They may talk about coming to America from a foreign country or the travels they took west. Written accounts can also come from people who wrote down the oral stories that their elders passed down to other generations. To find family histories, check with churches where your family lived. They often have large libraries with books you can check out and borrow. 

Some organizations also create digital records of those books to make it easier for families to find them when they live far away. You will often find reports and accounts that are not available in compiled records. If you’re lucky, you may find libraries that have video or taped oral accounts. This gives you the chance to hear unique stories from ancestors who passed away before you were born.