Laura Arnold Leibman

36th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy

Seattle, Washington, USA

August 11, 2016, 1:30-2:45 pm

Sheraton Seattle Hotel, Juniper

Genealogists researching Jewish families in North America and the Caribbean prior to 1840 face a host of unique challenges, not the least of which is that early American Jews never seemed to stay put, but rather often moved from place to place. Further complicating searches are the lack of digitized resources and the popularity of certain names in the colonies. In this session we cover the most important types of documents and objects to locate, where they can be found, how to get access to those records, and how to interpret them in order to get the most information from them as possible. The session will include a hands-on examples chosen from key early American families.

Resources

• Main Feeder Communities for the Colonies

• Early Jewish American Marriage Records

  • What Are Marriage Contracts For?

  • Suriname: Nationaal Archief, The Hague (originals); P. A. Hilfman, "Some Further Notes on the History of the Jews in Surinam," PAJHS XVI (1907): 7-22.

  • Curaçao:  Congregation Mikvé Israel-Emanuel; abstracts in Emmanuel's Jews if the Netherlands Antilles, vol. 2 (1970)

  • Barbados: London Metropolitan Archives (originals by permission only); Edgar Samuels, "Marriages at the Nidhe Yisrael Synagogue, Bridgetown, Barbados" Jewish Historical Studies 45 (2013): 163-171.

  • New York: Congregation Shearith Israel (originals by permission only); Congregation Shearith Israel. New York. New York, Register of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, Vols. 1-111, 1759-1946. Microfilm AJA

  • Philadelphia: Mikveh Israel Archives (U Penn, pdf)

• Early Jewish American Death Records

  • Early Jewish American Cemeteries

  • Gravestones by Family Name

  • Gravestones by First Name

• Early Jewish American Synagogue Records

  • Suriname: Nationaal Archief, The Hague (originals)

  • Curaçao: Congregation Mikvé Israel-Emanuel (originals by permission only); some originals at the Maduro Library; excerpts in Emmanuel's Jews if the Netherlands Antilles (1970)

  • Barbados: London Metropolitan Archives (originals by permission only)

  • New York: Congregation Shearith Israel (originals by permission only); Congregation Shearith Israel Records (AJHS); Congregation Shearith Israel. New York. New York, Register of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, Vols. 1-111, 1759-1946. Microfilm AJA;

  • Philadelphia: Mikveh Israel Archives (U Penn, pdf)

• Jewish Atlantic World Database

• Stern, First American Jewish Families: 600 Genealogies, 1654-1988

• Sandra de Marchena, select Sephardic families of the Caribbean

• Print and Online Sources

Reading Sample Sources

• How to Read an Early American Gravestone

• Gravestone Worksheet

• Houses Worksheet

• Early American Handwriting

• What's in a Name Part 1; Part 2