Finding your roots

Genealogy is a popular hobby today and, among the Mormons, it is a foundation of their beliefs. Jeane Eddy Westin methodically lays out the framework of tracing families for the beginner in Finding your roots. She mentions that names of families were spelled many different ways when immigrants arrived in this country, so it is important to list all alternative spellings. (For instance, my family's name is Yiengst from Jünst in the original German. Cousins spell the name Yingst or Yeingst. Adding Juengst to the mix helps in getting all possibilities.) Another important piece of advice is to do all your local work first including talking to relatives. One of the best local resources is the Mormon Church and many towns have family show more resource centers open to the public and can get information from the main library in Salt Lake City for you.. The Mormons have some local records that were thought to be lost so this is an important resource. Westin gives possibilities for local research as well as foreign listings but suggests that, with language barriers in some countries, it may be best to hire a researcher.

There is also a select bibliography, sources valuable to researchers, passenger lists and points of entry to the United States. But be aware that the book was published in 1977 and many sources no longer exist or have changed name or address. However, for German immigration, she lists two of the best sources: Strassburger's Pennsylvania German pioneers and Rupp's A collection of thirty thousand names.

The chapter on family health history is most important. With genetic diseases and tendencies that run in families, Westin advocates documenting everything you can.

This book is still helpful to amateur genealogists and should be consulted, even in the age of the Internet. show less