This year marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence. You might hear it called a semiquincentennial, bisesquicentennial, or simply America250. Many states are celebrating this anniversary in different ways. For many of those interested in genealogy and family history, we’re looking back at what our ancestors were doing in 1776.
How many generations do you need to go back to find your ancestors alive in 1776? The answer varies for each person. In my own family, those ancestors are 7 to 8 generations removed — my 5th and 6th great-grandparents. Since the number of ancestors doubles with each generation, we each have up to 256 sixth-great-grandparents. In my case, none were living in what is now Washington State, or anywhere else in the Americas. They were scattered throughout Europe, East Asia, the Pacific, and West Africa. The ability to research all of these ancestors depends largely on the availability of records — and as you might imagine, record-keeping practices varied widely across cultures, which can make tracing a global family history quite challenging.
If you live in Washington today or have family here going back generations, there’s a very small chance your ancestors were here in 1776. The most direct ancestral connection to this land in 1776 belongs to Washington’s Native peoples, whose communities have been here since the very beginning.
To explore the tribal territories in the land now known as Washington State, you can use map-based tools like Whose Land or Native Land Digital. Both provide information about the original peoples and stewards of this continent, including treaties, residential schools, and languages. The maps are modern but show the nations and communities who were living here in 1776.
What about Washington in 1776?
The story of what was going on in Washington in 1776 is sobering. During the 1770s, smallpox and other diseases devastated Native peoples of the Pacific Northwest as a result of European exploration and trade. Most early European exploration of the Pacific Northwest came from Russia, Spain, and England. In 1774, Juan Pérez of Spain claimed all Pacific coast land south of Russian America (modern Alaska) for New Spain (today’s Mexico). He never actually landed, but his voyage recorded trade and interactions with the Haida Nation.
Europeans had some presence in the Pacific Northwest in the 1770s but didn’t attempt to colonize until 1792 when Spanish explorer Salvador Fidalgo occupied Makah territory and built the first European settlement – Fort Núñez Gaona at Neah Bay. The settlement didn’t last long, but it left a lasting food legacy: the potato. The Spanish introduced a unique variety from South America that the Makah people named the Ozette potato.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition didn’t arrive in the region until October 10, 1805. Then, in 1845, Irish American Michael T. Simmons and African American George Bush with their families established the first U.S. settlements north of the Columbia River near Tumwater – despite discriminatory laws that attempted to exclude Black settlers from the territory.
For more about early exploration in the Pacific Northwest, try this article by the late, Junius Rochester, “Exploration in the Pacific Northwest Before the American Presence.” The article is available through HistoryLink.org, a free online encyclopedia of Washington state history; there are even more articles there on the topic of Exploration. For materials at the library, try this subject search: “Washington (State) — History.”
Our Immigration Stories
Most of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants; in some cases of the colonizers and colonized or the enslavers and the enslaved. Family histories are rarely straightforward. They can be complicated, layered, and sometimes surprising. At some point in your family history, someone decided to leave their home and come to this region. Each person’s and family’s journey to Washington State is different. For some of us, we’re the first in our family to live here. For others, it may have been a parent, grandparent, or someone even further back. For Native peoples, their ancestors have been here since the very beginning. No journey is the same, and that is the beauty of genealogy research.
Tracing ancestors back to 1776 can be tricky for several reasons: lost records, deliberate destruction of records, exclusion from official record-keeping systems, or oral traditions that weren’t passed down. That complexity is part of what makes every family’s story worth exploring.
Where do you start? Genealogists like to say, “Only a genealogist sees a step backwards as progress.” Despite the 250-year gap, you truly need to start with yourself and move backwards in time.
Start your genealogy research with what you know. Write down your own information, then your parents’, then your grandparents’. Talk to family members and collect old documents like birth certificates, photos, and letters. Be aware that not everyone has access to the same records. Some communities were excluded from official documentation, and many records were lost or deliberately destroyed. Next, use library databases to search census records, immigration papers, and newspaper archives. Each discovery leads to the next clue. You’ll face challenges – missing records, misspelled names, or conflicting information – but that’s part of the process. For those researching Native ancestry, tribal enrollment records and oral histories may be important resources. For those tracing African American ancestry, especially before the Civil War, church records, plantation documents, and Freedmen’s Bureau records can help. Asian American family researchers may encounter challenges due to immigration restrictions like the Chinese Exclusion Act, name changes at entry points, and records lost to fires or discriminatory policies. Keep organized notes, be patient, and enjoy uncovering your family’s unique story. Remember, every family’s story matters, and your research helps preserve it for future generations.
Using the Library’s Resources
So, if you want to go on the adventure of discovering the “who,” “what,” and “where” of your 1776 ancestors, where do you start? The library, of course! The library provides free access to databases and the largest genealogy collection in Washington State, located at the Central Library.
There are two Genealogy Librarians at the Central Library who are available to be your partner in research. We can offer free one-on-one help with your genealogy and family history either in person at the Central Library or virtually. You can request an appointment with a Genealogy Librarian, who will guide you to the best resources for your research.
Additionally, the library has partnered with the Seattle Genealogical Society to offer free genealogy help at the Ballard, Magnolia, and Northeast branches once each month at each location. No appointment needed – just drop in!
~posted by Mahina