The document provides guidance on researching Jewish genealogy. It notes that Jewish ancestors often arrived in the US recently from Eastern Europe, so research may require international records. Names and locations can be difficult due to changing borders and languages. The Holocaust destroyed most pre-WWII records, so alternate sources must be used. Resources mentioned include JewishGen, Yad Vashem's database of Holocaust victims, and genealogists who can aid complex Jewish research.

1. Presented by Elaine Hayes & Julie Stetson
Laramie County Library System
Cheyenne, Wyoming
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2.  Record what you already know about your
family.
 Start with yourself and work backwards
 Talk to relatives to find out what they know.
 Collect vital records
 Start with the 1930 US Federal Census and work
backwards in census records.
 Keep a record of everywhere you search and
what you find. Use genealogy forms and/or a
genealogy computer program.
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3.  Begin with yourself and work
back one generation at a time.
 You are number 1.
 Your father is number 2.
 Father’s name on the upper line.
 Your mother is number 3.
 Use the woman’s maiden name.
 Men always have even numbers, wives have
odd numbers which are one more than their
husband’s number.
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5.  Write surnames in capital letters:
 William James THOMAS
 Write dates military style:
 10 Aug 2006
 Write names of places from smallest
to largest:
 Cheyenne, Laramie, Wyoming, USA
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6.  A family group includes parents, children, and
the spouse of each of those children.
 Prepare a family group sheet for each couple,
formally married or not.
 Include all children alive or deceased.
 Include adopted children, but indicate
adopted.
 Show where you found the information.
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8.  Use pedigree (or ancestry) charts, family group
sheets, research logs, etc.
 Genealogical forms are available for you to copy in the
LCLS Genealogy Room or at:
 www.cyndislist.com/supplies.htm
 www.familysearch.org/eng/home/welcome/start.asp
 www.lclsonline.org/specialcollections/gettingstarted
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9.  FREE:
 Legacy Family Tree – Standard edition www.legacyfamilytree.com
 Family Tree Legends www.familytreelegends.com
 Personal Ancestral File www.familysearch.org
 For a small cost:
 Family Tree Maker – Generations
 Legacy Family Tree – Deluxe edition
 The Master Genealogist (TMG)
 RootsMagic
 For the Mac:
 Reunion
 MacFamilyTree
 Also GEDitCom, Genealogy Pro, Heredis, iFamily
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10.  Start searching the US Federal Census with
the 1930 census and then work backwards.
 A census has been taken in the US every 10
years from 1790 to 1930.
 Census images are available on Ancestry
Library, Ancestry.com, Heritage Quest and
on other databases such as familysearch.org.
 Use Ancestry Library in the library
building, Heritage Quest can be searched
at home through lclsonline.org.
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11. 1790-1930 Census Information are
available in the library on Ancestry
Library and Heritage Quest databases.
Some can also be found at
familysearch.org.
Heritage Quest can be searched at home
with your library card # and PIN #. The
default PIN is wyld.
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19. 1900 Morris b. Mar 1864 Russia; i. 1885 m.1887
1900 Rachael b. Dec 1864 Russia; i. 1887
1910 Morris b. 1865 Russia; i. 1882
1910 Rachael b.1867 Russia; i.1882
1920 Morris b.1864 Russia; i.1884, mt. Polish; bp. Vilna
1920 Rachael b.1865 Russia; i.1886
1930 Morris b.1864 Lithuania; i. 1886
1930 Rachael b.1865; Lithuania i.1886
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22.  Can be searched at home through the Laramie
County Library website at lclsonline.org.
 You will be asked to provide your library card
number 290920... and your PIN. The default PIN
is wyld.
 Warning: not all census years are fully indexed in
Heritage Quest.
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28.  FamilySearch is the LDS (Mormon) Church’s
genealogy website.
 Search Ancestral File and the IGI, but don’t give
up if you don’t find anything in these two
databases.
 Also search their collection of scanned original
documents and their Family History Library
catalog.
 Visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City or
order microfilm from the FHL through LCLS.
 $5.50 per microfilm ordered (15 cents per page
for microfilm) for a 60 day loan period. 28

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30.  It’s an immigrant genealogy.
 Eastern European Jews did not have surnames
before 1800.
 Jewish culture and religion can influence
genealogy, especially in naming patterns.
 The Holocaust. Nearly all Jewish American
families have relatives killed in the Holocaust.
 Some resources for Jewish genealogy exist outside
of American genealogy.
 Source: Gary Mokotoff of Avotaynu.com 30

31.  Almost all of the ancestors of Jewish-
Americans arrived in the US within the
past 120 years.
 Thus it usually requires international
research.
 You may find yourself communicating
with people (and relatives) all over the
world. 31

32.  1654-1838 Colonial/Federal
 1838-1880 German Emigration
 1881-1924 Eastern European
 1924-1944 Pre-Holocaust
 1945-1960 Holocaust Survivors
 Present Russian Jews and others
 < 15,000
 250,000
 2,000,000
 100,000
 250,000
 50,000 per year
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33.  Many Jewish-Americans don’t know anything about
where their family came from except “Russia” or
“Germany” or “Austria”. Until the end of WWI these
were the 3 countries that made up most of Central
and Eastern Europe so this information is not very
helpful.
 You may be able to find the town of origin in
immigration, naturalization and passenger arrival
records. The spelling should be correct in passenger
arrival records.
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36.  Ancestry Library (use at the library)
 Ellis Island
 Castle Garden
 The Immigrant Ship Transcribers Guild
 US Citizenship and Immigration Service
 See handout for URLs.
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43.  www.ellisisland.org
 Database searches 1892-1924
 You must sign in to search (but searches are
free)
 Also try Stephen Morse’s One Step Search
website at http://stevemorse.org/
 Ellis Island database features scanned
passenger lists and photos of immigrant
vessels.
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45.  “Some people are living today who were born in
Lemberg, Austria; bar mitzvahed in Lwow,
Poland; married in L’vov, Soviet Union and
reside today L’viv, Urkraine, but who have never
left their home town. The names Lemberg,
Lwow, L’vov and L’viv have been used for the
same city in western Ukraine during the past
85 years.”
 Gary Mokotoff in Avotaynu Guide to Jewish
Genealogy, copyright 2004 45

46.  Few Jews had hereditary surnames
prior to 1800. Which is a little later
than most cultures. It is difficult to
trace patronymics (i.e. Isaac ben
Abraham) prior to 1800.
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47.  Occupations: Kramer or Kauffman (merchant),
Metzger, Rzeznik or Schechter (butcher), Schuster
(shoemaker), Schneider (tailor), Leder (leather).
 Place names (often –ski or –er); Unger (from
Hungary), Warshawski (from Warsaw).
 Physical Characteristics: Schwartz (black), Braun
(brown), Gross (big), Klein (little), Geller (yellow or in
Yiddish – redhead).
 Patronymics: Mendelsohn (son of Mendel)
 Pretty names: Rosenberg, Goldstein, Hirsch (deer).
: 47

48.  Cohanim (descendents of Aaron- high priest
caste)
 Surnames such as Cohen, Kagan, Kogan, Kahn,
Kahan, Katz, Kaplan and Rappaport are usually
Cohanim.
 Leviim (descendants of Levi-keeper of the
temple)
 Surnames such as Levi, Levin, Segal, Landau,
Horowitz and Epstein are usually Leviim.
 Israelites
 The majority of Jews are in the Israelite caste. 48

49.  Ashkenazic Jews (descended from the Jews of
medieval Central and Eastern Europe): normally name
their children after deceased relatives (often the
recently deceased).
 Sephardic Jews (descended from the Jews of medieval
Spain) often use this pattern:
 First son – father’s father
 First daughter – mother’s mother
 Second son – mother’s father
 Second daughter – father’s mother
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50.  50% of European Jews and 91% of Polish Jews were
murdered in the Holocaust.
 Most of these victims have no known gravesite and
the destruction of pre-WWII European Jewish artifacts
was nearly total. Many Jews believe that documenting
and researching each person’s fate can function as a
memorial to lost relatives.
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51.  Shoah Victims Names Database (Yad Vashem)
 www.yadvashem.org/wps/portal/IY_HON_Welcome
 International Tracing Service
 www.its-arolsen.org/en/homepage/index.html
 Yizkor Books
 www.jewishgen.org/yizkor
 Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center
 www.ushmm.org/research/collections/resourcecenter
 Footnote.com Holocaust Collection ($)
 http://go.footnote.com/holocaust/
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52.  JewishGen
 www.jewishgen.org
 Avotaynu
 www.avotaynu.com
 Jewish Genealogical Society
 www.jgsny.org
 SephardicGen
 www.sephardicgen.com
 Sephardim.com
 www.sephardim.com
 Jewish Web Index
 jewishwebindex.com
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57.  Most old Jewish cemeteries in Europe still exist.
 Headstones are often in Hebrew or Yiddish.
 Parents names are often on headstones and thus can
take you back another generation.
 Symbols on tombstones can also give you some
information. (i.e. two hands with thumbs touching in
a priestly blessing for Cohanim families).
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58.  Social Security Death Index
 Probate (Wills)
 Land records
 Synagogue records
 Newspapers (obituaries and news articles)
 Federal & local tax
 Military
 City Directories
 Local histories
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59.  Cyndislist.com www.cyndislist.com
 Library of Congress www.loc.gov
 WorldCat www.worldcat.org
 National Archives www.archives.gov
 Rootsweb www.rootsweb.ancestry.com
 USGenWeb www.usgenweb.org
 WorldGenWeb www.worldgenweb.org
 Where to write for vital records (CDC)
www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w.htm
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60.  Consider hiring a professional genealogist:
 Try the Association of Professional Genealogists at
www.apgen.org.
 Visit the Laramie County Library’s Special
Collections department on the 3rd floor and have a
volunteer help you get started:
 Mon-Thurs 10 am to 9 pm
 Fri & Sat 10am to 6 pm
 Sun 1 pm to 5 pm
 307-634-3561
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