Guide

Genealogical Resources in U.S. Federal Depository Libraries guide - 47 pages, includes active links for most titles cited ranging from the Railroad Retirement Board and Social Security Death Index to printed publications like the 'Black Americans in Defense of Our Nation', 'Decorations-- United States Army 1862-1926', and 'Register of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Courts' to government periodicals such as 'Bureau of Ships Journal' and 'U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps Bulletin.'

It is divided into chapters covering: Federal Web Sites; Military Casualty Lists and Decorations, Awards, Honors; Military Registers, Annual Reports, and Historical Lists; Registers, Directories, and Annual Reviews and Reports; Primarily Historical Works; Military Academies and Academic Units; Periodicals; and Miscellaneous.

The National Archives

Getting started contains information about holdings for Census Records, Military Records, Immigration Records (Ship Passenger Lists), Naturalization Records, Land Records, etc. and their NARA Genealogy and Genealogical Resources page. From the Genealogy page click on More Research Topics and select Passenger Lists where there are numerous links such as manifests for ships and see NARA Immigration - a list of the microfilm available for each port. And use the Archival Catalog to find items.

Other Agencies and resources

• General Land Office Records & Maps - has created a Federal Land Patents Database that allows you to search for General Land Office grants issued between 1820 and 1908. You can perform a basic search, where you can search by state and patentee name, or a standard search, where you can search by patentee name, by a particular location (described by county, section, township, range, etc.), or by date and land office. (Bureau of Land Management)

• Genealogy via USGS - document describing how to find and use USGS map and database resources valuable for the study of genealogy.

• Ellis Island website - ships' manifests, photos of many of those ships, and a great deal of additional information and Ellis Island Records

• Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System - comprehensive research tool for searching the records of the soldiers and sailors who fought - part of the War homepage and History and Culture

State info

Early California Population Project - "provides public access to all the information contained in California's historic mission registers. ... Within the baptism, marriage, and burial records of each of the California missions sits ... information on the Indians, soldiers, and settlers of Alta California from 1769 - 1850." Search records by criteria specific to each document, such as parent ethnicity, native name, and Spanish name for baptismal records. Registration (free) required to search. (Huntington Library)