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Researching From Afar - Genealogy Outside Your Country
Although my main site, StockdaleAncestry.com, focuses on the Stockdill and Stockdill genealogy, blog entries here cover the entire spectrum of genealogy and family history research.I define "genealogy" or "ancestry" research as finding out the names and origins of your direct ancestors and their relations, and if possible, their birth years, where they lived, and where they are buried. Family history, to me, means what your ancestors did for a living, how they died, and other family stories that cause you to dig a little deeper. This is the most interesting, fascinating and addicting part of genealogy research for me - finding out tidbits of information about the people who came before me, learning how they lived and what life was like for them.
Just finding the vital stats often hits a brick wall, however, about the time your ancestors arrive in the U.S., particularly if their home countries don't speak the same language as you do. In the case of my Stockdill genealogy, County Wexford, Ireland, residents speak English, and Irish genealogy sites abound on the Internet. However, I've yet to find much useful information dating to before any of my ancestors' arrival in the U.S., whether on Irish Web sites or Irish genealogy sites.
As for my Polish ancestors, forget it. My paternal grandfather was born in what became Poland after World War I; his parents and my paternal grandma's parents were also born there. They were ethnic Poles in what was then part of Russia. In the case of Grandpa's parents, his father was recruited to come to America to work in the Carnegie factories in Pittsburgh. They thought that the streets here were paved in gold, that they could make a lot of money and then go back home. Instead, life was very hard here, but they couldn't ever return due to lack of money and the world war that broke out shortly after their arrival.
I don't speak Polish and can't find anyone who even knows the names of my great grandparents' parents. In future blog posts, I plan to explore strategies for researching in countries other than your own. Any advice in this arena is appreciated through blog comments.
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