Tracing your colonial ancestors involves research on the origins of your ancestors and which settlements or colonies they came from, as well as what time period in American history they arrived in the United States. The colonial era in America spans roughly from the early 1600s to the late 1700s. During this time, many families immigrated to the colonies from Europe, established settlements, and began to build their lives in a new land. Due to the lack of comprehensive record-keeping during this period, it can be a complex and time-consuming process. However, with the right resources and strategies, it is possible to uncover fascinating details about your ancestors' lives and uncover new insights into the history of early America.
European settlers in North America began to arrive shortly after the initial European exploration. St. Augustine, Florida was settled in September 1565 by a Spanish soldier named Pedro Menédez de Avilés. Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia was established in 1607. French colonists began settling Quebec in 1608. Dutch colonists began settling near what is now Albany, New York in 1615. English colonists settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1620.
The history of Colonial AmericaThe history of Colonial America
The colonization period in American history lasted from 1565 with the first Spanish settlements until the United States independence beginning in 1776 — almost two hundred years.
The original colonists came from a variety of European countries, including Spain, France, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and the British Isles.
American colonies and genealogyAmerican colonies and genealogy
Many of the people who live in America today have ancestors going back to these original colonies. For example, it is estimated that there are 35 million people worldwide who are descendants of the English Mayflower passengers and about 10 million living descendants in the United States. At the time of independence, there were an estimated 2.5 million people living in the 13 British colonies. The descendants of these early colonists are scattered across America and around the world.
How to research Colonial American ancestorsHow to research Colonial American ancestors
You may have a family tradition that your ancestors came from Europe to America. You can also take a DNA test from MyHeritage.com that will show relatives in the eastern or southern part of the United States, such as this example from MyHeritage:
Genealogical research involves finding historical documents that support a chain of parent/child relationships back into the past. For example, U.S. Federal Census records are available every ten years back to 1790, except for the census records from 1890 that were destroyed by a fire. Starting a family tree on the MyHeritage website will help you get started doing genealogical research back in time to see if any of your ancestors lived in the colonial areas during colonial times. Record Matches and Smart Matches™ provided by MyHeritage will assist you with your research.
See this article for instructions about starting your family tree on MyHeritage, “How to Start Building Your Family Tree on MyHeritage.”
Resources about the early American colonistsResources about the early American colonists
Genealogy is history, and to discover and understand your colonial ancestors, you need to know some of the surrounding history. The amount of historical and genealogical information about the American colonies can be overwhelming. A good place to start is with a basic outline of the history from a website such as “America’s Story” from the Library of Congress.
There are relevant historical record collections that can be found on the MyHeritage website, such as:
English ColoniesEnglish Colonies
Each of the thirteen original English colonies were established in royal land grants. There are extensive records about the earliest settlements all along the east coast of America. For example, The Great Migration Study Project has compiled comprehensive genealogical and biographical accounts of the twenty thousand English men, women, and children who settled in New England between 1620 and 1640. There is additional documentation about the settlements in Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia. The Virginia Colonial Records Project consists of over 14,000 survey reports produced by the Virginia Colonial Records Project. The reports describe documents held by overseas libraries and archives that relate to Virginia colonial history.
French ColoniesFrench Colonies
Beginning in 1608, France began trading in the Northwest establishing colonies along the Saint Lawrence River, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River. During the French and Indian Wars, England and Spain acquired most of New France, although Louisiana reverted back to France in 1800. Most of the territory that had been New France was acquired by the United States in 1783 during the Treaty of Paris and with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. There is an extensive list of the location of French Colonial Records from the Louisiana Colonial Documents Digitization Project.
Dutch ColoniesDutch Colonies
After some early trading expeditions, the first Dutch settlement in the Americas was founded in 1615: Fort Nassau, on Castle Island along the Hudson, near present-day Albany. The settlement served mostly as an outpost for fur trade with the native Lenape tribespeople but was later replaced by Fort Orange. Information about early Dutch settlements is being compiled by the Dutch Colonial Records Digitization Project of the New York State Archives.
Spanish ColoniesSpanish Colonies
As Spain extended its control over its colonies in America, records of the colonists were kept by the individual parish churches and then consolidated in the diocese records of the Catholic Church. Extensive digitized copies of these records have been digitized by FamilySearch.org back to the 1500s. A copy of many of the records was also sent to the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, Spain.
See alsoSee also
Explore more about American colonial recordsExplore more about American colonial records
- How Do I Create My Family Tree on MyHeritage? at MyHeritage Knowledge Base
- What Do You Need to Know to Find the Origin of an Immigrant? by James Tanner at BYU Family History Library YouTube channel
- Albion’s Seed at Wikipedia
- Colonial America (1492-1763) at America's library
- Colonial Settlement 1600s - 1763 at Library of Congress
- North America: Human Geography at National Geographic Knowledge Base
- Indentured Servitude in the Colonial U.S. at Economic History Association
- United States Colonial Records at FamilySearch Wiki