Genealogy Forum NEWS
October, 1998
FINDING FEMALE ANCESTORS
Submitted by
Maura Petzolt
mpetzolt2@webtv.net
Female ancestors (referred to as the "umbilical" line) are often overlooked in our family genealogies, and the reasons for this are fairly evident -- in researching females we must contend with name changes, possibly many marriages or certain cultures where women retained another name during marriage. Most females did not leave many records behind as often they had little or no legal rights. Most of the classically searched genealogical records dealt with men -- purchasing land, serving in the military, going to court, paying taxes, applying for citizenship and leaving wills after their deaths.
Yet women were the backbone of the family. It was the women who passed on the culture, the customs from mother to daughter. Those women who could read and write would record their important dates in family Bibles, letters and diaries.
Females were rarely naturalized before 1922, when they were given the right to vote if they were a citizen. Before that, there was really no benefit to it for them, and the law was that when they married an American they automatically became naturalized. If their immigrant husband became naturalized, they automatically did too, as did their children under 21. No mention of them is made in these papers and there is no record of this until the Naturalization process was made standard for all states in 1906 (although some states and courts adopted the more detailed papers much earlier). After 1906, detailed information is given, including data on the wife and children, including birthplaces and ages for all.
There are instances where women were naturalized on their own before 1922, but it had to be because the woman wanted it for some reason.
The 1910 census gives important information on females, including years married, mother of how many children and how many still living, along with year of arrival. 1900 and 1920 also give good information on females.
A great source for finding details on the females in your line are court records -- wills, probate, child protection, etc. I have only started using these records, but the one will I have located provided the clue I needed to find out what happened to my great-grandmothers sister Sarah; in their fathers will Sarah was listed under her married name, and when I did a bit of searching in the 1920 Brooklyn census around where the family lived, there she was with her husband and 5 children!
Another good source for later women (after 1936) is obtaining the original SS-5 form that was completed when they applied for a Social Security number. This is great because you look them up under their married name, and in the information given you get their married name, their maiden name (surname of father listed) and their mother's maiden name!
Military records of the husband may provide details about his wife, especially if he received a pension. In my grandfathers pension records, not only did I get information on him, but as my grandmother got a widow's pension she had to provide a marriage license, and his death certificate.
Other classic sources to search include:
*Cemetery records and tombstone inscriptions
*Church records
*Ship arrival manifests
*City directories
*Voter's lists/registrations (after 1922)
*Military record and pension files of husband
*Military record and pension files for female
*Wills
*Land records
*Marriage records
*Newpapers for obituaries and marriage notices
*Divorce Records
*Court Records
*School Records
*Medical Records (the FHC has two major sources filmed, look under United States - Medical Records - Eugenics for one, and the other is Chicago Northwestern Memorial Hospital Records 1896-1933, microfilm # 1315895-905 )
And of course a wealth of information is contained in these sources created by women:
*Letters to others
*Letters from others about her
*Diaries and journals
*Family bibles and prayer books
*Family heirlooms (needlework, quilts, jewelry)
*Cookbooks (may contain notes and letters)
Information on many of these topics, such as Obtaining the SS-5 card, Obtaining Naturalization records, Searching Ship Lists are on my Helpful Hints for Successful Searching page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~irlwat/instruct.htm (2006 - Link Invalid)
A great source for further reading on this subject is "Discovering Your Female Ancestors" by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack ISBN 1-55870-472-8 . Ms. Carmack also has an article in the Sept/Oct 1998 issue of Ancestry magazine by the same title. Tracing your female ancestors can be difficult and challenging, and will require patience and creativity in searching documents. But their lives are just as important and rich in details as the male ancestors in your line, and their stories deserve to be told.
Information about author: Maura Petzolt is a volunteer at the Mobile AL FHC, and is the listowner of the SHAMROCK, Waterford and HOGAN mailing lists on Rootsweb.
Maura mpetzolt2@webtv.net
For Further Reading
Genealogy Forum NEWS. Little, Unknown Records II. GenealogyForum.com. March 1998.
Morgan, George G. Social Security # Applications.Along Those Lines... Weekly Genealogy Column. 2 July 1998.
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