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EDMONDSON birth at sea from England to the U.S.

EDMONDSON birth at sea from England to the U.S.

Posted: 24 Mar 2013 3:44PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 25 Mar 2013 2:04PM GMT
I am looking for information about my gggrandmother who was said to have been born at sea about 1823-24 enroot from England to the U.S. How would I go about searching for an arrival or birth record if I don't know the names of her parents, or what ship brought them here? Any ideas would be appreciated.

Re: EDMONDSON birth at sea from England to the U.S.

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 12:09AM GMT
Classification: Query
This is going to be harder because of the time period. The information I have should work for people who arrived from about 1880-1930, but earlier records are harder to find or simply don't exist. But here are the steps anyway, you can give it a try.

Your best bet is to start with the census. 1840 or 1850 or 1860, if they are accessible. You need to find her parents' names. If you know her surname and the names of her siblings and a city, you should be able to match up the family. Once you know her parents' info, you can try to find their naturalization records. This will have the ship name and date, then you can look up the manifest.

My husband's grandfather was also born at sea in 1899. From what I can tell, this made him a US citizen by birth and he did not have to naturalize. Your gggma would undoubtedly also be American by birth, since laws got stricter with time, not more permissive.

Also try to find your gggma's marriage certificate and death certificate. These usually have parental names and sometimes the mother's maiden name or places of birth. Obituaries can be very helpful as well. Look for your gggma and for her siblings, if you know them.

This is doable but it will require some careful research. Even more importantly, careful record keeping, Every single little fact is potentially important, even if it seems too trivial to record. Also record where you got the information. Your sources are very important and will help you sort things out later (you will have a lot of facts that contradict each other and that's okay, just note them all).

Good luck!
Cyndi

Re: EDMONDSON birth at sea from England to the U.S.

Posted: 26 Mar 2013 9:45PM GMT
Classification: Query
Thank you. This search has been incredibly difficult because my Edmondson was married in 1842 in Ohio, so her name doesn't show up on any census records until after her marriage, and she disappears after 1860 in Minnesota, before deaths were recorded at the county level there. Your reply did give me few new idea to try, so I thank you very much for your help!
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