City Directories As Census Substitutes

When I have a challenge researching an ancestor, I always look to see if there is a city directory that exists during the same time my ancestor would have been in a particular area. City directories are a great substitute if your ancestor is missing on a census or if you want to identify your ancestor between census years.  Many Savannah, Georgia city directories from 1866 to 1934 are available on microfilm through the Family History Library Catalog. Savannah, Georgia city directories from 1888 to 1891 are available on Ancestry.

If you have identified your ancestor's family group, you may be pleasantly surprised to find them listed in the city directory or you may find a relative mentioned for the first time in the city directory.  During the Jim Crow Era, African Americans were often listed in a separate section in the directory. 

Sometimes during the 1900's, family members moved from the rural areas to escape the violence.  Even though they were part of the Great Migration, they passed through the urban areas and may be found in the city directories. 

Some of the information that I have discovered in city directories include:

ñ  ancestors missing on the census

ñ  ancestors who moved back and forth from the North to the South or from a rural area to the city

ñ  ancestors occupation

ñ  head of household in a given year

If your ancestor owned a business, was a member of the clergy, or was a school administrator, be sure to check the name of the organization or business to find a listing.  Look for city directories in local libraries, historical and genealogical societies, and archives. 

Ideas for Documenting Georgia Deaths

A person's death is one of the easiest events you can document.  It is sometimes so easy that we do not look for more than one resource.  Being more thorough may lead you to discovering more about your ancestor. 

If you have accepted one record at face value, go back and identify more possibilities that may exist.  The following may be some of the rewards awaiting you:

ñ  discovering contradictions exist to information we have already gleaned

ñ  finding names of extended family members or parents of an ancestor

ñ  discovering a place of birth, location of homestead, or family cemetery 

The following resources may be useful when researching ancestors who died in Georgia:

1.      U. S. Social Security Death Index: If you find your ancestor listed in the U. S. Social Security Death Index, order the original application.  This may provide helpful clues to:

ñ  Ancestor's full name

ñ  A female ancestor's maiden name and name of husband

ñ  Age, date of birth, and birth place of an ancestor

ñ  Parents of your ancestor (full names), Ancestor's occupation

See “Using Social Security Application forms for Genealogy” to learn more. 

2.      Funeral Programs:  Many African Americans collect funeral programs.  Funeral programs are very common in the family because they were a substitute for newspaper obituaries during a time when these announcements were not included for African Americans.  Find out who has a funeral program collection in your family.

3.      Family Cemetery: Visit the family cemetery to see who may be buried alongside your ancestor. Even if you have done this once, after you have become familiar with family groups on census records, you may find out you overlooked someone the first time. After extensive census research, I was able to recognize most of the names and connections between people buried in an old church cemetery. 

4.      Find A Grave:  Study the cemeteries and memorials listed in the county where your ancestor lived in Georgia.  This is a great way to learn the names of cemeteries and those interred. Perhaps a memorial would provide clues.  Take the time to contribute your ancestor's biography to this database.  You never know who may find you and connect.

5.      Georgia Deaths: (1915-1927) and (1928-1930) These free collections at FamilySearch will link to the actual death certificate. 

6.      Georgia Deaths (1919-1998): This Ancestry database is an index. Order the death certificates from the Georgia Department of Public Health. 

7.      Funeral Homes:  Use the death certificate to identify the funeral home that took care of your ancestor.  Contact the funeral home to find more clues about your ancestor's family, insurance, and finances. 

8.      County Library Obituary Indexes:  Newspaper obituaries may reveal information about your ancestor. Obituaries from historic newspapers sometimes reveal more information than you would expect.  Contact the county library to see if your ancestor is listed in a newspaper obituary index.  For example, the Savannah Morning News Obituary Index (1913-1926 & 1987-1996) is available through Live Oak Public Library.

Free Research Assistance for Finding Georgia Ancestors

We are continuing to point out free resources that will help you in your quest to learn more about your Georgia ancestors.  FamilySearch Wiki and FamilySearch Forums were first released in 2008, and are great places to find resources and assistance.

The FamilySearch Wiki article for Georgia links to African American resources for Georgia:

There are a few resources linked here. Several are already linked on Lowcountry Africana.  Be sure to watch for new resources. The following FamilySearch Wiki article on African American Research has many more useful resources linked, and is constantly updated by members of the genealogy community:

You can also search topics on the Wiki. For example, “Georgia in the Civil War” is an article about the local history during the Civil War, military units, pension records, cemetery records, and links to access records which are available:

Now let's suppose you do not find the answer to your question on the Wiki.  I suggest you review what you know about your ancestor and post your question at FamilySearch Forums where you can receive free research assistance. Be sure to register for a FamilySearch Account if do not have one.  Then, be sure to validate that account in an email that will be sent after you register.  This will ensure that you will receive a reply by email to the questions you post at FamilySearch Forums.

You will then be able to post your research questions about your Georgia ancestors in the Southern States section.  Click “New Thread” to post your question. Be sure you are logged in. Ask only one question at a time and be sure to provide any of the details that you have such as:

ñ  Name of ancestor

ñ  Name of spouse

ñ  Place of birth

ñ  Birth date

ñ  Parent's names

ñ  Place of death

ñ  Places lived

ñ  Death date

Since 2008, every person except one that I referred to the Forums has been able to receive an answer to the research question they posted as far as I can tell. In the next article we will discuss documenting deaths in Georgia and online resources available.

Happy Hunting!

Robin

Introducing You to Georgia and the FamilySearch Wiki

You will need to be certain about the county where your ancestor lived and time period he or she lived there.  Creating a timeline of your ancestor's life will be very helpful.

As you can see, there is a list of topics on the left which link to resources, and each each county is listed.  I suggest you check the resources for the county where your ancestor lived to determine which historical documentation exists that was generated during the lifetime of your ancestor.

Let's take a look at DeKalb County:

Notice the sections: History, Parent County, Boundary Changes, and Record Loss.  Comparing your ancestor's timeline to the information in this section will help you save a lot of wasted time. Have you ever searched for an ancestor in a particular county and never found him or her?  Well perhaps there was a boundary change and the county during a certain time period did not exist yet or perhaps it became part of another county.  Your ancestors never moved, but the county name changed. 

Some reasons for not being able to find documentation could be:

ñ  Record loss

ñ  Boundary changes

ñ  Records are held in parent county

Some Wiki articles are still being developed.  Let's work together to add the information you find to the Wiki.  I invite you to become a contributor, or share your findings with me in the comments section of any Georgia article.  Be sure to check the link for the Family History Library Catalog at the bottom of each Georgia County article.  You may find resources on microfilm which are not available online yet.  Then you can contact your local FamilySearch Center to order and view the film.

 In the next article, we will discuss the topic, African Americans, in the topics section.

Lowcountry Africana Welcomes Robin Foster as Coordinator of Georgia Records

Lowcountry Africana is pleased and excited to welcome Robin Foster as Coordinator of Georgia records. In her new role at LCA, Robin will share resources and advice for tracing African American ancestors in Georgia. 

Robin is well-known for her tireless work in documenting, and helping others to find, South Carolina ancestors. She coordinates the SC Genealogy Research Community group on Facebook, is the Columbia Ethnic Community Examiner, is a Co-host of the Nurturing Our Roots broadcast on Blog Talk Radio, is the author behind the South Carolina African Americans page on the FamilySearch Wiki, and is the author of the blogs About Our Freedom and Over Troubled Water.

Robin is an expert on the free resources available on the new FamilySearch website and has contributed two webinars to the FamilySearch Learning Center. They are:

New at Georgia's Virtual Vault: Unindexed Death Certificates, 1928-1930

Luckie Takes Flight

     A blog carnival comes together when a number of bloggers write about a specific theme. The Carnival of African American Genealogy is an ongoing series of African American themed blog entries which will explore African American genealogy, history and culture. The theme of the first edition of CoAAG, which debuted Friday, March 19, was Restore My Name - Slave records and Genealogy Research.  It was a great success, 35 geneabloggers responded with heartfelt entries, and shared many new records. 

     

CoAAG 1st Edition Arrives In Town!

CoAAG 1st Edition Arrives In Town!

I am thrilled to announce the arrival of our new genealogy carnival -- the Carnival of African-American Genealogy (CoAAG) and so excited to host its 1st Edition -- Restore My Name Slave Records & Genealogy Research!

The show of support from the genea-community has been nothing short of AMAZING!

CoAAG's 1st Edition features 35 submissions from a diverse group of contributors! Represented in this historic Carnival offering are contributions from descendants of slaves, slave owners and free-men. We are Yankees and Southerners alike, seasoned GeneaBloggers and Newbies to the fold!

We're a blended community of descendants who have made the choice to heal history, rather than hide from it. I cannot say it enough how very proud of us I am.

With the arrival of CoAAG, we have made HISTORY my Friends! Never before has there been an open dialogue and exchange of slave data between descendants from both sides of slavery's history. We're breaking new ground for sure!

Thank you for supporting the Carnival of African-American Genealogy and if you missed this opportunity no worries, CoAAG will continue to roll into town every month moving forward on the 19th, so mark your calendars!

There is no better time to join the genea-discussion than NOW!

We are the change!:-)

Luckie Daniels, Host
1st Edition of the Carnival of African-American Genealogy   

The Science of A Slave Auction: The Weeping Time 1859

In my many years of researching slave ancestry, I've heard things spoken in respect to the U.S. Chattel System that literally rendered me speechless.

I've heard of slavery being referred to as the salvation of African people. I've been told that for the most part, "it" wasn't that bad. On more than one occasion, I've been asked by some [very] confused person, why black people can't just get over "it" and instructed to look at the Jewish community as an example of formerly oppressed people who have "moved on".

I have yet to be persuaded that Slavery was anything but a cruel, violent atrocity of an unimaginable evil.

If there remains ANY doubt in you, as to the truly evil nature of slavery, I invite you to take a moment to read the 1859 New York Tribune report of The Weeping Time -- the largest reported slave auction in U.S. History, when Pierce Butler (Pierce and Frances Kemble Butler, pictured foreground left) sold 436 men, women and children at Savannah's Ten Broeck Race Course.

Take your time -- read the first-hand account thoroughly. Hover over the names and stories and then imagine they represent your mother, father, siblings and family.

Indeed, it was and remains a time for weeping.

Lest we forget... The Weeping Time.

Luckie.

[Image Source: DeGraft-Hanson, Kwesi | Pierce Butler (JPG) | Southern Spaces, published 18 Feb 2010.]

GA/AL Root Diggers Meetup 2PM Feb. 28th East Point Library

I am so stoked the day for our first Georgia/Alabama Root Diggers Genealogy {GARDG} Meetup is almost here!

Tomorrow at 2PM GARDG members will meet at the East Point Library for intros and some good genea-chatting!:-)

I look forward to the GARDG group expanding {we're off to a GREAT start with 10 members!} and to rolling-up our sleeves with some good ole fashioned Georgia Root Diggin'!

So if you're in Georgia and/or Alabama {c'mon, it's just a short drive!:-} bring your SURNAMES, brick walls, research tips and questions and join us every month!

Want more good news? The February Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society {AAHGS} meeting will immediately follow tomorrow's Meetup at the same East Point Library location so feel free to join us for an afternoon of extended genealogy fun!

Looking forward to seeing you! We have roots to dig and a host of Ancestors to find!:-)

Luckie.