Your Immigrant Ancestor

ProGenealogists associates have successfully traced many clients' ancestors back to their exact place of origin throughout Europe, Latin America and the former British Empire spanning 1600-1940.

Identifying where and when your immigrant ancestor came to the United States or to the American colonies is one of the most rewarding aspects of genealogical research. Most everyone is eager to find their immigrant ancestor's place of origin.  It is a daunting task to many amateur genealogists who do not have ready access to a major records archives to find their ancestor's origin. 

ProGenealogists associates conduct research at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah - the largest repository of genealogical records in the world. We also conduct research on-site in archives and repositories throughout the world. This is a great way for you to have access to expert genealogists and obtain hard to find international records. If you have exhausted U.S. research and are ready to have a genealogist work for you on-site, read about our on-site research! 

The First Step

To successfully locate the region from which your ancestor emigrated, we must fully identify your ancestor in all available United States or colonial records wherein he or she is inscribed.  It is important that we find all records that document your ancestors:

• Exact and Full Name
  It is necessary to account for ethnicity name variants (i.e.: Joseph Greene, an Italian immigrant, will likely be found in passenger lists as Giuseppe Verdi) and/or formal name changes (i.e.: many Eastern European immigrants shorted or changed their surname upon entry into the United States).

• Vital Records Dates and Family Relationships
  Birth, death and marriage records, upon availability, should be obtained as these records often identify the immigrant's parent's names or they provide sufficient specific dates and places of birth that will allow positive identification of the immigrant in International records.

• Immigration Date
  Census records, naturalization records and sometimes family histories will list a specific date of immigration and a port of entry into the United States. Naturalization records after June 1906, are extraordinarily helpful because they contain a large amount of genealogical material. The Family History Library has volumes and volumes of these very important records.

• A History of the Immigrant's Life in America
  Tracing the immigrant family in census records, court records, naturalization records, vital records, military records and county histories, etc. allows us to develop a "history" of your immigrant that will reveal his or her occupation, any relatives in the United States, naming patterns of his or her children, and a host of other important details.  You can assist us in this step by carefully reviewing any records that you may have at home.

The Next Step

After the above steps have been completed, and a place of origin has been found in the old country for you ancestor, then research would typically continue in European records.  The Family History Library holds a wealth of records for Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Sweden, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, countries of the former Soviet Union, and many more. ProGenealogists is happy to help you locate the origins of your immigrant ancestor.

The ProGenealogists group has access to several important 20th century resources such as:

• World War I Draft Registrations
• Canadian Border Crossings
• Naturalization Records 
• Passenger lists for most large United States ports 
• Various military service records and pension records
• Social Security Death Index

We also have access to many major collections of foreign passenger lists including:

• Baden, Germany, emigration index, (1866-1911)
• Bergen, Norway (1874-1924)
• Copenhagen, Denmark (1868-1911)
• Goteburg, Sweden (1869-1951)
• Hamburg, Germany (1850-1934)
• Oslo, Norway (1867-1902)
• Stockholm, Sweden (1869-1919)
• Victoria, Australia (1852-1924)

Ready to Find Out More?

We are happy to provide a brief e-mail consultation for clients who are considering placing an order research from ProGenealogists.  This consultation could include a quick review of the types of records available for your specific ancestor's era of immigration. So, if you are interested in finding out more about your immigrant ancestor, request an evaluation!

Current Country List

Austria, Baltic States, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and more to come.