Frequently Asked Questions

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You are sure you have searched correctly and you still can't find what you are looking for...

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Have you tried many spelling variation? Some search engines only work if you have spelled the name as it was indexed. Be creative!

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Have you checked both Antenati and Family Search? Sometimes they are in one place and not the other.

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Are you finding the year you are looking for but not the name? Search at least 5 years on either side of the assumed year. 

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You can't find the year you are looking for and your ancestor is not in any of the surrounding years? That's probably because the record book for that year is lost or was damaged by water, insects, mold, etc or the pages are crumbling and there was no way to digitize the records without doing even more damage. 

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The records may not be digitized yet, or they may not be released to the public because of privacy laws which range from 75-125 years.

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You can also try searching in surrounding towns in case the person was married, born, or died in a town different from the rest of the family. That's a long shot - bring lots of snacks to that search session!

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There are several possible explanations for these discrepancies: 

1. For starters, most of the European birth registrations took place 0-3 days after the birth. Sometimes, people look no further than the date at the top of the page, which is the day of registration. You have to go into the middle of the for to get the actual date of birth.
2. Most of our ancestors were not literate so they did not receive a "birth certificate" or copy of the registry because they had no need for it. Over time memories get mixed up and incorrect dates are given when asked.
3. Our ancestors really didn't have any need to know about birthdays and didn't really care. They didn't celebrate them as we do today, they didn't need that info for job applications or anything other than getting a passport or getting married. In these cases the town officials would look that information up in the old registry books. My grandfather always knew when his birthday was. I suspect he was told to remember it and when I found his actual birth record, he was right!
4. Some of the numbers in old handwriting look very different. The number 5 often trips me up so I imagine it and others were mis-transcribed often.

I will add more as I think of it but you get the idea by now. All this is to say VERIFY EVERYTHING with original documents!

Here's a brief explanation...

1. In the past, spelling has been fluid.  Spelling has evolved in all languages. For example, i/y  as well as i/j and double and single consonants were interchangeable.  
2. Our ancestors were often illiterate and therefore did not know how to spell their name. 
3. The person writing the name spelled what they thought they heard the person say, through various accents and dialects, often colored by poor dental care, and spelled it phonetically as best they could. 
4. Another factor was handwriting. As records became indexed and entered into official books the new writer had to read scrawly handwriting on documents that may be faded or damaged. 
5. Once in a new country the immigrant often chose to change their name to assimilate into the new culture. 
6. Handwriting recognition software is doing some of the transcribing these days. The software is good but not flawless.  
7. Now you can see how spelling changes start to add up. 

Let's assume you are starting with Antenati, and you have followed the tutorial and various tips and keep coming up with records that only cover a particular time period and your target dates are outside that zone.

Try FAMILY SEARCH!

There's a tutorial for that on the Tutorials page.

FamilySearch is the organization that has been scanning, digitizing, and hosting millions of records from all over the world since the 1970s (maybe earlier). 

They have to get permission from each municipality to include the records on the FS website. 

FS enters into a contract, the terms of which are stipulated by the town.  

Some records are one FS, some on Antenati, and some are all on one or the other. 

Privacy laws may be in play as well. 

The scanning, digitizing, and posting are not complete anywhere (and as more and more records are created, they may never be completed!), so in those cases, you just have to be patient (difficult, I know). 

In other cases, the records are missing or so damaged that they can't even open the books.

Yes, you might be able to contact the town office directly but more on that in another post.

All in all, be thankful for what we do have available from the comfort of our own home computer. 

And enjoy the process.