I wondered if anyone could tell me if there is an American equivalent to the Scotland's People website or any sort of official American records site that can be accessed through the internet? I'm specifically looking for a death record and passenger lists.
I have been researching my family history for a couple of years now and have got on fine with most of it using SP, barring a few elusive people! However I have been totally unsuccessful in finding a particular ancestor's death record both on the SP site and freeBDM no matter how hard I have tried. I assumed he died in Scotland as that is where he was born and lived with his family but yesterday I came across an entry in the 1880 US census by chance and all the details it contains about him seem to fit. I cannot be completely sure it is who I'm looking for but it seems likely. His name was William Manderson and was born around 1824 and it looks as if he might have emigrated, with 3 of his younger sons, to Massachusetts after his wife died (so sometime between 1873 and 1880). His sons were also on the census entry and their details fit in with the details I already had about them. His older children stayed in Scotland and I have located their marriages, deaths, etc. I cannot be completely sure he settled where in Essex, Massachusetts (the location on the census), or indeed if this is even the right person, but I think it might be a good place to look.
I have tried searching the net myself but every site that looks like it might be hopeful keeps linkng back to the Ancestry.com site. I have no idea if this site is any good and if it actually contains official records or just public submissions and I don't really want to pay the $20 - $100 it's asking for before I find out. If anyone could recommend any good sites or has any feedback about the previous site I mentioned it would be much appreciated as I know there are a lot of dodgy sites out there and I don't want to end up with wrong information and/or being conned out of all my money!
Thanks,
Cat
I don't think that the William born in MA c.1882 would be my William's son as he had a son back in Dundee called William who didn't die until 1903. It's still a possibility though, although probably more likely that he is related in another way, like you suggested, if at all. It is interesting that there is no sign of them in the 1900 - poses even more of a mystery!
I looked for it when the 1871 census first came online but couldn't find it after wasting lots of credits so I assumed it had been misindexed and I gave up. I'll go and buy some credits and look for it on the SP site now.