Step-by-Step Oregon Research, 1880-Present

Oregon Step-by-step research 1900--present Step-by-Step Oregon Research, 1850-1903 Step-by-step research 1900--present

Step 1. Find out everything possible from living relatives and their family records.
Every good genealogy project starts with finding all the clues that can be gathered from living relatives — both from their memories and from documents or memorabilia in their homes.

What are the best questions to ask?
In order to extend research, ask for names, dates, and places. Everything about who a relative was and when and where they lived is a clue to a new record search. For ideas, see :
 * 50 Questions to Ask Relatives About Family History


 * Creating Oral Histories

What documents should be collected or copied?
Because these records cover names, dates, places, and relationships, they are a valuable source of clues. Look for them in your home, your parents' home, and ask living grandparents to check for them.



Step 2. Find your ancestors in every possible census record, 1900-1940, online.

 * A census is a count and description of the population for a given date. A census took a "snapshot" of a family on a certain day.
 * For each person living in a household (depending on the year), their name, age, birthplace, relationship to head of household, place of birth for father and mother, citizenship status, year of immigration, mother of how many children and number of children living, native language, and whether they were a veteran of the military can be listed.
 * Searching for a family in census records every ten years can identify all the children in a family.
 * Searching in earlier census records to find someone as a child can identify parents.

Using the clues to lead to census record searches.
Here are three documents you might find in a home search: a newspaper obituary, a marriage certificate, and a postcard. Notice how the clues in them let us know other records to search:

1. Frank A. Read lived in Portland, Oregon, his whole life, from 1885 on. We should be able to find him in the 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses in Oregon. Click on the blue links to see the search results. The most valuable finding is the 1900 census where we find Frank living with his parents, providing us with the next link on the pedigree.

2. The marriage certificate is for Albert Crawford and Ingeborg Sandberg, who married in 1900 in Tillamook County, Oregon. We will look for them in the 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses also. Click on the blue links to see the search results.

3. in 1910, Mrs. Mabel Binder receives a postcard from her friend Mattie at her address in Elkton, Douglas County, Oregon. Mattie asks her about the name of a new baby. We find a census record in 1910 at Elkton for Mabel, her new baby and the rest of her family. With the added information of her husband's name and several other children, we can follow the family in the 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses. We can also go back to the 1900 census and look for them. Click on the links to see how these searches turned out. Notice the new information found. Later, these clues will help us find them in more records.

Step 3: Find birth, marriage, and death certificates for ancestors and their children.
States, counties, or even towns in some states recorded births, marriages, and deaths. In addition to the child's name, birth date, and place of birth, a birth certificate may give the birthplaces of the parents, their ages, and occupations. A death certificate may give the person's birth date and place, parents' names and birthplaces, and spouse's name.

Using the census clues to lead to a birth certificate.
We have watched the family of Charles and Mabel Binder grow from a young couple living in his parents' home in 1900, through all the censuses up to 1940, where they have grandchildren living in their home. There is a possibility of locating a birth certificate for each of their children. One important outcome of that search would be the discovery of Mabel's maiden name so that we can trace her parents. In delayed birth certificates their daughter Lena was found. Sending for that full certificate would give us her mother's maiden name.

Using the census clues to lead to a death certificate
By searching for death records in the indexes of Oregon, we found these death records for the above familie. Sending for the original death record would give additional important information. 1. Charles Binder, husband of Mabel. 2. Albert Crawford, who married Ingeborg Sandberg. 3. Ingeborg Sandberg Crawford. 4. Frank A. Read. 5. Mae Read, Frank's wife. 6. Paul L. Read, Frank's brother.

Obituaries

 * Online Oregon Death Records &amp; Indexes
 * Genealogical Forum of Oregon Obituary Index
 * ObitsArchive.com - Oregon
 * ObituariesHelp.org

Cemeteries

 * Find-A-Grave.com
 * at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current at Ancestry
 * Billion Graves
 * at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
 * BillionGraves Index at Findmypast ($)
 * Oregon, Church and Cemetery Records, 1840-1965 at Ancestry
 * at FamilySearch – How to Use This Collection
 * Oregon Cemetery Records at AccessGenealogy
 * Oregon Cemetery Records at Interment
 * Oregon Gravestones Photo Project at Oregon Gravestones
 * Oregon Tombstone Transcription Project at USGenWeb Transcription Project
 * Online Oregon Obituary and Cemetery Indexes at DeathIndexes

Step 5: Search military records: World War I and World War II draft cards.




Oregon Naturalization and Citizenship Online Records

 * Oregon State Archives Naturalization Record Index
 * Oregon, Naturalization Records 1895-1999 ($)
 * U.S. Naturalization Records Indexes for Oregon, 1859-1935 - U.S. Circuit Court, Indexes to Declarations ($)
 * U.S. Naturalization Records Indexes for Oregon, 1906-1935 - U.S. Circuit Court, Petitions ($)
 * U.S. Naturalization Records Indexes for Oregon, 1859-1907 - U.S. Circuit and District Courts, Admissions to citizenship ($)
 * U.S. Naturalization Records Indexes for Oregon, 1859-1956 - U.S. District Court, Indexes to Declarations ($)
 * U.S. Naturalization Records Indexes for Oregon, 1906-1956 - U.S. District Court, Petitions ($)
 * Naturalization Records List Records held at the Oregon State Archives
 * Selected U.S. Naturalization Records - U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, 1859-1941 ($)