Last Update July 13 2021
Medicine Hat and District
Germans from Russia Society
Some Basic Genealogy Websites
General Sites
www.familysearch.org LDS site
www.cyndislist.com genealogical links
www.rootsweb.com free pages - collaborative collection by users
www.ancestry.com Some free pages; user-pay sites incl. US & British Censuses
http://ellisisland.org Ellis Island
http://www.genealogical.com Genealogy Warehouse (Books, etc)
http://www.higginsonbooks.com/ Higginson's Books
http://www.cyndislist.com/occupatn.htm General Ancient Occupations
http://www.immigrantships.net Passenger lists of ships on-line free
http://germans-from-russia-settlements.blogspot.com Old German settlements in Russia
USA
http://www.archives.gov/index.html National Archives (NARA)
http://www.rootsweb.com/usgenweb/ US Archives - census, wills, marriage bonds, etc
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records
www.ngsgenealogy.org National Genealogical Society
http://www.mayflower.org/ Mayflower Lineage Society
httn://www.founderspatriots.org/ American Founders & Patriots
http://www.firstfamilies.org/db/ First Families 1600's Database
http://www.newenglandancestors.org/ New England Historical & Genealogical Society
http: //www.newenglandancestors.org/
Canada
http://www.archives.ca/ 1901'Census + WW1 Canadian Forces
www.archives.ca/ 1906 Census for Western Provinces: AB, SK, MB only
http://www.acadian.org Acadian website
http://www.uelac.org/ United Empire Loyalists
http://www.islandnet.com/jveinot/cghl/organization.html
http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/gim/ Genealogical Institute of the Maritimes
http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/ NS Archives
http://archives.gnb.ca/APPS/GovRecs/vISSE/?L=EN NB: on-line search for Births, Deaths, Marriages in NB
http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/ ON Archives
http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/genealogy/gen text/index.html MB Archives
http://web2.gov.mb.ca/cca/vital/Query.php MB: Births, Deaths, Marriages
http://www.saskarchives.com/web/index.html SK Archives SK: Deaths on-line
http://search.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/ Births, Deaths, Marriages in BC
http://www.agsedm.edmonton.ab.ca/links.html
www.globalgenealogy.com
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
http://www.pro.gov.uk
www.genuki.org.uk UK Genealogical Links
http://freebmd.rootsweb.com Free listings of Civil Registration in Eng & Wales, 1837-1983 http://www.globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/index.htm
http://www.globalgenealogy.com/ghp/
http://www.theoriginalrecord.com/
http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/grhc/
http://www.ukcensusonline.com
Starting Family History Research
In genealogy/family history, we are trying to find out more about our families. Many books and websites will give you a step by step method to follow. Start with yourself and record what you know about your family. Ask help from people close to you for details and documents which can help. Find out about people or resources which can help you from friends, relatives, genealogical societies, libraries, and websites. As you work from the known to the unknown, record your findings with notes on sources.
Websites - Beginning Family History
How To Begin - Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Genealogy Centre collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy
How Do I Begin? FamilySearch - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Research Helps - Guidance familysearch.org
Books
Finding Your Family on the Internet by Michael Otterson
Genealogy for the first time by Laura Best
Genealogy Online for Dummies by Matthew L. Helm and April Leigh Helm
Handbook for Researching Family Roots with emphasis on German-Russian heritage by Diane J. Wandler and Prairie Chapter Members
The Canadian Genealogical Sourcebook by Ryan Taylor
The Everything Family Tree Book by William G. Hartley
Tracing Your Family History by Lise Hull
Finding Your Canadian Ancestors A Beginner's Guide by Sherry Irvine and Dave Obee
Genealogy Research: The Basics by Carolyn Schott
GRHS Heritage Review Vol. 38, No. 4, December 2008, pp. 31-37
Germans from Russia Research
American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (ahsgr.org)
Germans from Russia Heritage Society (grhs.org)
Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (sggee.org)
The Federation of East European Family History Societies (feefhs.org)
East European Genealogical Society (eegsociety.org)
Galizien German Descendants (galiziengermandescendants.org)
The Bukovina Society of the Americas (bukovinasociety.org)
Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland (deutscheausrussland.de)
Bessarabiendeutscher Verein e.V. (bessarabien.de)
These are just a few of the helpful societies for beginning and experienced GFR researchers. Other helpful organizations can be found by doing a search using "Germans from Russia" or the name of a region or GFR village. AHSGR has a helpful handout, available at the Branch Library, called Frequently Asked Questions. GRHS has on its website under Research Resources Frequently Asked Questions and An Elementary Tutorial on German-Russian History. The Germans from Russia Heritage Collection (library.ndsu.edu/grhc) is a rich source of valuable resources and information.
Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (sggee.org)
The Federation of East European Family History Societies (feefhs.org) East European Genealogical Society (eegsociety.org) Galizien German Descendants (galiziengermandescendants.org) The Bukovina Society of the Americas (bukovinasociety.org) Landsmannschaft der Deutschen aus Russland (deutscheausrussland.de) Bessarabiendeutscher Verein e.V. (bessarabien.de)
Searching Records
While some will gather information on both sides of their families at the same time, others will select one ancestor/family name and work their way back. This can depend on whether the Branches come from the same village/region/country. Check family history holdings of libraries, GR societies, and websites for evidence of research completed on the names you've selected.
Two essential elements of genealogical research are names of people and places. Many German-Russian names have a variety of spellings and have been changed to English equivalents. Check family documents and interview relatives to discover DIFFERENT SPELLINGS OF NAMES. Resources will have to be checked using all possible variations. Finding a GR ancestor's TOWN or VILLAGE of ORIGIN may be a challenge. An obituary or family history may just give Russia, Ukraine, Rumania, Volhynia, or Odessa as the birthplace. Finding the village of origin when you begin will definitely make your journey easier.
Resources for Finding Family Names and Villages of Origin
Bibles and Other Family Documents Family History Books and Family Websites Obituaries
Sources
LOCAL NEWSPAPERS - Check news columns submitted by small villages surrounding a city. For example, communities such as Pashley, which no longer exists, submitted news articles to the Medicine Hat News. Funeral announcements for an ancestor's immediate family or other relatives may lead to the needed village name.
These obituaries are often on a newspaper's website; some have archives with notices that may go back six years or more. To see the notice's full text, a fee may be charged.
COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS where ancestors lived for short periods - If your ancestors lived in the United States, check the newspaper of the village where they lived. Many genealogical societies have obituary indexes on their websites.
Alberta Genealogical Society - abgensoc.ca/databases.html
Germans from Russia Heritage Society - grhs.org
Obituaries - odessa3.org/collections
American Historical Society of Germans from Russia -ahsgr.org/obituaries.htm Saving Our Ancestral Records
ahsgrsoar.org
Obituary Project - The Lower Volga Villages - webbitt.com
GERMAN NEWSPAPERS - Some indexes have been made for German obituaries. Copies of the obituaries can be ordered.
Mennonite Historical Society of British Columbia - msbc.com/genealogy.html Mennnonitsche Rundschau Der Bote
Germans from Russia Heritage Society -grhs.org
Dakota Freie Presse Dakota Rindschau
American Historical Society of Germans from Russia - ahsgr.org Odessa3.org/collections
Der Staats Anzeiger
CHURCH NEWSLETTERS - Churches belonging to one regional group may have published a newsletter containing obituaries.
FUNERAL HOME WEBSITES - Some of these have included notices.
OBITUARY WEBSITES - These are websites with notices from Canadian and U.S. newspapers. Often one needs to pay a fee or take out a membership to obtain/view a desired copy. Examples are obituaries.com and newspaperarchive.com
Naturalization Applications
For immigrants that lived in the U.S., naturalization applications can contain a wealth of information about a family, its home village, and its arrival in North America. Later applications, after 1906 in North Dakota, are especially worth checking. Historical Society websites can list naturalization applicants.
The North Dakota Naturalization Records Index is at
lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndirs/databases/naturalrec.php.
For South Dakota, it's sdhistory.org/arc/naturalizationarchives/firstpaperslist.asp. After finding your ancestor in the index, copies can be ordered.
Passenger Ship Lists
Ship lists can give the last residence (village) of the passenger and/or a relative's village in the homeland. Check the document, "Germans from Russia Websites" for some helpful sites.