Did your grandfather come from Lithuania? Your grandmother? Would you like to see their marriage license or their birth certificates? Here are the 8 steps that will help you find your family roots in Lithuania.
1) Join a discussion group on the Web.
A good place to start is by spending time on one of the Lithuania genealogy groups on the Internet. The Internet offers you two excellent discussion groups.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LithuanianGenealogy/
http://www.network54.com/Forum/5317/
There are many helpful people on these sites, and there are some that are true experts in Lithuania genealogy. There are few basic questions about family history that they cannot answer.
2) Browse the excellent Lithuanian genealogy website from the Lithuanian Global Genealogical Society.
http://www.lithuaniangenealogy.org/
3) Be clear about the types of records available in Lithuania.
Most records of births, marriages, and deaths originated in local churches. Copies of those records have been moved to a central location, the Lithuanian Historical Archives in Vilnius. Some churches still have their own records, but many do not. Getting material from churches can be very hit or miss. Some churches can produce more than you would have thought possible and others will have nothing, or will never respond.
4) Connect three critical facts: Who? Where? and When?
All successful genealogical records searches in Lithuania begin with three key facts. If one fact is missing, the search is very unlikely to be productive. You will need: (1) a name of a person, with a good (but not necessarily perfect) spelling in Lithuanian; (2) a village, town, parishes or city in Lithuania where the person was born, married or died; and (3) a date for the birth, marriage or death; the date need not be 100% accurate, but it must be reasonably close to the actual event.
5) Use online tools to find the correct spelling of the town or village.
One of the best online sources for village and town names is
http://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/LocTown.asp
A good map source is
http://www.maps.lt/en/
6) Consider using the Lithuanian Historical Archives.
Usually you can get good results through the National Archives, either through the Archives staff or through a private researcher. Unfortunately, there is no massive index at the Archives; the record books cover only relatively small local areas. And the searches are done in books, not on computers or microfilm. For a generation-wide search, for example, it will typically be done book-by-book, which can take a while.
The Archives is often very backed up. A three-year delay in doing a generational search is not uncommon. The results are good, however.
Here is the address for the Archives. You can write in English.
Historical State Archives of Lithuania Gerosios Vilties 10 2015 Vilnius Lithuania
Telephone: 370 (2) 65 22 54
7) For quick results, hire a private researcher.
The National Archives allows private researchers to work there, so the private researchers have access to the same materials as the Archives staff. Plus they have their own additional sources. Because private researchers can control the volume of their caseload, they typically produce their results in a just one to three months depending on the scope of the search.
There are three or four good private researchers in Lithuania. You will want to look for two important things in your private researcher: a good ability to communicate in English and promptness in replying to emails and letters.
A good source for more information about private researchers are the two discussion groups mentioned in item (1) above.
One researcher who has an excellent reputation is Vilius Vaseikis. His website is at www.LithuaniaVisits.com.
Mr. Vaseikis can be reached at vilius@LithuaniaVisits.com. His clients report that he is very honest and extremely diligent.
8) Consider the cost of a search in Lithuania.
How much will it cost to do a genealogical search in Lithuania? The cost of course varies depending on the scope of the search and the degree of difficulty of the search. If you have all of the necessary information - - name, date and place - - a single relevant document such as a birth certificate can be located, translated and reproduced for less than $100.
If you want a generational search - - for example, all of your grandfather's brothers and sisters and their spouses and children, that type of search will likely run between $500 and $800.
You can help control the cost of your search by doing a good deal of background work. This includes getting information from other living relatives and searching in your national immigration and census records.
But the most important point is that the path to a good, rewarding search for your Lithuanian relatives is now very well defined. Most people who start into these family history searches find valuable information on that most fundamental of questions, "Where did I come from?"
Good luck with your search!
Jonas Markas
Mr. Markas is an author and researcher. He has done extensive research on the use of the Internet to increase access to information about Lithuanian genealogy. He is a Lithuanian-American and lives in Vilnius and Chicago. http://www.scribd.com/doc/6921/Family-History-Tours-in-Lithuania
