The state of Oregon has been given the nickname “The Beaver State”. Have you ever heard the phrase “Busy as a Beaver”? That’s how many genealogists are when they are doing research on their ancestors – very busy! Are you looking for more information about ancestors that lived in Oregon? Here are a few Oregon genealogy resources to start with.
FamilySearch has a Wiki Page about the state of Oregon. You can find links to more FamilySearch Wiki pages for each and every county in the state. There is a box called “Oregon Topics” that is filled with links to other FamilySearch Wiki pages about specific subjects such as “Cemeteries”, “Census”, “Church Records”, and much more.
Facebook has a Community Page for FamilySearch Oregon Genealogy Research. This is a good resource for genealogists who want to connect with other genealogists who are also working on Oregon research right now. This is also a good place to find links to FamilySearch’s Oregon genealogy collections.
GeneaLinks has a search engine at the top of its website. Put the first and last name of your ancestor into it. Choose the type of record you want to search through: vital, birth, death, marriage, divorce, or “Genealogy”. GeneaLinks also has helpful information for genealogists who are new to Oregon genealogy. Did you know birth records from Oregon have a privacy restriction that lasts for 100 years after the date of birth?
Ancestry.com has a page that is filled with links to all of their Oregon genealogy collections. To access the majority of the records in those collections, you need to have an Ancestry.com membership. Once in a while, some collections are offered for free access. Return to their page often. Ancestry.com does a good job of making it clear when a collection is new, has been updated, or is currently offered for free.
Internment.net has cemetery records online. You can start by putting your ancestor’s name into the search engine at the top of their website. Or, you can start by selecting one of the counties in the state. If there is a link, it indicates that Internment.net has information about the records from cemeteries that are located within that county. Most counties have links. Five of them do not.
Cyndi’s List might very well be the most comprehensive list of genealogy links online. If it exists on the internet, then Cyndi’s List probably has a link to it. They have a page called “United States – Oregon”. Choose one of many categories to start with. Some categories include: “Birth, Marriage, Death”, “Census”, “Counties”, “Military”, “Newspapers”, and more!
Image by PhotoAtelier (Glen) on Flickr