If you have any questions or other comments, please contact me and let me know.
I have spent the past couple of years now researching my family tree and all my ancestors. I will tell you now that finding your Indian ancestor is almost next to impossible unless you or your ancestor was a resident of a reservation. But don't get discouraged, just 'cause they aren't in the rolls, does NOT mean they were not Native American Indian. Just keep looking and searching.
I personally have decided to follow all my grandparents back to the original country they came from first, if possible. I have many, many years ahead of me just doing this. Once I have decided that I have found all I can possibly find, then I will "venture" across seas, relying totally on the internet, I'm sure!
What I'm going to do here is provide several links that I have found very useful. And several of these links you will find through the other sites, but if you are new to this, I will give all the sites I have found on accident and wish I had known they were there in the first place.
The best place that I find is Rootsweb Metasearch. I try very hard not to use others' family lineage already posted. Not, that I don't trust them, but I want to see the record for myself. I have recently become a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) and let me tell you, if you are trying to "prove" something to someone, whether it's the DAR, the government, the Civil War organizations, or an Indian Nation, you will need the hard copy yourself. In my research, I have found that where they said, "Oh, he was a French fur trader and she was a full-blood Cherokee...." has proven not to be true. The Cherokee lady proved to go back to England. And that was supposed to have been from a professional genealogist. I have not found the proof, nor did they provide it.
If you come across someone else's genealogy, make sure they list the sources for you. I have been absolutely terrible at keeping this, but I'm getting better! I know where most of my info came from, therefore, before I even begin to think about posting it to the web, I will list where I received the info from. But if you are like me, you truly want to know who your ancestors were. I want to know and meet my grandpa, aunt, cousin first. Though I do enjoy reading other families histories! Being American Indian myself, I believe when we remember our ancestors they "live" again and have not lived their lives in vain. Think about 200 years after you're gone, wouldn't be "heartwarming" to know that your great-great-granddaughter has just found out about you and will name her daughter after you?
Anyway, as you search through Rootsweb, you will find what you need and don't. It will probably be overwhelming, but hang in there, especially if you are just starting. Another page I find that is still through Rootsweb very "rewarding" is the USGenWeb State Search. This tends not to be so overwhelming. I have found that by putting in the last name and the county name, it narrows the search even better.
Another tip I'd like to give right now is to make sure you try every possible and even UNTHINKABLE spelling of the name
you are looking for! The name Cottrell is a perfect example. I have found it as Cotrell, Cottrel, Cottril, Cottrill, Cotrill, Cotril, Cotrel, and Cotrall. And I'm sure there just might be a Coterell or something along that line! Or, what I've finally done lately is just search certain records of certain counties of the state I'm looking in. For example, I put "marriages and Daviess" when searching through Kentucky. And I'll try different variations of this too. Sometimes, there is a lot of miscellaneous stuff I don't want, like the Footsteps from Kentucky. Therefore you can use "ANDNOT" sign in front of "footsteps" in order to keep it from showing up on your list.
But this page will bring up most anything that is in the archives of the counties of all the states that is listed in Rootsweb. I have yet to find an exception. But still, I will go to the individual pages of the counties just in case they have something on their site that is not listed with Rootsweb's search.
Another great site that I have been able to use to verify family ties is the Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records. Their search site is GLO Records. There are all sorts of ways you can search this site. When you become familiar with it, you can search by township, section and range and see who all lived in the same vicinity as every one else.
Another page that I refer to all the time is the National Archives and Records Administration Search page at NAIL Form. Click the Standard Search and then make sure you click the "Only Descriptions Linked to Digital Copies." Under keywords, just play. For trying the rolls and cards for the Five Civilized Tribes, you can enter "tribes" or "Indian" or "civilized", etc. in the second Keyword blank. Use the last name you are looking for in the first blank. Then hit "Submit Search". If there are any results it will tell you. You then select "Display Results" and have fun.
Other sites you will find interesting:
Library of Congress
AccessGenealogy
Latter Days Saints
GenWeb
GNIS Search
CemeteryRecordsOnLine
Ancestry.Com
There are many other places on the web to check, but these are where I find myself most of the time. The last one I listed has a great database, but needs a subscription in order to get to their legal records. You will want to sign up with them because they offer free time every once in a while. When they get a new database added, they will give you 10 days from entry to view it free. So it is worth your time. And they claim within the next year or two, they will have all the census records on line!
Now once you feel you have exhausted the web, go out to your local library and search their records. I have found lots and lots of information that I would not have found on the web. People who have in the past searched their families are usually kind enough to give a copy of all their records to the library. This is great and will help you save a lot of time researching those who have already been found. And there is usually an endless supply of books recording the local history and other records-including newspapers. And I just can't mention just how much faster checking through the microfische in the library is than on-line!!!
Though there is much more you can do, this will be enough to get you started and keep you busy for quite a while. I have learned to try and keep my "research" organized, looking for only one generation at a time, though this can include many people according to how far out you want to reach in your tree and how far up you are in your generations! My personal goal is to have at least the birth date and place, the death date and place, the marriage date and place, and the burial place for each of my grandparents as far back as I can go. This has kept me very busy. And of course, I will not be able to due to burning buildings, floods, lack of records, no enduring headstone if one at all, and other things as such. And this has kept me very busy. But it's a great feeling when I can mark another name off my list as an accomplishment!
Census Records
I thought maybe I should give a brief, yet detailed (if you knowmy writing, you know I have a hard time being "brief" *smile*) description of the census. There were several different types of census taken. Most of the ones that are referred to are the Federl census, taken every 10 years, starting in, I believe 1790 for those states that existed under the US Government. There were several state census done in order to collect taxes and/or just to have a tally of who all lived in their state. Below I will only deal with the Federal Census, with only one exception (1890).
1790
This census only used the head of the household name. There were only 4 columns (if I remember right). The first being males over 16, second-males under 16, third-females, fourth-all other free persons.
1800 & 1810
These census again only lists the head of the household name, but broke the ages down a bit more: 1st-males <10, 2nd-males 10-16, 3rd-males 16-26, 4th-males 26-45, 5th-45+, 6th-females<10, 7th-females 10-16, 8th-females 16-26, 9th-females 26-45, 10th-females 45+, 11th-Free blacks, 12th-Slaves.
1820
This census same as above except the ages are again broken down. 1-males<10, 2-males 10-15, 3-males 16-18, 4-males 18-25, 5-males 25-44, 6-males 45+, 7-females<10, 8-females 10-15, 9-females 16-18, 10-females 18-25, 11-females 26-44, 12-females-45+. There are many more columns, but too many to list. I believe it's this year they start recording the occupation, but only in 4 categories.
1830-1840
Again, only the head of the household and now the ages are truly broken down. 1-males<5, 2-males 5-10, 3-males 10-15, 4-males 15-20, 5-males 20-30, 6-males 30-40, 7-males 40-50, 8-males 50-60, 9-males 60-70, 10-males 70-80, 11-males 80-90, 12-males 90-100, 13-males 100+. The females are repeated as above and they are usually well divided so you know where to start for them. I know they record the occupation here, but again, it's still in categories.
1850-1870
Yeah! We finally get a great breakdown! This census will list everyone in the household, ages and whether they were male or female (which in several cases really helps!). Also listed is the occupation, real estate value, place of birth, whether they could read or write, etc. etc. Just all sorts of little info. The only exception between the two years that I can remember is 1860 includes color (Black, White, Mulatto only) and it gives the value of personal property
1880
Getting better. Now, they've added a "relationship to head of household" column, a "are they sick?" column, as well as where their parents were born, which has proven to come in handy.
1890
Okay, this one hurts. ALL the Federal census records were burned at the Smithsonian in the 1890's (I don't remember the year for sure.) But, they do have a small compensation for this loss. In 1890, there was a listing for those applying for Civil War Pensions. This helps a little.
1900-1920
Okay, back in business. The color column is now "color or race", marital status, the birth month is now added, number of years married, number of total children, number of total living children. Most everything else is the same I believe, except it will tell whether the house was owned or rented.
1930
I saw where this should be available in the next year. There's a 72 year delay due to the Privacy Act.
When recording information from the census, make sure you note the neighbors as you might find later that they were related. Children were usually given land as they moved out of the house.
Another thing you'd like to note when just writing down the info, write down the page number. If you are viewing an image, it was be a stamped number on the right top. If there is not a stamp there, it's "b", the second half of the page. So if the stamped number is there, it's "a". E.g. "140a". These come in extremely handy when looking at indexes as these are the numbers they are using. Also, if you need to write the county to get a copy of it, it sure is a lot cheaper if you are able to provide them a page number!
Well, hope the census info helps!
Oh, and as a bonus, I found this page the other day and it had me ROFL-----you must check this one out! Carroll's Corner
Good luck!
