, they were on the Atlantic for
at least most of February and possibly part of January. That would have
made for a very cold crossing.

48. The Stories in the Manifest
• Of the 416 passengers on board the Liverpool, 37 would die
before reaching American shores—nearly 9 percent.

49. City Directories
• Ancestry.com has a large collection of city
directories, but coverage varies by location. Also
check Fold3.com, and other websites for online
directories.

50. U.S. City Directories
• Formulate your searches based on availability.

51. U.S. City Directories
• Search Tips
• Search for the last
name only.
• Keywords can help
you look for certain
sections of the
directory (e.g.,
churches, index of
advertisers, etc.).
• Specify the
publication year.

52. Finding Common Threads
• Directories allow
you to track year to
year using
occupation and
residence.
New York City Directory, 1876

53. City Directories
• Patterns emerge

54. Finding Common Threads
• Spreadsheets can be helpful in sorting out families.
Excel spreadsheet

55. Finding Common Threads
• Create a copy as a back-up and then sort data

56. Finding Common Threads
• Patterns emerge

57. Finding Common Threads
• Patterns emerge

58. Using Locations in Census Years
• Seek out historical maps
• Census wards and
districts a huge plus for
urban residents

59. Historical Maps
• Seek out historical maps (See Cyndi’s List Map page)
http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/us_states/michigan/Detroit.html

60. City Directories and Censuses
• Beginning in 1880, censuses listed addresses. Use them in
conjunction with city directories to locate your ancestors in the
census and sort out others who share their name

61. Estimating Dates and Keeping Track
• Project who should be in each census and estimate how old
they would be.

62. Census Forms in the Learning Center

63. Census Charts
Use the projected ages in your chart to create a template
for those censuses. (Line in yellow is a template; line in
green is a close match.)

64. Census Charts

65. Trees…Use for clues, but with Caution

66. Working Trees
• Keeping track of
who’s NOT your
guy.
• ―Working trees‖
give you a place
to organize
records you’ve
sorted out for
other families
that you can
reference as you
continue your
research.

67. Beyond Online
• Use the tools you’ve created and go beyond online
resources.

68. Beyond Online
• Use the tools you’ve created and go beyond online
resources.

69. Beyond Online
• Use the tools you’ve created and go beyond online
resources.

70. Beyond Online
• Use the tools you’ve created and go beyond online
resources.

71. Beyond Online
• Use the tools you’ve created and go beyond online
resources.

72. Your Ancestor Was Interesting and Unique!