Finding myself through my ancestors...

[Tenire]

Bit by bit, question by question, answer by answer... I'm starting on a quest to rediscover my family, heritage, and people. It's not easy by any means, when nobody paid attention, or felt like it was worthy of note.

Sadly, up until last year, I numbered among those. I didn't much care who my great-grandfather was, or who my mom's dad was. The lines were so unclear that I didn't want to mess with untangling the strings of connections and branches. My daughter, bless her heart, made a comment that kind of smacked me across the jaw with something that rang true in my own heart.

"I'm not REAL sure who I am, because I only know my mom's family."

I guess we're in the same boat, aren't we baby-girl?

So today, with an interview that seemed more like an interrogation, I've begun my search. My mom's people... My dad's people. Heaven knows I could use some help. JP Morgan Chase knows, I'm a little bit broke, so I'm kinda leery of genealogy websites and professional services.

Anybody knowledgeable about all this stuff got a few bones for a mutt dawg??

[HeathBar]

Start with your oldest living relative. They are the best place to start. Your local library should be able to get you access to the census records and other genalogical records. Cemeteries. Generations of families were buried in the same famliy plot before commercial cemeteries came into play. DoB's and DoD's can be helpful when trying to distinguish between two relatives with the same name. That ought to give you something to start with.

[EagleJCS]

Also, try to do one generation at a time. I.e., start with your father and all of his bothers and/or sisters. Get birthdates, marriage dates, and - heaven forbid - death dates, etc., for all of them. Then start on their parents (your grandparents) and THEIR siblings, one family at a time. Keep going on each individual until you run into a "dead end" or can't get any more from that source. Sometimes, finding a record on one person will lead to information on another.

For example, death certificates in KY often contain information on the deceased's parents, including their places of birth, plus immediate next of kin (the 'informant' - the relative signing the certificate, usually the husband or wife). They will also have the decedent's last known address.

[Matty Ross]

I have had alot of success on this site it is the FREE section of Ancestry.com


http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi

[Lyle1]

You are getting good advice here, and most certainly, DO go to your local library to see what resources they have. Many libraries have subscriptions to web products such as Ancestry.com that you can search from home once you have a library card. Write down everything that you are told, even if the information is sketchy; the odd bit of information often turns out to be a vital clue when you are trying to match up ancestors.

Don't forget to use that most basic of internet resources, Google. Searching names in quotes (i.e, "John Doe") can turn up a lot of information. I've found obituaries, business information with addresses, legal proceedings, and links to other people's genealogical research. I have also found obscure information about a number of my ancestors on Google Books, which has digital copies of a lot of family histories, regional histories, and other books I would never have thought to search. I found references to my elusive Italian ancestors in history of Germany in the 1600's and in a catalog of art affects in an Italian religious shrine. I also found a possible lead on a great-grandfather in a history of the Philadelphia police force; my ggf might have been a famous thief in the late 1800's!

The one absolute rule should be not to trust anything until you can verify it. I've found plenty of mistakes in other people's research and in published histories, and I've seen those mistakes copied by one person after another. Treat everything as a clue or a hint, until you can verify it! I also learned that that my grandmother's memories weren't always entirely accurate, though she was always in the right neighborhood.

Good luck and have fun!

[ohiopiper]

I've done the same thing for one branch of my family and am slowly working on another branch. Here's my methodology, but be warned, it takes meticulous record keeping:

1) Write out you immediate known family tree, beginning with yourself.
2) Add in your spouse and children if applicable.
3) Add parents, their other children (your siblings) and their brothers and sisters (your aunts and uncles).
4) Add the spouses and children of these people.

This makes up your close family. Decide which branch you want to follow. You have four choices: Maternal or paternal grandmother, maternal or paternal grandfather. When you make your choice, stick with it until you have exhausted all options. Scattering your efforts will yield little no ne results anywhere.

Collect or copy entries in family Bibles, diaries and other written sources. Do not take them as gospel yet, but add them to you "likely facts" pile.

Sit down with the oldest relative you can interview. Tell them up front what you are doing and why. Take writen notes and audio tape it if possible. Today, video may be a better choice.

Every town they mention that someone was born or died in is a clue. Most places in the U.S., even one-horse towns, have a library or historical society. These can be gold mines. So are churches, especially if your family was associated with a particular religion, whether overy religious or not. For example, my paternal Grandfathers' family were moonshiners. But they were also german, so they were Lutheran. Guess where I found burial records for four generations of my family? A Lutheran church.

If you are tracing U.S. history for a while, the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) can be useful. It will give birth date, death date, place of birth and place of death.

[BoldHighlander]

Also, as you go along you may find /wish to join a genealogy egroup/forum specifically for the surname your researching. Sometimes (as I have had happened) you'll connect with distant cousins & a treasure trove of info to help connect the dots.

Best of luck!

[EagleJCS]

The one absolute rule should be not to trust anything until you can verify it. I've found plenty of mistakes in other people's research and in published histories, and I've seen those mistakes copied by one person after another. Treat everything as a clue or a hint, until you can verify it!

Amen to that. I found some mistakes in a published record of my paternal line, starting with my ggf. A distant cousin had done a lot of the legwork, but made some assumptions about my ggf that I have since proven false - both with family and government records. Unfortunately, getting the false information corrected is nearly impossible now, since many, many people have copied it and/or referenced it, taking it as gospel, even with the documentation refuting the claim. I am now in the process of confirming the rest of the information previously published and getting copies of certificates as I go.

If you ever get copies of government records (certificates of birth/death/marriage, etc.), make sure you note the source and the document numbers so that if you ever publish your findings - online via Ancestry/Rootsweb, or elsewhere - you can send later researchers directly to the source. The same goes for any other documentation, really.

It's kinda like writing a paper for school - note and publish your sources!

[MacBean]

Just some reality checks. An excellent genealogist in Inverness warned me that it's rare to be able to trace ancestry back to and through the country of origin. Most Ulster records were burned in the 20's. Old Highland parish records are spotty, and may not go back as far as you want. Immigration records in the US are a fairly recent thing. Many names have changed. Scots in the Americas were pioneers, living in areas where record keeping was hit or miss.

We have struggled with every one of these obstacles, but believe we have connected through Ulster back to Inverness shire, with some of the earliest consclusions relying on something less than absolute proof.

It helped a lot that an ancestral cousin went to Utah with Brigham Young and had polygamous marriages as there have been a many descendents searching, some hiring professional genealogists and writing books.

A recommendation: as you get earlier and earlier in your search, take an increasing interest in neighbors, communities, fellow travelers. It's a nice way of enriching the story base and getting a feel of the times.

[MacBean]

What we need to find ancestors is much, much better software. Ancestry.com is helpful, but is a far cry from what we need or from what is possible. A business opportunity?