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You've got questions about discovering, preserving and celebrating your family history; our experts have the answers.
Fatherly Advice A.
The US began keeping track of border crossers from Canada in 1895, when almost half of immigrants to Canada went on to the United States. These entry lists are sometimes called "St. Albans lists" because they were stored in St. Albans, Vt. Look for them on microfilm through the Family History Library; you can rent it through your local Family History Center. Large public libraries may have the St. Albans lists on microfilm.
You may find your father's arrival year and birthplace in federal censuses. A search of the subscription site Ancestry.com, for example, turned up several Gust Klugs. In the 1930 census, one Gust was age 40 and unmarried in Wyandotte, Mich., a Russian who came to the US in 1913, and a World War I veteran. You can search the census using Ancestry Library Edition or HeritageQuest Online if your library subscribes to either service; or ask whether the library has microfilmed census records. Search for spelling variations, such as Gustav and Kluge. Once you have some candidates, look at family members and compare the information with other records to confirm you've found your dad.
If your father was in the United States by 1917, he may have filled out a draft registration card. Search these cards on Ancestry.com, or see www.archives.gov/genealogy/military/ww1/draft-registration for more information. Chances are your dad's service records were among those destroyed by fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. It's worth looking into, thoughÑ see www.archives.gov/research/order/vets-records.html#nprcfor information. Also check with his county courthouse to see whether he filed his discharge papers there.
Diane Haddad is editor of the Family Tree Magazine E-Mail Update newsletter.
Pose your questions to our family history experts.
Q.
Q. I think my father, Gust Klug, came through Canada to the United States, but I don't know what year. He was in World War I at Camp Custer in Michigan, and I think he was discharged from the Army there in 1919. I'd like to learn his birthplace and when he came to the United States.
—Diane Haddad
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