by Malcolm Lockerbie*, Nottingham, UK
In Part I we covered basic resources for census information as
well as birth, marriage, death records. In Part II we will cover
other important sources.
Immigration and Emigration Records
This is a key area for finding your Scottish ancestors and when
they arrived in the USA. Passenger lists are available from
about 1800 on numerous websites with http://www.ancestry.com being the
major one. Most Scottish passengers will have sailed from
Glasgow often via Irish ports such as Londonderry , Belfast,
Dublin or Cork. Many will have sailed from Liverpool which was
readily accessible after the railways became active in the
1850s.
Most passengers will have entered the USA through New York
although other ports such as Baltimore, Boston and Philadelphia
were active. There was of course two way traffic between USA and
Canada so it is essential to check Canadian passenger lists also
on http://www.ancestry.com. Border crossing records at Detroit and other
locations are available on the same site.
From 1892-1954 records of entry through Ellis Island are
available free online (a donation site):
http://www.ellisisland.org/search/passSearch.asp.
Passenger lists leaving the UK 1890-1960 are available on the
subscription/credits site Findmypast including to the USA and
Canada:
http://www.findmypast.co.uk/migration.jsp.
Identifying a person on all these sites is not always straight
forward as often insufficient detail is presented when
searching. First names are not always present, say John Smith
may be J Smith or even Mr Smith. Ages or year of birth may be
missing and place of birth may be ambiguous. If other family
member’s names are known this can help identification. US census
returns after 1900 often include a person’s entry year which can
narrow down a search as can the last census in Scotland giving
family members who may have immigrated!
As with all family searches a more unusual family name makes
searching easier, sorry all you Smiths and Browns!
If any of your ancestors made a return visit to the UK, incoming
passenger lists 1878-1960 are available on Ancestry.co.uk or
with worldwide subscription on ancestry.com:
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1518.
Monumental Inscriptions
With the scarcity of pre-1855 death records, Scotland’s
kirkyards and cemeteries are an extremely valuable source of
information. Gravestones are often a family record in their own
right as they contain details of more than those of just the
persons buried there. Hence the name Monumental Inscriptions (MIs).
Many locations have been surveyed and the inscriptions
transcribed. Parish booklets are kept by local libraries and
family history societies. Many are available to be purchased
online. In most cases these transcriptions were carried out in
the 1950s before the condition of many ‘stones’ was allowed to
deteriorate to an illegible state!
Libraries will often respond to telephone or email requests for
one family name per location at no charge if only 15-30 minutes
work is needed.
The south west counties of Dumfries, Kirkcudbright and Wigtown,
where my own family originate, have particularly good booklet
coverage available from the local family history society:
http://www.dgfhs.org.uk/index.htm.
Members can also request a surname summary by email. Other
locations in Scotland may only offer a more limited coverage.
I was able to make a fairly comprehensive pre-1855 Lockerbie
family tree back to 1708 using MIs from one kirkyard
supplemented by some OPR birth/marriage records!
*About the Author, Malcolm Lockerbie
Malcolm is an amateur but expert genealogy researcher. He has many
years of experience and specializes in tracking Scottish and British
ancestors. He is also highly knowledgeable about US records.
