SEARCHING FOREIGN DOCUMENTS

GENEALOGY   Part I

One hundred twenty-eight thousand people, according to Ancestry.com statistics (especially from the "Baby Boom" generation) are turning to genealogy to record family history. Looking for long lost relatives and trying to piece the family structure together is like connecting Lego's blocks. There's a lot of vibrant color but any semblance to a recognizable form may be pure coincidence without prior planning.


In this type of research, there may be long dry spells (with no clues) caused by: a duplication in records or misspelled names; missing dates (some intentional); and/or records that may have been destroyed by fire, flood or war. Divorce was a taboo subject for a long time and marrying a cousin was not unheard of in some regions. Sometimes, people did not want to be found because of  nefarious deeds during a crisis or scandalous behavior on a moonlit night. When you find a situation like this in your family, as the historian, it's up to you to determine if your findings are helpful to the family or harmful. Sometimes, that answer may not be an easy one to make.

To complicate matters, some documents may be in a foreign language and this has a good news/bad news scenario.

THE GOOD NEWS, FIRST (using Sweden as an example).
In the 1800s, the state sponsored church (Lutheran) kept records of all comings and goings of the subjects in Scandinavia. Not only did they record births, deaths and causes, confirmations (including church attendance and knowledge of the Bible) but all travels in and out of country. Dates, ships and point of entry were noted as well as professions and persons sponsoring portage to America. So, too, were the reasons for being returned to the motherland, if, heaven forbid, that happened (we''ll write more about Victorian Manners in an upcoming post). The amount of information recorded is amazing and with the help of someone who knows the language, customs, and history of the era, anyone researching records from across the pond will leave with a wealth of familial knowledge.

Language is no longer a barrier, thanks to the Internet. The translation process may be slow, some of the interpretations for archaic words will cause fits of laughter . . . but it's possible to translate full documents and have a general understanding of the content on-line. My suggestions would be:

• Use an on-line translator. I've used www.translate.google.com with good results. There are others out there, so don't limit yourself. Find the one with which you're comfortable.
• Find someone versed in the language: relative, teacher, friend, or someone from the country's consulate. Let them read your interpretation. Often times they will give you a back story you wouldn't get working on your own.
• Study the history of the time period you're researching, look at travel patterns, famines, disease outbreaks, wars, education, job opportunities. It will create a broader scope of life in those days.

THE BAD NEWS is, even though it's possible to contact the country's historical agencies for records, it takes time (months) to receive the information and may be costly.

The best place I've found for consolidated records, is Ancestry.com. I suggest starting your search in America and when comfortable with the system, expand the search to overseas. Www.Ancestry.com is offering visitors the opportunity to search 1940 census records (most current), until Sunday April 27th for FREE.

With time and patience and a little luck "vintage" relatives will topple from the worn documents of years gone by onto your family tree . . . home, again. Happy Hunting!

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