A tale of immigration - beginnings

Last year I did research for a friend (we will call her "D") on the story of her grandmother's immigrant roots.  It was fascinating, and so much that I uncovered was never known by the family.  Recently, she gave me permission to publish it here on the blog.  

This post sets up the research.  Why I am doing it, what I did, and explanations of some of the documents I consulted.  Over the next few weeks check back to read the story of the Walz and Ings families.

D knew little of her maternal grandmother’s lineage.  Her great-grandmother, Grace Ings, was of English decent and her parents were Walter Ings and Marian Clark Pender.  Both were born in England.  Also, she knows that her great-grandfather William Walz was born in Germany.  D did not know the lineage of either family beyond this.

During our initial conversation, we agreed I would trace the lineage on her maternal grandmother’s line back three generations locating as many documents as possible within a 14-hour time frame. D understood that I might have difficulty with William Walz’s line as he was a German immigrant to the United States, and that is not my expertise. However, I should be able to trace the Ings line using English record sets.

She was not concerned at this point in filling in the collateral lines. D simply wanted to know the lineage back to Europe with confirmation of the immigrant ancestor(s) stories and if possible what I can tell her about them when they lived in Europe. We agreed that I would not investigate any siblings or their families. However, I did note information I discovered about them during my research. I gave her this information as suggested future research will be provided.

To make it easier, I created this chart of the information I collected from D before beginning my research.

Name	Information
Grace Virginia Walz (Client’s grandmother)	Birth: 11 August 1922 New Jersey, USA
William Walz	Estimated Birth Year: 1887 Germany
Grace Marian Ings	Estimated Birth Year: 1892 New York, USA
Walter Ings	Estimated Birth Year: 1859 England
Marian Clark Pender	Estimated Birth Year: 1863 England

After talking about what she wanted to learn, and a format she and her family would appreciate, we agreed I would write a narrative with biographies of discovered information. Simple vignettes were created for each family unit which included charts showing each family group as well as an overall chart for the entire lineage researched.

I had to include a section covering the topic of documents for my narrative I gave to D. While a decent researcher herself, not all of her family are. We though providing a brief explanation of what records I used made a lot of sense.

United States Federal Census Records: A census has been taken every 10 years in the United States since 1790. While a date is given on the census record, that was not necessarily the date the census was taken. Enumerators asked the family who was in the home on that date. The person giving the information was not identified until the 1940 census, which was the last census released to the public. The 1890 population schedule was destroyed by fire. For more details on the United States Census see the United States Census Bureau website.

New York State Census Records: The New York State Census was taken roughly every 10 years from 1825 – 1925. To see a full listing of which counties records are extant see the New York State Library web page concerning the state census.

England Census Records:  A census is taken every 10 years in England which began in 1801. The only year a Census was not taken was in 1941 during WWII. Unlike the US Census, the English Census was taken all on one evening. For more information on the England Census see the National Archives website.

Immigration/Naturalization Records: The papers presented in this report cover several decades of immigration and naturalization records in the United States. Unfortunately, they also show how the laws changed in very short time spans. For further information on the history of how to become a citizen of the United States see the Family Search Immigration and Naturalization website or visit the History and Genealogy section of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Passenger Lists: Lists of the passengers coming and going from various countries are wonderful resources for tracking ancestors. Whether they were frequent travellers on ships, or in the 20th century airplanes, these documents aid researchers with unique insights into the lives of family members.

Vital Records: Records created by the government documenting birth, marriage, and death are called collectively vital records. The records from each country, and each state, will look different and contain a variety of information. It is important to understand the laws for the jurisdiction the record was created in on who can access the information and when it becomes open to the public.

Church Records: There are a variety of records which can be created by the church. Baptisms, marriages, and burials are the most common, which were used in this report.

Draft Records: This report used United States WWI and WWII draft records where possible to add in descriptions and information about the men and their families. These records are wonderful resource to show residence, marital status, physical appearance, and reasons why they may not be suitable for service.

City Directories: While most people think directories only list the residence or contact information for a person, genealogists use them for much more. They can put your ancestor in a time and place when other records are not public. In many cases they can give you clues to a person’s death or their occupation. Often you can plot your ancestor’s moves across a town or across a country.

Alright, now that we have all the ground work laid lets start the story!  Part 2 covers the life of William Walz and Grace Ings. I choose to write from most recent backwards just like you would in research.  It made more sense!