I just found out that my grandfather(now deceased)left Vilnius as a young man at around the turn of the century. I will be visiting there next year and would like to look up his birthplace and maybe even where his parents are buried. Any idea how I would go about this?
Tracing my roots
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Lolo, did you try to do a google search on your grandfather's last name? Also, if you're sure he lived in Vilnius, you may try to contact the local archive.
I recommend you contact the
Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture. 6500 S. Pulaski Road Chicago,
Illinois 60629 Ph: 773-582-6500, Fax: 773-582-5133
They have a geneology department which no doubt can help you. Enjoy Vilnius!
There are some general rules about the kind of homework you might do at home that can make ancestor hunts more fruitful.
The Mormons' site (http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Home/Welcome/frameset_information.asp) is stuffed with advice.
Lolo,
Start by getting as much info as you can from family sources (memories, bibles, naturalization papers, wedding licences, etc) as you can. Clues like when he was born and his parents names will make all the difference in the world.
You may even find that he had sibblings that no one ever thought to mention.
US census records may help with things like when he was born.
The more sources for the same info, the better, since you will probably find that they don't always agree. Look for the spelling of names to change.
Keith
I went to Lithuania a few years ago and visited the places where my father and mother each came from. But I knew this in advance. When you get this info, it is easy to arrange for a Lithuanian guide to take you there after you get to Vilnius.
Correction - cross off the words "after you get to Vilnius".
I arranged for a guide beforehand over the internet.
All of my in-laws' grandparents came to the US from Holland. When they visited Holland several years ago, they went to the small town where one of the ancestors was born. They walked into the local church and found a group of ladies sewing...one spoke English...they chatted...out of that encounter, they ended up with a listing of all of the family members all the way back to the origin of their name in the 1780s! Not everyone will be so lucky, but it's a neat story.