Genealogy

[Rosebud]

Just wondering if anyone here is interested in genealogy.

I've been doing quite a bit of work on my family and my fiance's family's history and have found a lot of great information. But I'd love some advice from people who've been doing this for a while on which websites/ books/ research tools are most valuable.

I've been using Ancestry.com, the Genforum message boards and the Family Search Site run by the Mormon church. I've also found some smaller sites here and there for different countries. Any other websites you really like?

I'm particularly having trouble with my Irish ancestry (which I know is a problem for many people) and my Australian ancestors. Any resources you can suggest on that front?

Curious to know if anyone else is into this stuff. I think it's a lot of fun!

[jbenny75]

I've never done any research myself, but my grandfather is really into it. He has the history of two sides of my family down to the men who came over on ships in the 1800's, the names of the ships, their movements until they settled in PA, and then the family descendants. He's also into military history and knows which family members were in the Rev. War, Civil War, etc.

I think its pretty interesting as well.

[Jen1098]

I'd love to research this. Are the websites you use expensive? How do you get started?

That's interesting it's tough finding ancestors from Ireland. Wonder why.

[Hangin'in]

My dad has traced the lineage of both his parents back to England and Scottland. He has also traced my mother's family back to their homelands. He did all of this before the computer age, so he had to physically go to places to do research. He has published the lineage of his family, but he never published my mom's side!

Good luck with your research!

[evagatesgreen2]

I'm interested in genealogy as well. A few years back one of our distant relatives did some digging and came up with a sizable book that was full of stories on most of the families. I would want to continue on in the sections she couldn't flesh out as well as she would have liked and I would like to be able to trace my father's Cherokee lineage.

[shimmerstar]

Yes I am, and luckily most of the work has been done for me. My uncle just gave me a huge envelope full of pictures and stuff, and some of it is even about our family ancestors in Scotland (we had a castle!). Unfortunately there isn't anyone around to explain those things to me. My grandma told me that someone already traced the lineage on my other side too. It's really interesting to see it put all together like that.

[Rosebud]

Jen1098- The Family Search site and GenForum are both free. Ancestry.com has some info for free, but to access census records and such you have to pay. I totally forget what the price is. I want to say somewhere between $40-$70 for several months of access.

Family Search:
http://www.familysearch.org/

Gen Forum:
http://genforum.genealogy.com/

Ancestry:
http://www.ancestry.com/

The thing about Family Search and Gen Forum is that not all the information there is correct. Some people post their family trees without backing up the info, so you still have to go and find documents that support their research on your own. However, I've gotten a lot of great leads there, though.

The reason Irish genealogy is so tough is that (a) churches that held birth records tended to burn down with regularity and (b) good records were not kept of the Irish Catholic population during the long years of British rule- particularly if they lived in rural areas.


Shimmerstar- What's the surname of your Scottish family? I also have extensive Scottish roots & the family estate/castle is still being lived in-- it's in Southern Scotland, near the English border. A lot of these families tended to be interconnected.

[shimmerstar]

Cool! It is the Methven Castle in Methven, near Perthshire. It does not belong to our family anymore- I think they could not pay the taxes somewhere down the line! For a long time it was owned by the Smythe family, but the booklet I have is from the 30's so I don't know what's happened to it since then. I know my great aunt went to see it, sometime in the 70's or 80's maybe.
I also have Cherokee, Czech, Irish, and German roots.

[isign]

My grandparents have always been really into genealogy. They go back to when my Pop-Pop's family came over from sweden and a cousin has traced back farther than that, even going back to sweden. My Gram, mom & aunt are all members of the Daughters of the Revolutionary War, and we know on my dad's side that someone signed the Mayflower Compact. I'd love to do more research on that.

[boilermaker]

My grandparents are very active Mormons who used volunteer weekly to do geneaology searches for other members (and maybe other people but their request came through the Mormon temple). My grandmother has since gotten to ill for them to continue this and they are actually at my mom's passing everything down to her. I'm excited to see the collection the next time I am home because it includes more than just names...stories, pictures, grave rubbings, etc.

Rosebud, I will be happy to ask my grandmother if she has any helpful tips for Ireland and Australia.....

[emmjay]

My maternal grandparents were both from Ireland, so we are lucky in that regard because so virtually all of my Irish relatives still live in the towns where my grandparents grew up - we can go straight to the source! :)

My paternal grandmother did her family - she is a DAR too, and she went back to the time when her ancestors came from Europe. My paternal grandfather's parents were from Wales, but I don't think there was much additional research beyond that.

My MIL is interested in genealogy, and when she was researching her family she found out that her father was a bigamist and had a whole other family in a different state! :eek: Can you imagine??? Her parents were separated (never divorced), but there was some definite overlap between the two families, and she found out she had all of these half-siblings.

[LDS Angel 19]

I am just starting to get into it. My aunt has a ton of info to give me on my dads side, but I have almost nothing on my mom's side. I wish I had more free time to do stuff like this, it feels sort of like detective work. Fun. :)

[Rancid13]

I'm somewhat interested in genealogy, but it just gets so confusing. One of my great grandfathers was adopted, and my grandmother (his daughter in law) died a few years ago, and there are some gaps and snags in our family tree as far as who's from where and such. I'm more interested in knowing where everyone was from as opposed to who they were, as in my 'roots' I guess.

This morning I was reading this week's Time magazine (July 11) and there's an article in there on DNA testing for ancestral history. I'd really like to check that out in the near future.

Here are the websites they give out in the article to order tests from:

www.africanancestry.com
www.dnaprint.com
www.familytreedna.com
www.genographic.com
www.relativegenetics.com

Pricing for the tests according to the article are from $95-399, and specialized tests that offer detailed information on African, Jewish, European, or Native American origins tend to be the most expensive.

Here are some free database websites they list:

www.smgf.org
www.ysearch.org
www.ybase.org

:)

[Rosebud]

Just thought I'd bump this back up and see if any of the newer CC members are into genealogy.

My current projects:
- Corresponding with historians in Tasmania to try to find some info on my g-g-grandmother.
- Going to Amsterdam in 3 weeks (part of our honeymoon travels) and planning to visit a church there where some of my family members were married. Looking for records & more info about them.

[lawyerlee]

Best of luck with your trip and communications with historians in Tasmania, Rosebud03! How wonderful! :D

My mom has recently started this as a hobby, and she's really enjoying it. A great deal of work had already been done on my dad's side of the family, so it really isn't as challenging, but there is plenty for her to work on as to her side right now. On my dad's side, both of my grandparent's lines are traced back to before the Revolutionary War. My surname is Lee, and it has been established by two sources that Robert E. Lee is our ancestor. So that's kinda neat. As well as the eligiblilty for Daughters of the American Revolution that others have mentioned. I would be eligible through either grandparent, as I understand it.

Another cool thing about my family is that we have had a family farm on the same location in Kansas for the past five generations (counting through my dad and his siblings). Our relatives came West to Kansas in a covered wagon, and we have a sugar bucket in my parents' living room that made the trip!

[KarenS]

Another cool thing about my family is that we have had a family farm on the same location in Kansas for the past five generations (counting through my dad and his siblings). Our relatives came West to Kansas in a covered wagon, and we have a sugar bucket in my parents' living room that made the trip!The historian in me is just drooling over this. I wouldn't change my travelling childhood or my family of "vagabonds" and wanderers for anything, but every once in a while I miss not having that kind of depth of family roots in one place. I do have things of my great grandmother's, which is cool. But the idea of having a piece of land or a house that's been in the family for generations is just ... wow.

My uncle's traced my mom's side of the family back to the 1500's in Ireland. Since Irish records are spotty, we don't have anything much before that. Since my mom was 100% Irish, that's a dead end.

My father and his brother traced their side of the family back even farther to Germany and England and we have a copy of all that info.

I've just started to work on DH's side of the family. I did some in depth interviews with relatives right after we were married and then thru the 'net hooked up with a distant cousin who had managed to research the family back to the 1600's and his Dutch ancestry. There are still some spotty links between DH's family and the cousins ... but the framework is there, I just have to put it together.

It's really fascinating and I've been lucky because I've managed to find trees where someone else has done all the work and gotten all the documentation and I've only had to link our chain to theirs.

I've also relied on ancestry.com and the genforum boards. There's also rootsweb.com and genealogy.org if you want to check out some other resources.

Karen

[tinkerbelljenny]

My Dh is really into it. He has traced his family back to the 1800's. He has a huge photo book and files on his computer. I was quite impressed. We have done a little on my moms side but they moved so much that it is tough to go way back. We did find out that my great great grandmother was in the Kickapoo tribe so that was a wonderful surprise. And on my father's side it is really hard because my grandparents came over from Poland on a ship and they made them changed their last name when they arrived here. The city that they lived in Poland no longer exists so it has been tough but I would love to be able to get more info. I got some of my info from Ellis Island immigration records.

[Brandles]

I am. DH and I got into it a few years back. I LOVE researching obituaries at the genealogy rooms. I think we've gone back as far as we can on my mother's side and my father's side without going to Wales to do more research.

[BonBon06-11-05]

I'm into researching my family history, as well. I've traced my dad's side back to my grandfather's grandfather that came here from Germany with his twin brother. I can't seem to get past that though. It's frustrating! My mom's maiden name is VERY common, so that makes things hard, too.

[Anna Low]

One of my father's cousins traced their lineage back to almost the Revolutionary War. My father always wanted me to join the DAR and thought for certain the link could be found on his side. But, it turned out that I joined based on my mother's side.

[Annette]

Anyone know of any sites that are specific to Italy? I'm only second gen American, so most of the sites, like ancestry.com don't really have much info for other countries.

[BonBon06-11-05]

You know--this may sound totally wierd, but what I find amazing is the genetics passed down throughout the years. For example, my sister can fold her tongue into a cloverleaf (and from what I learned in school, this is a pretty rare genetic ability). NO ONE in my immediate or extended family can do this--so where did it come from? It's interesting to wonder things like that. My other sister has "attached" earlobes...everyone else in my family has "free" earlobes. We don't know where that came from either. I'm fascinated by very strange things. :)

[Asha]

i can't really trace my geneology bc my mother is adopted and relations with my father's family are strained to say the least, but i have always wondered where my ancestors came from. thank you, rancid, for posting those websites bc i could find out about my ancestors origins with just a test. that's wonderful!!!

[Rosebud]

My mom's maiden name is VERY common, so that makes things hard, too.

I'm having this problem as well. My mother's maiden name is Smith. Can I just tell you how many Samuel Smiths there were in the Boston area in the 1700s? It's impossible to know which are connected to us and which aren't. Very frustrating. Also, those early census records often only listed the name of the head of the household and no one else, so it becomes very difficult to figure out spouse and child names, which is so important.

It's all frustrating and slow going... but I love the problem solving aspect of it. You're always hitting brick walls and you have to figure out how to work around them.

I had a great success story a couple months ago, though. I found a bunch of cousins (descended from the siblings of my great-great-grandfather) in PA. Our family comes from this ridiculously tiny fishing village in western Ireland- we didn't think anyone was really left of that bunch... and neither did they. It was cause for much celebration on both ends when we discovered the connection. That makes all the searching worthwhile! :)

[LyLMyssChaos]

Oh my, where to start with this??? LOL My DH's deceased uncle was a world authority on geneology and he actually got legionaires disease while in Ireland speaking at a conference on it, but anyway, he has traced DH's family history back to the 1400's, so we are focusing alot on my family, which is really hard because my Dad's side, let's just say we get as far back as The Russian Royal family and the Bolshevik revolution and it becomes very tough to find any concrete paperwork. But, we are working on it. Our church is very big on geneology and perhaps you should stop by The CC Relief Society (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=7051) thread and see if any of them have any advice to give on the topic of family research. I know that my BIL has kind of taken the torch for their family, so I'll ask him for any tips on researching in Ireland as that is where a lot of DH's family is from, so I know he's familiar with it! :)

[Aletheia]

I'm impressed by how many of you are actively researching your families. It sounds so interesting!

Does anyone have any recommendations for a VERY easy "how to get started" website/book/poster? My aging grandfather is still mourning the death of my grandmother 18 months ago... I feel like this is something that might bring him some purpose and focus, without taking his mind off her and their families too drastically.

But as he is sort of an energy slump right now, something easy and not too intmidating would be really important so he wouldn't feel overwhelmed.

Just wondering... seems like a good idea to me.

[Rosebud]

Alethia-

One thing I'd suggest, if your grandfather is up for it, is that he write a "mini-biography." Just a paper detailing memorable moments in his life, favorite memories with your grandmother, information he'd want his future descendants to know about him and how he lived. My grandmother did this after my grandfather passed and she really enjoyed being able to preserve those memories for posterity. And for us it's a priceless account of their lives. Just depends on whether he is emotionally able to do that.

I've been encouraging all my family members to do this after my fiance found one written by his great-great-grandmother in the 1800s (tucked away in an attic). It is AMAZING to read intimate details about the life of someone who would otherwise be just a name on paper to us.

There are a bunch of books on Amazon.com about how to get started in genealogy. I don't know how web-savvy your grandfather is, so you might want to browse through the titles and see if there's one that seems appropriate for him. There's one by the National Genealogy Society that sounds pretty good:

Genealogy 101: How to Trace Your Family's History and Heritage (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1401600190/qid=1127754672/sr=8-11/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i11_xgl14/102-2546564-5375317?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

[emmjay]

My grandmother who will be 92 in December wrote part of her "biography" - it's so interesting! Not just about her family and growing up, but things like "The milkman made deliveries on Tuesdays and Fridays" and other general information that gives a good picture of what life was like growing up in the 20s.

Also, her sister loved to travel and she wrote these great recaps of her travels in Europe during the 50s and 60s with my great-grandmother. They were so much fun to read, especially since I have been to many of the same places and was able to see how they compare after 50 years.

I think reading personal memoirs like that really does give a more intimate window into family history, as Rosebud03 said. Maybe you can suggest it to your grandfather and see how he responds? I know my grandmother loves it when we want her to share her life experiences with us.

[Sunshine]

subscribing

[Rosebud]

Just bumping this up for anyone else who's interested in genealogy.

Has anyone ever created or printed a large family tree to display? I'm currently working on one and am looking around for format ideas.

ETA: Here are some examples that I found and liked. Please post more if you find anything cool!

http://images.snapfish.com/345%3C%3B9688%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D323%3A%3E65%3A%3E567% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233533%3A%3B%3A445nu0mrj
http://images.snapfish.com/345%3C%3B9688%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D323%3A%3E65%3A%3E567% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233533%3A%3B%3A446nu0mrj
http://images.snapfish.com/345%3C%3B9688%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D323%3A%3E65%3A%3E567% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233533%3A%3B%3A447nu0mrj
http://images.snapfish.com/345%3C%3B96%3A%3A%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D323%3A%3E65%3A%3E 567%3EWSNRCG%3D3233533%3A%3B5595nu0mrj

[Rosebud]

For those of you with Dutch ancestry, I've found a few good websites that are helpful in searching:

http://genea.pedete.net/broek/index.htm
http://www.genlias.nl
http://home.wxs.nl
http://www.godutch.com
http://www.dutchgenealogy.com


Some websites for Italian ancestry:

http://www.daddezio.com/
http://italiangenealogy.atspace.com/
http://www.italiamia.com/gene.html


Per our discussion about "African American Lives" over in the TV thread, here's a good site for African-American genealogy:

http://www.afrigeneas.com


And here is one of the services that is doing DNA tests to trace African roots:

http://dnatribes.com/african_roots.html

[BlackMagicRose]

I would really love to do this. I have no information about my family beyond my grandparents. Where do I start?? Can anyone help me out with some searches?? I am looking for information on the surname Beltz. If you need more info, let me know. I have no idea where to begin.

[Rosebud]

Black Magic Rose- There's a forum for the Beltz family on genforum.com. Here's the link: Beltz Family (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=2145&goto=newpost). I would read through the posts and see if you can find some general information about where the Beltz origins are. You can also do a search and see if your grandparents' names or their hometown comes up.

Also, go to FamilySearch.org and enter their names into the free seach engine. They should have social security records, birth, marriage and death records.

You should do the same at Ancestry.com.

Probably the most important thing to do at this stage is try to talk to everyone in your family and write down any information they can give you about the family. Do they know what country the family originated in? What cities they lived in for most of that time? Does anyone know the names of your great-grandparents? Any information about where family members are buried? Any old family stories they can give you? You'll be surprised at what people suddenly remember, and all of this is helpful in hunting for clues about your lineage.

Let me know how it goes! :)

[Txfish]

My mom has done some research into both her family & my dad's -- I've never seen any of the "proof" but she says she's traced his side back to the Mayflower and further back into England, and that she's found records relating her back to a father & son who platted the city of New York. This is very cool stuff...

I would love to get some of the documentation down for myself and do more research. So fascinating!

[BlackMagicRose]

Thanks for the advice! I am going to look around more. I will also be visiting my family in Pennsylvania in a few weeks. I will ask some questions then. I will let you know what I find out!

[Adaya]

Glad this was bumped up after watching African American Lives on PBS a little while ago.

[constance]

Adaya: Speaking of African American Lives, Ancestry.com is offering free access to records of African American communities for the month of Feb(Blk history month)--slave schedules, Freedmen's Bank records, & the US Census from 1910, 1920, & 1930 etc. It's available at: http://www.ancestry.com/aahistory. :)

[Adaya]

Adaya: Speaking of African American Lives, Ancestry.com is offering free access to records of African American communities for the month of Feb(Blk history month)--slave schedules, Freedmen's Bank records, & the US Census from 1910, 1920, & 1930 etc. It's available at: http://www.ancestry.com/aahistory. :)

constance, that's fab info!! Thanks so much.....

[Rosebud]

Had a random genealogy encounter the other day. Just thought I'd share, since it's pretty cool.

I got an email from a woman in Washington state. Her husband's parents lived next door to a couple by the name of Partridge in WA many years ago. The couple died leaving no family and so these neighbors ended up cleaning up their house and dealing with the estate. The woman who wrote me had helped with cleaning the house. In this couple's belongings they found a photo of a Civil War soldier in a wooden frame enscribed with the name "Wallace Partridge." The woman was so taken with the young man in the photo that she kept the picture and set out to find who he was so that she might pass the photo on to a relative.

Eleven years pass.

So, on Sunday I get an email from this woman in WA. She says that she saw a post I'd written on GenForum about a Partridge ancestor and believes that I may be connected to Wallace, the Civil War soldier whose photo she's been hanging onto all these years. I check my records and sure enough... Wallace is the brother of my great-great grandmother Ellen Partridge. So, now this photo and eleven years of genealogical research are being mailed to me! How freaking crazy and cool is that?!

Genealogy is a random but wonderful thing. :p

[KaliLily]

Lately I have become very interested in learning my ancestry - particularly on my father's side. My Grandmother passed away when my Dad was only 16, so I never knew her and know very little about her side of the family. How little? Well, her father's name was George. And that's all I know. :(

I can probably get a little more info from my Dad, but I'm not sure how much. I have always tried not asking him too much about his mom because I know her death still saddens him. (Though I've known all my life that she was an excellent gift wrapper. ;))

I'd really like to get started on this. Does anyone here track their ancestry? Is there a website you've found to be better than it's competitors? Any guidance is much appreciated!!

[working_mom]

I have an aunt one one side and an uncle on the other who are big into tracking family history but neither are very savvy on the computer. I think they started in town registers for birth/deaths...

[Rosebud]

bump for KaliLily

Oh, and just for fun, here's the photo of Wallace Partridge that I was talking about in my last post. The woman sent me the original photograph, in a very, very old frame, along with a bunch of research and documention. I love it when things just drop into your lap!

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h101/elaceyfield/WallacePartridge2.jpg

[Rosebud]

Hey-- there's another thread (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2145) on here that I started about genealogy. Bumped it up for you. I'm really into this stuff and have been researching for several years with great results. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions! :)

[tlew12778]

I'm interested in genealogy as well. A few years back one of our distant relatives did some digging and came up with a sizable book that was full of stories on most of the families. I would want to continue on in the sections she couldn't flesh out as well as she would have liked and I would like to be able to trace my father's Cherokee lineage. For American Indian heritage you should try your tribal council. When my grandmother died we discovered we have American Indian ancestors from a tribe in Washington state. My mom contacted the tribal council, they did an initial search and told her they could confirm the ancestry but that if she wanted details, she'd have to come out and take a look herself bc it's all in text form.


Anyone know of any sites that are specific to Italy? I'm only second gen American, so most of the sites, like ancestry.com don't really have much info for other countries. Do you have any nobile blood in you? This (http://www.sardimpex.com/)is a really good site for Italian nobility. It's updated to last year.

[BonBon06-11-05]

I've really been going to town on my ancestry stuff.....I've gotten really far in the last few months. Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com) has recently updated their website, and you can create your family tree for free! You can even upload pictures and documents for each member on your tree. However, if you want to attach their records to your tree, you have to pay for service.

[Rosebud]

Here's an interesting article from the NY Times about a genealogist who traced the woman who was the first immigrant to arrive on Ellis Island. (You may need to register to view the story).

Article (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/nyregion/14annie.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1158206400&en=fad75912bb52fe9a&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin)

[Katy]

Bump

[Alegna]

I've got about 9200 people currently on my family tree.

Now not all of that information is verified. A lot was taken from other peoples trees online.

I think it's fun to make the link between people or find information you never knew.

I had trouble with my great grandfather. He was born in 1881. So he wasn't liest on the 1880 census. The 1890 census was lost in a fire. And by 1900 he had moved out of his parents house. I had no way of knowing who his parents were! I was able to get his social security card application and his parents were listed. Turns out he was the oldest of 7 and with this information I was able to tie my family to some other research that had already been done. I think it goes back to the 1470's.

I still can't find any information on the death of my great grandmother. She's listed on the 1930 census and was dead by 1974. But I have no idea when she died. I can't ask the library to search 40 years worth of obituaries.

http://findagrave.com is a neat site. Their forums are very helpfull. I've been able to elminate a few cemetaries my g grandmother might have been buried in because forum members have checked for me.

I've also used the site to get gravestone information from California. I've taken pictures of all the local graves and will post them along with their GPS cordinates when I get a chance. That way if cemetaries change names or roads get moved they should still be able to find the grave.

I have had good luck with family members. People keep all sorts of information about recent relatives. Obituaries are a great source for information. Also, most local libraries will do research for a small fee. I believe it was $6 to get a copy of my g grandfathers obit mailed to me.

This can be a very expensive hobby. The federal government wants ~$30 for any military or SSN records. Local governments want around $15 for each copy of a marriage or death certificate. Traveling around to research adds up. And subscriptions to the ancestory websites can get pricey. (HINT: most libraries have a subscription you can use for free. You've just got to spend time there researching instead of the comforts of home) (HINT 2: Check out your local LDS church. Most of them have a ancestory research center. I was able to use thier computers and subscriptions for free as well)

I've got my friends addicted to genealogy now too. We actually spilt the cost of the subscription to ancestry.com and when we get stuck on one of our relatives we'll do some searching for the other persons. Some times all it takes is a fresh set of eyes and you'll be past the road block quickly!

[BrownEyedGirl]

I would love to get into genealogy, I don't really know where to start. Asking living relatives isn't going to help, they are pretty clueless. And I can't go to the local library cause I don't live in the area...well, I suppose I could go the the local library, but I don't think the MN libraries would have much info on IN ancestry :)

Any help is appreciated.

[Rosebud]

I would love to get into genealogy, I don't really know where to start. Asking living relatives isn't going to help, they are pretty clueless. And I can't go to the local library cause I don't live in the area...well, I suppose I could go the the local library, but I don't think the MN libraries would have much info on IN ancestry :)

Any help is appreciated.

Do you know your grandparents'/great-grandparents' full names? Where they were born? If not, start by asking your parents for these basics. Ask for names of your grandparents'/great-grandparents' siblings as well.

From there, check out Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. They provide basic genealogy searches that will probably bring up your grandparents'/great-grandparents' names in a census search. Hopefully this will provide the names of their parents.

What you want to do is start with what you know, even if it's not much, and work backwards. Genealogy is also all about details, so try to gather as much information about people as possible. What city they lived in, what their occupation was, etc.

I have an Ancestry membership, so if you want me to do a detailed search on a name for you, PM me and I'll be happy to see what I can find. :)

[Alegna]

Actually you might be able to get a lot of information from your local library. A lot of times they have a subscription to the ancestry websites. And the librarians may be familiar with the search engines.

Talk to your living relatives. Get as much information as you can. Full names, any dates, where people are burried.

I've found I get the most information from obituaries. A lot of newspapers have online archives. You can get the obituaries for a small fee.

Also check the message boards on the ancestry websites. You might find someone in IN that is willing to do some research for you. Or even find another person who is looking for the same family information.

Good luck. Let us know if you get stuck.

[Rosebud]

Just wanted to let everyone know that Ancestry.com is offering free access to their US Immigration records through December 31. Normally, you would pay a fee to access these records.

Immigration records are extremely helpful in learning more about your family's origins. I checked the Ancestry listings for family members that I thought I knew everything about... only to discover all sorts of new and interesting things listed on their immigration paperwork, like occupations, ethnicities and relatives in the homeland. My Australian great-grandmother listed herself as Irish, for example. So, that sort of opens up a new mystery.

Definitely check out the database while it's free! Ancestry.com US Immigration Database (http://landing.ancestry.com/immigration/main/default.aspx)

[Rosebud]

Just dropping off a site that's helpful if you have ancestors from Northern Ireland:

EmeraldAncestors.com (http://www.emeraldancestors.com/)

[Rosebud]

Saw this on MSN and thought it was interesting:


Five "Dos" and "Don'ts" of Genealogy

All of us want to learn more about our roots. But none of us want to waste time and energy doing it. So how can you discover and preserve the facts on your family history without getting lost along the way? Here are five simple tips that will help you avoid common research mistakes:

Mistake No. 1
Not documenting your research.

If you don’t keep track of where you’ve been, you’re likely to keep searching the same records over and over again. Needless to say, this wastes a lot of time.

Solution:
Keep a research log.

You can either download a free research form from Ancestry.com or create your own. As you explore each new resource, be sure to write down the name of the database as well as any page numbers. Also, keep track of the different search terms and word combinations that you’ve been using.

Mistake No. 2
Using only one spelling.

If you’ve been sticking with a single name spelling when searching for an ancestor, you’ve probably missed out on a lot of good stuff. Always remember that an ancestor could have used one of several names during his or her lifetime.

Solution:
Use different spellings and name combinations.


Try several variations of your ancestors’ names incorporating middle names, nicknames, and married names. You can also try changing the spelling slightly (e.g. “Andersen” instead of “Anderson”). As with any genealogical search, broadening your search criteria will return maximum results.

Mistake No. 3
Accepting fiction as fact.

Never take anything at face value. Finding your ancestor’s name does not guarantee that you’ve found the right ancestor. Remember that nothing is truly fact until you can back it up using more than one resource.

Solution:
Use multiple records and resources.

To verify your findings, check multiple source documents. If you have a birth record, for example, you can cross-reference it with a census document. If the name, age, and birthplace match up, then you’ve probably found the right ancestor.

Mistake No. 4
Extracting only part of the record.

You can miss a lot of important detail by not paying attention to context. Who created this record? When was it created? Who else is listed on the document?

Solution:
Look at the bigger picture.

Rather than recording fragments, photocopy the entire page whether it’s a birth certificate, parish record, or census document.

Mistake No. 5
Going straight to a country of origin.

Many Americans are anxious to establish cultural identity, be it Austrian, Italian, or some other nationality. But searching for an ancestor in the Old World is almost impossible without a strong base of preliminary research.

Solution:
Follow the trail and move backward.

Rather than jumping into foreign research, it’s better to begin with recent information like a last-known residence or a death record. Establishing a thorough paper trail will help you narrow your research before moving on to an entirely new country.

[ruledbymercury]

After my grandfather's passing last week, I've decided to deal with my grief by getting back into genealogy with my cousin Kerry. I had a ton of info a few years ago, but lost it all due to a computer crash. So now I'm starting over again, but doing it on the web this time (and keeping a backup copy on disk, which is what I SHOULD have done the first time around!).

Luckily, a lot of my cousin's previous research is published on the web and has been for years, so that was a good starting place. Her research goes back fifteen generations in one branch of our family! I'm in the process of compiling her reseach with the small amount of info I have from my other branches and then going from there.

My entire family is originally from the Boston area, with ancestry going back to Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Italy. :D

[Rosebud]

Heather~ Good luck with your search! If you're looking for a good genealogy program, I highly recommend Family Tree Maker. It's easy to upload those files to the internet and work with them on your computer. Just make sure to back everything up. How nice that there's already been so much work done for you on your ancestry!

[ruledbymercury]

Thanks, Rosebud! I have used FTM in the past and I liked it a lot. Unfortunately, I've moved three times since then and can't find the original software, so I'm using Ancestry.com.

My dad just signed up so he can help my cousin and I. He has some very old pics. Some of my favorites from my dad's collection are of my grandparents and my great aunt and uncle from right around 1939-1940, when then were teens and both couples were just dating...one night they were bored, so they decided to take all sorts of silly pictures of themselves. The results are priceless! Especially since my grandmother has grown into a very formal/serious woman. It's fun to see pics of her acting silly.

[Rosebud]

Just got an email from Ancestry.com that they've made a new set of records available on their website:


RECENTLY ADDED COLLECTIONS:

Canada Border Crossings (http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=List&dbid=1075&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0)

With nearly 6 million names, the Canada Border Crossings Collection represents a significant addition to Ancestry.com and provides excellent detail on ancestors that immigrated to the U.S. between 1895 and 1956. Since the information was collected on forms identical to those used on ships, it’s not uncommon to see things like “Land Bridge” or the name of a border town appear after “Ship Name.” Regardless of these minor discrepancies, all provide great clues for your research including birth dates and places, family members, previous residence information and more.

My membership doesn't allow me access to these records, unfortunately. But Ancestry usually has a "free day" every now and then where you can look at files without upgrading your account.... so I'll probably check this out then.

[Rosebud]

This is a really great opportunity to do a search for FREE. Most of us have had ancestors in some war in this country. You can look up their records for free until June 6. Here is the link (http://landing.ancestry.com/military/collections.aspx?o_iid=24018&o_lid=24018&o_it=31210) to the search page.


Ancestry.com Launches Largest U.S. Military Records Collection Available Online — Free Until June 6th (http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1436)


Ancestry.com is announcing it has launched the largest collection of U.S. military records available and searchable online, featuring more than 90 million names that span more than four centuries of American history from the 1600s through Vietnam.

This U.S. Military Collection includes exclusive record sets such as the only complete collection of WWI draft registration cards and commemorative military yearbooks and newspapers. Combined, the records bring to life the stories and sacrifices of the millions of brave men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Ancestry.com’s U.S. Military Collection captures all major wars and conflicts from American history, including the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts as well as the Spanish-American War and the War of 1812.

[diam124]

To add on to what Rosebud posted, I could not remember my user name and password (I had a free account), so when I went to look at the free Military records I had to register as a new user (with a different email address). Then I got a free 3 day trial of the paid subscription. It's pretty amazing to see what's on there for free.

[kam]

Too bad the military db isn't very robust. For whatever reason, I couldn't find either grandfather, uncles, etc. for any of the wars (WWII, Vietnam) they participated in (even spelled their last names incorrectly and nothing) but did find my great-great-grandfather in his Spanish American War service. Odd.

On another note, I just hope my cousins never find the ancestry.com website. Their mother never told them of her previous marriage and demanded we don't tell them about it. I found both of her marriages really easily ;)

[tenofcups]

On another note, I just hope my cousins never find the ancestry.com website. Their mother never told them of her previous marriage and demanded we don't tell them about it. I found both of her marriages really easily ;)

Yeah, it's going to be harder and harder to keep a family secret ;) . I also couldn't find my grandfathers, but I know, after having done a fair bit of research on several family members now, that spelling of names can be crazy different than what you expect. If you have enough time, sometimes you can find the right person under a name that was transcribed in ways that it would be hard to imagine.

I'm a member, but I forwarded this info to my dad too, because I think he'll be especially interested in seeing some of the newsreels that they have up now.

[Rosebud]

The databases do seem a little difficult to search. I had to scroll through 5 pages before I found my great-grandfather's WWI registration card. His surname is spelled correctly on the card (Rutherfurd), but incorrectly in the Ancestry database (Rutherford). It was really cool to see his signature and home address and all of that, though!

re: family secrets... I recently hired a genealogist in Australia to help me research some family there that I was having no luck with. He dug into old police archives from the late 1800s that I couldn't access. Turns out that there was a major scandal in that family's past. No one living knew about it. It was one of those cases where sometimes you turn up more than you really wanted to know. But then again, it explains a lot. It's definitely harder to keep things a secret in this day and age.

[diam124]

I also could not find any military information on either of my grandfathers who served in WWII (other than their gravesites were marked as veterans). I did however find my great-grandfather's draft card from WWI. Which was interesting since I didn't know that he even participated. I also found out he was a railroad conductor, which I never knew.

[artist]

I am excited to have found this thread!


My grandparents are very active Mormons who used volunteer weekly to do geneaology searches for other members (and maybe other people but their request came through the Mormon temple). My grandmother has since gotten to ill for them to continue this and they are actually at my mom's passing everything down to her. I'm excited to see the collection the next time I am home because it includes more than just names...stories, pictures, grave rubbings, etc.

Rosebud, I will be happy to ask my grandmother if she has any helpful tips for Ireland and Australia.....

I have always heard that the Mormons have kept excellent records of genealogy!

I think a lot of the family tree has been figured out on both sides of my family by other people already. My (maternal) grandpa wrote a really great little book of his childhood stories. He wasn't planning on writing a book, but it just sort of happened. It all started when one of my cousin's asked my grandpa if he could write down a few childhood memories. I think my cousin was just hoping for a few pages or so and I think that is what my grandpa initially was intending to write. Once my grandpa got started writing, he just kept writing until it became a book of memoirs! On the first page of the book he wrote that the book was written as a gift to his grandchildren. He self-published it and gave copies to a few friends and relatives. He also wrote a little bit about his and my grandma's ancestry from Sweden and how the immigrated to Minnesota.

My uncle (dad's oldest brother) created a big family tree as well that traces back the family lineage on my dad's side of the family (so my paternal grandma and grandpa). My dad's ancestors immigrated to Minnesota from Ireland. Most of his heritage is Irish; but there is a little bit of Scottish mixed in.

There is a neighborhood "History of the Neighborhood" club where I live. It was started by an older couple who lives a block away from me. They were researching their own genealogy and then started researching the history of their house (which was her parents' house before it was their house). They then became really interested in the history of the neighborhood itself and started this club. I think they are hoping eventually a book or something will be created as a result. So far a lot of what we have done is that people have hosted parties in their neat old houses and we get to tour them! (This has been really fun!)

Therefore I have been curious to find out about the history of my house and my neighborhood. My house was built in 1880. Ramsey County (where I live) has Census records dating back to 1883. Therefore any houses built after 1883 are recorded there. This is a bit tricky then to find specific property records for a house built PRIOR to 1883. However, if any additions were made to the house (which they were), or any work done to the house, permits to do construction would be recorded. All of these records apparently are stored on microfiche at the Minnesota Historical Society. There are certain interesting things that did occur in my neighborhood. There were a lot of Mexican, German, and I think Latvian immigrants who were poor and lived in what is called "The Flats". (My house is up on the bluffs.) Initially my neighborhood which is called The West Side (a neighborhood of St. Paul, MN) was actually West St. Paul (a bordering suburb...or at that time I guess a town) and therefore I suppose part of Dakota County. (I think anyway.) My neighborhood is across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Paul. My neighborhood became part of St. Paul proper (after my house was built) because people got sick of having to pay a toll fee every time they would cross the bridge. There were a couple of major floods (I think one in 1907) that took a lot of stuff out. I think there were some various old gangsters and thugs back in the day. Also, the Wabasha Street Caves (which now are open to the public for tours, swing dancing lessons and hall rentals) used to be a speak easy where people made bootleg liquor during the prohibition days. (I recall during the WC days a MN bride got married in there.)

As for how the property records go...and keep in mind I don't have the abstract to the house...all the surrounding blocks were of course once one piece of property. Eventually it got split up a bit with the first sale somehow involving a chicken or something as how the land/house was paid for! Then the land continued to get divided up. My house was obviously one of the very first houses as it was built in 1880. My street has been named two other things in the past since my house was built. Actually, many of the streets were called different things. There also was a small pond/lake that used to exist that apparently got filled up.

There is an older man in the neighborhood who created this really large and to scale three dimensional map of how part of the neighborhood looked at the turn of the century! It's amazing! He made EVERY single house, school, church, etc.! You can lift out the houses like puzzle pieces and there is information underneith it! That project I think was created over a span of maybe 40 years or something and was started by a different man who is now deceased.

My dad's cousin was just in town and it was a blast hearing them tell a million stories from their childhood! My favorite was how my dad's dog was in a talent show (so were chickens, kids, etc.) and the dog won a prize for...doing absolutely nothing! The dog got in the town's newspaper! I love it!

[KB57]

I've always wanted to start some research, but never got around to it. This thread is a good resource though, thanks for starting it!!!

Rosebud--awesome story about that civil war pic....I found it especially interesting since Partridge is my maiden name! :p maybe we are related?

[artist]

For those of you researching your genealogy, history of your house, history of your neighborhood, etc., what are you doing with the information? In other words, are you putting together a book, a DVD, something else?

I would like to eventually create a book or a video or SOMETHING. If you have a similar goal, what sorts of information are you including? Family tree, maps, photos, letters, stories, interviews, what? As for stories, are you basically writing your own interpretation, or including the stories told/written by others completely verbatim without any editing?

[Rosebud]

Rosebud--awesome story about that civil war pic....I found it especially interesting since Partridge is my maiden name! :p maybe we are related?

Cool! That surname is pretty far back in my family at this point, but off the top of my head I'm thinking they were based in Illinois.


For those of you researching your genealogy, history of your house, history of your neighborhood, etc., what are you doing with the information? In other words, are you putting together a book, a DVD, something else?

I'm hoping to eventually create some kind of book for both my family and my DH's family. The problem is that you never stop learning more things. If I'd written everything down even two months ago, SO much of what I know now wouldn't be included. For right now, I'm just compiling everything-- names, dates, stories, quotes from relatives and photos-- in Family Tree Maker. My immediate goal is to upload all of that to a private family website sometime in the next few years. I'd like to get additional input from family members at that point, more stories and such. The long term goal would be to include all that information in a larger book.

We actually have several autobiographies written by various family members, going back to the mid-1800s. Some of those are about 100 pages on their own! So, I'll have to think about whether to incorporate some of that information into the master family history book or to keep it as a separate document entirely.

[BumbleB]

I just found this thread!

My paternal grandmother did a bit of research on her side of the family. My dad has the books that she had, one book in particular traces the family back to when ancestors first came to the United States in the 1600's. I believe we have relatives that were present or signed the Declaration (I'll have to look into that), there is also a connection to Arron Burr (the guy who shot Alexander Hamilton). The family traces its roots back to England as far as the 1100's or so. It is really interesting and the next time I'm home I'm going to try to remember to read a bit more in those books.

My mom's family is traced back well on my granfathers side. His mother came to the United States in the early 1900's from England. The family was supposed to book passage on the Titanic, but ended up having to wait for a later passage. We have a photo of them before they left England and a number of photos after they arrived here - photos of my great grandmother growing up. I would love to get copies of all the photos my grandparents have, there are some truly great ones.

In more recent history, my paternal grandfather had family who knew my maternal grandmothers family in Nebraska before the Depression. Both families ended up moving to Idaho when they couldn't hold onto their farms any longer. I've always thought this connection between my mom and dad's families was pretty interesting.

I would love to get more into this and I would also love to research my DH's family. They are quite the jumble, but I bet we could learn a bit if we really looked into it.

[SunnyAB]

I have been following this thread along... I've always had an interest in my family history (wanted to research some interesting stories that have carried down) and a few years ago I was able to publish some family histories in a combination church parish, community, family commemorative book. I was actually the editor, and I tell you - I had an inkling of what I was getting into, but didnt really know exactly what was involved or the hours and hours and HOURS of work that it took. (You have to love this type of thing, or you would go bonkers!) :eek: But I don't regret one minute of it.

I was very lucky - I interviewed many of the older generation - not only my relatives, other pioneers as well - (an experience I will treasure forever!), had children get their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents write about their experiences etc. because its only a few years later and the majority of these people have passed away.

I do want to research farther back though - see if the 'legends' are actually true (fleeing their country, name change for safety, see if I AM actually a Princess) :D :rolleyes: It doesnt really matter, its all interesting to me. Some of the sites listed may be able to help, so I will have to visit. I just missed one free trial period I think, so I will have to wait for the next. Thanks to all of you for the tips and tricks for searching. I can't wait to get at it.

[tenofcups]

I'm trying to find out when and how a particular person died. I haven't been able to find anything on ancestry.com or the other more standard genealogy sites and I'm not quite sure where to go from here. It's perhaps a little more difficult since I don't know exactly when he died -- sometime after 1960 and before today (I know that's a broad range!). I assume it was somewhere in NY.

I imagine I should be able to find the info through public records of some sort, but I don't know where to start. Any advice? Thanks!

[tgal]

Question: About 5 years ago, I was playing around with our family trees. I entered everything on Ancestry.com for the world tree. I registered with a junk e-mail account because I didn't want a ton of spam in my day to day account. So, if they ever sent me something about it turning to a fee site, I never got the info. We are now expecting dc #2 and I wanted to go back and look for names on our tree, only to find out that you now have to pay for their service. I figured this would happen at some point and I probably agreed to their terms that mentioned something about my providing info etc. would later become theirs. I just can't help, but to be a little ticked off by this (more at myself for not downloading everything when my account was free). Would anyone happen to have access and be willing to send me my tree if they did indeed keep my information. PM me and I will give you my e-mail address if you are willing to help. TIA!

[Rosebud]

tgal- I sent you a PM!

tenofcups- Finding a recent death can be difficult. Usually, death certificates won't be released to anyone but immediate family unless the death was more than 50 years ago. You should check out the NY State genealogy pages for more info: LINK (http://www.health.state.ny.us/vital_records/genealogy.htm)

Another route might be to search newspapers for obituaries or death notices. It's easier to do this if you know the general place of death, of course (city or county). But if you have a large library near you that would have some kind of genealogy department that could assist you- or even just access to Lexis Nexis, you might turn something up. Good luck!

[Rosebud]

In the past 6 months I've worked with two professional genealogists (one in Australia, one in Michigan) to try to make some progress on family research that had hit a brick wall. I just wanted to suggest that any of you who are having trouble with a particular family line or want a jumpstart on research might consider hiring a professional. It really doesn't have to be expensive. In both cases I paid under $150 and got a ton- a TON- of information and paperwork in return.

Within 24 hours of hiring her, the Michigan genealogist had sent me 12 pages of documentation about my great-great-grandfather's family. I've been working to find that info for three years. The Australian genealogist was able to find a wealth of information in Melbourne, including a police deposition with statements from two of my ancestors in their own words that I never would have found on my own.

I found the Michigan genealogist through the Association of Professional Genealogists (http://www.apgen.org/). This is a great place to start if you are interested in hiring someone. Most other countries have similar associations that can point you to accredited researchers. It's best to look for someone who is located in the city/region where your family lived so that they can physically go to local libraries, graveyards and churches for more information.

Anyway, just wanted to put that out there in case anyone is interested.

[AmyE]

Rosebud - Thanks for posting that genlias link! Our family history, complied by an aunt, starts one section with "XY were original immigrants; we know nothing about them before they came from Holland." I was able to find their marriage registration, and working from that, their parents' names, and one more generation back on the father's side so far. SO, two additional generations back taking us to the beginning of the 19th century! At least for one branch. Having trouble with a dutch name that got anglicized for another branch, but this is a great start!

[Rosebud]

AmyE- I'm so glad it was helpful to you! I was able to find a bunch of info on my Dutch relatives there, too. The anglicized names definitely make it more difficult- and even when you figure out what the original name was, there are sometimes multiple spellings used (c and k seem to be interchangable sometimes in records). I hope you are able to find what you're searching for! :)

[Rosebud]

I got an email today from Ancestry that they're having a sale on the latest version of Family Tree Maker. If anyone has been shopping for a program to organize and store all their family info, I'd definitely recommend this one. I find it really easy to use.

Family Tree Maker 2008 on sale- $39.95 (http://www.theancestrystore.com/index.aspx?p=mfsku4454)

Description of the product from Ancestry:


Enjoy a richer, more complete family tree-building experience with Family Tree Maker 2008. Organize your family history into trees, charts and other formats. Add photos, maps, audio and video. Then print out your creations to share.

Here’s what’s new:
An intuitive interface that makes it easier than ever to enter and edit data and manage photos and other media files; Interactive maps that show all the people in your tree associated with a particular location; The ability to view your ancestors’ lives in a timeline format; Vastly improved integration with Ancestry.com; A handy web clipper that lets you merge data from any web page into your tree; A built-in place authority with more than 3 million place names; Standardized criteria for rating your sources; And so much more

[tenofcups]

Rosebud, I actually told my parents I wanted a family tree maker for my birthday, but hadn't done the research yet to see which one I wanted. I have a question for you -- does this one (or do any of them) allow you to print out a family tree that shows siblings?

For example, if I start with my grandparents, I want to be able to show them and my parents and my parents' siblings and then my sister and I. I know that sounds really basic, but I couldn't figure out how to do that kind of tree using ancestry.com's family tree builder that's on the site. It seemed like all I could get would be me and the above me my parents and then their parents above them, but none of the siblings. Am I missing something really basic?

[Rosebud]

Hmmmm... good question! The version I have is several years old and I don't think I've seen a tree format that includes siblings. You can always print a family group sheet, which will include parents and all their children, but if you want the familiar tree format (also called a pedigree chart), going back multiple generations, that usually just includes parents and whatever child is your direct ancestor.

Pedigree Chart:
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k284/rosebud03_2006/Misc/FTM2008_pedigree_chart.jpg

Family Group Sheet:
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k284/rosebud03_2006/Misc/FTM008_family_group_sheet.jpg

I'm not sure about the most recent version because I don't own it, though.

[tenofcups]

Thanks for your response! The top one you printed is all that I had been able to do with Ancestry's online tree maker too. I guess I want a more high-tech version of the old-fashioned kind that we used to make in school ;) with all the lines going every which way to show everyone.

[Rosebud]

I have questions for anyone who has ever uploaded their family tree from a PC/MAC program to the internet. I have Family Tree Maker and would really like to put the information I've gathered online for other family members to access. My questions:

- Is Ancestry.com the only option for doing this? Any other sites where I can easily upload?

- Will it transfer EVERYTHING in my files? I have a bunch of personal notes attached to some of the family members and I don't necessarily need to share those with the public. Is there any way to just transfer vital info?

I'd love to hear any experiences with online family trees. TIA!

[littlelove8138]

i'm not sure about family tree maker but our family has been useing http://geni.com and have found it fun. you can put pictures up email eachother. it even has something to send you and email to remind you that someone's birthday is coming up.

and by the way it's free

[magrat]

I've just decided I want a copy of my family tree. I know relatives on both sides have done it and I saw a lot on Ancestry.com. I've been trying to figure out if there is a way to download it or if I need to enter all that info into my own tree in order to export it. Can anyone familiar with the site give me any tips?

[Rosebud]

magrat- I'm not certain about this, but I don't think you can export a whole tree out of Ancestry into your personal tree. When I've copied information from Ancestry, I've always had to do it name by name. It does take a while, but on the upside it gives you the time to really digest the information and make sure the names and dates all seem correct. Good luck with this!

[pewee9196]

The Daughters of the American Revolution Library in DC is a great source. My mom is HUGE into it. That is all my parents do. Literally they travel the east coast/world to cemeteries, libraries etc. Just wanted to wish everyone well on their search

[HeatherFL]

For those using Geni.com, are the family members you invite able to update their own profiles/photographs, or are you the only one able to do it as the family tree creator?

Thanks!

~H.

[emmjay]

Just bumping this up because I'm starting to work on my family's genealogy! I actually got started in order to join the DAR (through my paternal grandmother's family), and one thing led to another, and now I'm going to try to work on my whole family tree as much as possible.

Yesterday I found a woman whose husband's grandmother was my grandfather's aunt (my grandfather's mother and this guy's grandmother were sisters). She had some contacts in Wales, where they were from, so has information going back to around 1700. That was pretty cool, especially since my grandmother told me she never had a lot of information about her in-laws. My grandmother is still living, so I am excited to let her know about that.

I also asked my mom for information about her side of the family. There isn't a ton of info for them but I know she has her parents' birth certificates from Ireland. And she said she's going to ask her siblings and cousins if they have anything.

I'm using Ancestry.com. I haven't decided if I want to pay for it yet, especially since I live near DC so I can go to the National Archives and access it for free. And once I join the DAR I can access that library for free as well (in the meantime I can pay to go for a day here or there). So I'm doing a free trial for the next two weeks and then I can decide if I want to pay.

Has anyone here used any of the paid genealogy sites? Are they worth it?

[Rosebud]

I'm using Ancestry.com. I haven't decided if I want to pay for it yet, especially since I live near DC so I can go to the National Archives and access it for free. And once I join the DAR I can access that library for free as well (in the meantime I can pay to go for a day here or there). So I'm doing a free trial for the next two weeks and then I can decide if I want to pay.

Has anyone here used any of the paid genealogy sites? Are they worth it?

I've had a membership at Ancestry.com for several years and find it very valuable. It is an excellent source of information, obviously. But also, once you post your family tree on the site, it makes it much easier to find additional information about the people in your tree. I've been using the site for years, but only just posted my family tree this year. It's amazing how much more I've learned since then, between the automatic notifications you get when something else on the site matches your ancestor and the fact that other users can contact you about info in your tree. I had a distant cousin find & contact me via Ancestry and provide me with a bunch of additional info. I think if you're serious about genealogy, you really do need a membership at Ancestry and a tree posted on that website.

Good luck!

[tenofcups]

I got hooked on Ancestry.com about 1.5 years ago. I started with a free trial -- and let me warn you, it can be addictive! I've never really sat down and devoted a chunk of time to it, but I've done it it bits and spurts. There are some nights I get on and have to force myself to get off 5 hours later. I've found a TON of information on there that no one else in my family has or was aware of.

I don't think I could have begun to piece together all the information I have without the site so I think it's definitely worth the money.

One piece of advice I can give based on what I didn't do :o : Make some sort of organizational plan of attack and keep track of who you've researched, where, and how. I've been all over the place in my approach and not nearly as organized as I should have been so it's hard for me to know now what I've looked for and what I haven't. (And I've followed this thread enough to know that Rosebud knows *a lot* about doing this!)

[emmjay]

Thanks! I was already leaning toward keeping the subscription, so you guys helped to convince me. :) I have two small kids so it wouldn't be easy for me to get outside the house for hours at a time to do research at another facility.

tenofcups - I am already all over the place and I just started a few days ago! Ultimately I really want to do some work on my mom's side in Ireland. I think my aunt asked one of the Irish cousins for genealogy information and I'll be seeing that aunt in November so I am going to ask her then. If not I can just email the Irish people directly.

But I'm starting out with doing research in order to join the DAR through my dad's side because I have so much information already - I think it will be a good way to ease myself in. My grandmother actually wrote a mini-autobiography a few years ago (she is 95 now) because she wanted to talk about her parents and grandparents, so that was a great starting point. I'm actually re-typing it into the computer so I can save it digitally and attach it to my family tree - she included a lot of information about her family, but also about the way of life in the early 1900s, how much things cost, that sort of thing. It's really interesting! Plus she and my great-grandmother were in the DAR so I have some info from that. And, as I mentioned, I already found my dad's second cousin's wife on Ancestry.com and she had a ton of great information about that side. And I found who I think is my dad's cousin's wife (based on who she has on her tree) but I haven't contacted her yet.

Question about the trees - do you add everyone, like siblings, cousins, and other people who are not in your direct line? Or just the direct people? Maybe I should start with the direct line and then I can branch out.

[Rosebud]

emmjay- How wonderful that you have that autobiography from your Grandmother. I wish everyone would write one of those. They are absolutely priceless. Good luck with the research!

As to your question, I include everyone in my tree-- branching as far out as possible. One great reason for this is that when you put that information online you can connect with relatives who are somewhat distant but may have helpful info for you about your people. Also, I just find that the stories you turn up in these more distant lines give you a great idea of what your relatives were experiencing at the same time. For instance, in one of my lines there was a cousin or second cousin of an ancestor who signed the Declaration of Independence. He left behind a lot of papers about his life and times, whereas my direct ancestors didn't (or if they did, they didn't survive). I was able to learn a lot about what life was like for the extended family at that time and pinpoint the location of some graves by reading the information about this distant but notable relative.

However, in terms of research, I would say to start with your direct line of ancestry and then branch out afterward. I do a lot of research on the distant lines of my tree when I've hit a wall on the direct ancestors and need to work on something else for a while to clear my head.

[emmjay]

Rosebud - thanks! That is good information about why I should include everyone.

In addition to my grandmother's autobiography (about 50 single-spaced typed pages), my great-aunt (grandmother's sister) wrote three travelogues about trips she took to Europe with my great-grandmother during the 1960s. Actually my grandmother went on one of the trips, and my other great-aunt went on two of them. They are around 30 single-spaced typed pages each. Anyway, they aren't exactly the distant past, but they are still fascinating to me so I am going to type those up as well. Oh, and also my grandmother has her family tree written out. My sister is going to send me a copy. I don't know how extensive it is, or how much information is on it, but I'm looking forward to seeing it!

[Rosebud]

Wanted to recommend a very good article relating to genealogy that I read in The New Yorker last week.

Family Matters by Henry Louis Gates Jr. (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/01/081201fa_fact_gates) (You have to register to read the whole story. A summary is below.)


ABSTRACT: PERSONAL HISTORY about the writer’s exploration of his family tree. The writer’s grandfather, Edward St. Lawrence Gates (known as Pop), had two hobbies— growing tulips and keeping scrapbooks. The writer didn’t know about the second hobby until after Pop Gates’s death, in 1960, when the writer was nine years old. Pop Gates was buried at the Rose Hill Cemetery, in Cumberland, Maryland; the writer’s forebears were among the few blacks allowed in the predominantly white cemetery. Mentions Thorn Rose Cemetery. The writer had been made keenly aware, early in his childhood, that the Gateses had a certain status in Cumberland. After Pop’s burial, the writer’s father took him back to the Gates family home and went upstairs to the closet. There he pulled out dozens of musty leather books with pages covered with news clippings of African-Americans who had died. One obituary, dated Saturday, January 7, 1888, was about the death of Aunt Jane Gates, the writer’s great-great-grandmother.

The writer’s career as a historian began that afternoon in 1960, and he became obsessed with his family tree. What he really wanted was a family crest that would tie him to their white ancestors. Mentions J. R. Clifford and W. E. B. Du Bois. Most African-Americans can trace at least one line of their family back to the 1870 census, which was the first taken after the Civil War. As a child, the writer had been told that the Gateses were descended from an Irishman named Samuel Brady, who supposedly owned Jane, fathered her children, and gave her money to purchase her home. In 2005, the writer placed an ad in the Cumberland Times and posted a message on a Brady-family online forum. One of Brady’s direct male descendants and a direct male descendant of Brady’s brother agreed to take a DNA test. The tests established, without a doubt, that Samuel Brady was not the father of Jane Gates’s children.

When the writer told his father and his aunt, Helen, what the tests revealed, Aunt Helen said, “I’ve been a Brady eighty-nine years, and I am still a Brady, no matter what that test says.� What about the father of Jane’s children, then? The writer and a team of genealogists compiled a list of all the men with certain surnames in the 1850 and 1860 census for Allegany County, Maryland, and are advertising for their male descendants. Perhaps DNA testing can solve the last remaining mystery in the Gates family line. Until the family crest of the Irishman who fathered Jane Grant’s children graces the writer’s family tree, his family story will remain a tale only half told. Mentions Pop Gates’s scrapbook full of war casualties.

It's especially interesting if you're researching African-American genealogy or considering DNA testing to further your research.

[jjsanner]

Rosebud, I have a question for you. How do you proceed to find info when there is infidelity involved?

My great-great-great grandmother came over from Ireland (I'm having trouble finding her maiden surname) and was working as a maid for a wealthy family in Brooklyn, New York. She was married and had a few kids with her first husband. Somewhere along the line she had an affair with my great-great-great gandfather (a son of the wealthy pianomaker) and got pregnant. They were disowned and somehow made their way to Iowa where they settled. There is no mention of her other children, so I assume they stayed with their father in New York.

I know most of this because my cousin did a lot of research years ago, and also based upon stories my grandmother used to tell before she passed away. The census info has a big 10 year gap during which all of this took place, so I have no idea where to begin to validate the story. I have names and a general timeline, but that is it.

Any suggestions?

[Rosebud]

jjsanner-

I actually ran into a semi-similar situation in my own research and it was really difficult to figure out. After several years of getting nowhere sorting through census records, I decided to hire a professional. I found someone located near the city where my relatives had lived who was recommended by an association of professional genealogists (just Google this- it'll come up). I think that in total I paid about $80 and the genealogist found SO much info. I would never have found it all myself. She actually drove out to local cemeteries and historical associations. If you're really stuck, this is a good way to go.

If that's not an option, you can still definitely make progress on your own. Are you looking to find ancestors/descendants from the first marriage or the second? Are you mostly just looking to back up the story that's been passed down? I think the only real way to validate the details of the story would be to talk to family members and other descendants, so you'd want to trace the children of the first and second marriages and try to get in touch with descendants. I would definitely post a message on Genforum.com to see if you can get in touch with anyone who is connected to the family. I would also try to locate a death record for the first husband just to prove that he did not die prior to the second marriage. You should be able to find this on Ancestry.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. :)

[tenofcups]

Do you think she and the second man ever got married? If so, the Italian Genealogical Group has a record of marriages in NYC starting in the 1860s. If you know her name or his name, you might be able to find the marriage record there and that might provide additional information for you. (And it's definitely not just Italians -- I found my own grandparents listed and they were Jewish from Eastern Europe.)

I'm not sure if ancesty.com links to their info, but you can go directly to http://www.italiangen.org/VRECLIST.stm. They also have some birth and death records.

I'm pretty sure there's another group like them that has a lot of marriage info -- Rosebud, can you think what the other one is?

[jjsanner]

Thanks for the tips, ladies.

Yes, they did get married, in Illinois, I think. All of the children were born in Illinois, and then they arrived in Iowa shortly thereafter.

I have exhausted all of the Ancestry.com options, so I did some quick internet searches, and there are tons of geneological sites dedicated to Brooklyn. I actually have a couple of different physical addresses from the various census records (beginning with the 1850 Federal Census), so I will start there. And luckily, it's not a very popular surname. Hopefully I can dig up some additional info.

[Alegna]

So I know you're looking for info on the first set of kids, but I'm in Illinois and bit of a geneology nut.

My county has the birth certificates in an online searchable database. McLean County (http://www.mcleancountyil.gov/countyclerk/birthindexsearch.asp)

I'm not sure if other counties have similar services or not. But the birth certificates have a place listed for the birth number. Meaning is this the 1st, 2nd or 3rd baby. That might be a way to verify the older set of children existed. (I found out my grandfather had 2 other siblings nobody knew about - we're assuming they were stillbirths)

Also, Illinois has a state archive program. It lists marriages from 1763-1900 depending on the county. Some are further along than others. You might be able to confirm the marriage in Illinois that way. marriages (http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/marriage.html)

I'm also assuming you're talking about the 1890 census information that's missing. Isn't it annoying that it was lost in a fire?

[Scooter]

Bumping this to see if anyone's around and still doing research?

Our ancestry.com subscription is expiring in a few weeks and I'm trying to get as much work done as I can before that happens. We've had some great luck with records, and I found that two separate branches of my family came here before 1630. I'm trying to work on some other branches because I keep getting stuck in the mid-1500s in England and Scotland. The ancestry search engine is bugging me, because I'll be searching for, say, John L Smith b. 1828 in MA, and it brings up Nancy Smith b 1840 in TN. HUH?! Or It tells me John L Smith is on a certain record, and I read the whole record and only find someone named John P. Doe. Is there any way to make the search more effective??

Also, does anyone else get nervous when they are doing research about what kind of people your ancestors will be? So far, they've been good members of the community (one was even the first doctor in New Amsterdam/New Harlem), and non have been landowners in the South, but I still keep worrying I'm going to read about some raiding party attacking the Indians or something!

[magrat]

scooter That's great luck you've had with Scottish records! I was glad I was even able to find my great grandfather as a 3 year old on a census in Scotland, but I haven't been able to find any of his siblings or parents which is very disappointing. I was looking through the Scottish databases though, and the prices can really add up since you have to pay for the record before you even know for sure your ancestor is on it.

I don't have to go back far to find raids on Indians :o My great-great-grandfather was in the 8th Minnesota which fought in the Dakota Conflict. They were already battle hardened by the time they were sent to fight in the Civil War and apparently scared the southerners with their Indian war cries. I find it interesting, not uncomfortable, though I guess finding a slave owner might be a bit different. No chance of that for my ancestors though. It really was a different time and I can hardly blame my g-g-grandfather for fighting to protect his home, even if our sympathies lie with the Dakota these days.

[Rosebud]

I've been super frustrated with Ancestry's search engine lately. Not only do they give you results that are nowhere close to what you're trying to find, but I've also found the search perimeters really limiting at times. I've been struggling with how to actually get what I want in these searches, but that's still definitely in progress.

I think it'd be pretty hard to do any serious genealogy research and not turn up some unpleasant stories in your family's past. I've found some unsettling stuff in both mine and my husband's ancestry. But the bad stories usually serve to remind me that these people in our past were actually people, with all the flawed decision making, unsavory politics or psychological issues of contemporary folks. It's easy to romanticize your ancestors, but when you do that you don't really get to the heart of who they were in most cases.

[Scooter]

magrat, I haven't had much luck with Scotland yet! That is where I keep getting stuck. I think I'd have to either go there in person or pay in advance for parish records to see if there's anyone who them we're looking for. It sounds like you've come up against that same wall! It's easier to kind of drop the search for now and move on to the next person for the time being. ;)

One of the things I'm enjoying about genealogy is the chance to see history from other perspectives. I was reading about how one of my ancestors lost some of his crops after a Mohican raid, and it makes sense how devastating and scary that could be. There were only a few other colonies, it's not like they could go to the store if their harvest didn't last the winter. I can understand needing to defend themselves. I am more scared about finding out if someone was aggressive needlessly! But then, of course not every ancestor is going to live by our modern morals.

We did find that my DH's great (x6) grandfather apparently fought in the Battle of Culloden and then was exiled/fled to Ireland (and then his son was apprenticed and sent here as a young child), but I can't figure out any way to confirm that or go back from there.

Rosebud, so it's not just me having trouble with their search engine? It hasn't bothered me as much with the more modern ancestors, but the earlier, more rare records are more frustrating to find.

You're right about the things we uncover making them real people. I'm really loving the historical side of it and thinking of them as real people, with a lot of the same kinds of dramas and issues that people have today. I got to read one story about my ancestor and a neighbor arguing in the street about something, documented because they had to give testimony in court about it, and it made me laugh because it was like something you'd see on Cops or something. Things haven't changed over time as much as we like to think!

[emmjay]

Scooter - I was looking for info on my family in England, and I ended up joining the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society. It wasn't very expensive, and I ended up getting in touch with a distant relative who still lives in the area. She has been working on our family tree for 20 years, and she gave me all kinds of info.

I haven't been using Ancestry as much as I did when I first started. I have had better luck using genealogical societies and other databases, especially for my ancestors in Ireland and the UK.

[Scooter]

Emmjay, thanks for the tip! That's one of the reasons we're letting our Ancestry subscription lapse for now. How funny, Buckinghamshire is one of the places we need to do research in, I'll have to check out that society, too! There are also a few genealogical societies of specific ancestors, so we're been thinking about that, too. I know that two of them are doing DNA research and looking for descendants for that, which I think would be interesting to be a part of, too.

[emmjay]

Scooter - I joined the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society (http://www.bucksgs.org.uk/), which is where I found the distant relative. You can see on their website if any members are looking for the same surnames as you.

I also used the Buckinghamshire Family History Society (http://www.bucksfhs.org.uk/) for parish searches. You can give them a last name and a 100 year date span, and they will send you a list of everyone with that last name who had a baptism, burial, or marriage in every parish in Buckinghamshire for £3.00 per type of search (so it is £9.00 for all three; birth, marriage, and death).

[Scooter]

Emmjay, I can't remember if I told you this, but I didn't find the surname I'm looking for in the searches in those two sites. It looks like the parish records end, so I think it may be a dead end!


Reviving this thread once again, to see if anyone else has been watching the new show "Who Do You Think You Are?" on NBC? I saw the first two episodes, and it is fascinating. A few months ago I discovered a bunch of episodes from the British one on youtube--anyone with British or Irish ancestry shuold look into that. Some of those shows go into the history and it's really thought-provoking. I think this show is great motivation for continuing research, especially when you're feeling frustrated or burned out.

[tenofcups]

I meant to post about that show over the weekend and got sidetracked. I've seen the first two episodes and loved it! I'm especially looking forward to Lisa Kudrow next week since she's going to be exploring her Jewish Eastern European ancestry, which is what my family background is. But I thought the first two were fascinating, even though they went in directions totally different from my own history.

My cousin's wife started doing research on her family and asked me if I would share what I've got on her husband, my cousin's, family. Between the show and the request, I've been re-inspired to get my records into better shape so I can share them.

I'm doing my family tree on Family Tree Maker, and while I've saved everything I've found on Ancestry, it's not yet connected to my tree, so I've been going through and attaching sources and media. It's tedious, but will be well worth it.

It was also really fun to have someone else to talk to in real life who's found the same passion. I described the show to her as "people who are doing exactly what we are... except with unlimited resources and the backing of a tv show so they can jet off all over the world and get the help of professionals." ;) I'm jealous.

[Scooter]

It was also really fun to have someone else to talk to in real life who's found the same passion. I described the show to her as "people who are doing exactly what we are... except with unlimited resources and the backing of a tv show so they can jet off all over the world and get the help of professionals." ;) I'm jealous.
So true! I'm trying to compile lists of where each person's from so if we one day can do some genealogy trips we'll have it consolidated and can look for everything at once.

I loved Sarah Jessica's episode because we have a lot of gold rush miners in our tree, and one relative who was accused in the witch trials! His name was actually on screen when she was searching through the database for her ancestor. That was really exciting--if you're into genealogy, that is. :p You should look up Stephen Fry's episode on the UK version on youtube, the show has the same title as the US one. He traced back Jewish family that was separated in the war and it was really incredible, an emotional journey.

Here, I just looked up a link for you. It's split into six 10 minute segments and well worth it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qh_gzXPleI

[tenofcups]

Thanks Scooter, I'll definitely check that out. I'd read comments before the show started that the UK version was really good and people were hopeful that the U.S. version could live up to it. I'll be curious to see the UK ones, but so far I think the U.S. ones have been done very well.

And yes, I would be thrilled to see an ancestor's name on screen, even if it was just flashing by for a second!

[katmg]

I would love to put up a family tree for DD and DS. I have quite a bit of info for my side but not much for DH's. To complicate matters we are estranged from FIL. He was abusive, etc. and MIL divorced him 5 years ago. It seems like it would be kind of odd to have a family tree with him so prominently displayed. I haven't figured out a way to have a family tree in the house without making DH (and his family) uncomfortable. Should I just give up on the idea for awhile?

Any thoughts on what to do when you aren't proud of a relative's actions?

[Scooter]

tenofcups, yeah, you'll have to let us know what you think of that one. So far I think the US ones have been as good as the UK ones. I only saw about 6 episodes of theirs, but for weeks I was obsessed with searching youtube for more! I figured other people into genealogy would understand why I was thrilled with seeing that name onscreen. ;)

katmg, if you start a tree on ancestry, you can go back and view birth, marriage, and death records, voter lists, census data from 1930 back (they don't want you tracking down living people at their homes), and other people's trees that have the same person. That helps because you can view their sources and fill in gaps. So even if you don't have a lot of information, you might be surprised by how much you can find.

As for there being people you don't like much, if you get enough info on your tree, that one person becomes a very small fish in a very large pond. If you're just going back a couple generations, they would be more prominent. I would do some research into his side of the family so he will kind of get lost in the crowd, so to speak.

[tenofcups]

And to make me even more in the mood for genealogy research, the 2010 census arrived today! I'm disappointed that it asks so few questions -- I love going through the old censuses that are available and being able to pick up bits and pieces of information that I couldn't know any other way.

[Rosebud]

Reviving this thread once again, to see if anyone else has been watching the new show "Who Do You Think You Are?" on NBC?

I have it TIVO'd but haven't watched it yet. Am really looking forward to it!


I'm doing my family tree on Family Tree Maker, and while I've saved everything I've found on Ancestry, it's not yet connected to my tree, so I've been going through and attaching sources and media. It's tedious, but will be well worth it..

I had to do the same thing with our tree and it's taken forever. It's valuable to have it in two separate places, though.



Any thoughts on what to do when you aren't proud of a relative's actions?

I agree with Scooter-- research FIL's family and he won't appear so prominent. There's no way you could do genealogical research and not turn up at least a couple of unsavory characters. Since FIL is still living and the unhappy memories are fresh, you could simply create the tree and put it away for a time, or take it down when MIL comes over. But it might not be a problem once she sees the whole tree in historical context, with many names on it.


And to make me even more in the mood for genealogy research, the 2010 census arrived today! I'm disappointed that it asks so few questions -- I love going through the old censuses that are available and being able to pick up bits and pieces of information that I couldn't know any other way.

I'm so excited about the census. I thought I was the only one geeking out on this! I actually applied to help gather census data part time, because I'm so interested in the whole process. I think the average person has no idea how incredibly valuable those things are, and how important it is to be accurate on the forms.

[Scooter]

I'm excited about the census too. I keep imagining my great great great grandchildren looking at my answers! I haven't gotten mine, yet, but we did do one of their early practice ones and it was very concerned with things like our utility bills and how far we drive to work. Looking at the old census info, what I really wish they asked about is your parents' names, birthdates, and place of their birth, as background info. But that would make it too easy for later research, right??

[katmg]

I'm excited about the census too. I keep imagining my great great great grandchildren looking at my answers! I haven't gotten mine, yet, but we did do one of their early practice ones and it was very concerned with things like our utility bills and how far we drive to work.

My census was just a few questions - name, sex, date of birth and race/ethnicity.

ETA: Thanks for the ideas on the family tree. I think for now, it is too soon to have one displayed in the house and would eventually invite too many questions from DD and DS that I'm not ready to address. I'm sure I could do the research now - especially while MIL's parents are alive and can potentially answer questions about that side.

[boilermaker]

My census was very basic too. Same as katmg. I guess other people must get the interesting ones.

My grandmother is very big into genealogy and I was just talking to her the other day, so I bopped into this thread when it popped up. That TV show sounds very interesting. I have a huge history of my family thanks to my grandmother's work but have very little for DH's family. I think it is so neat to find the info, though it's pretty easy when somebody else does it for you LOL.

However, I do know that there is a decent amount of genealogy done on FIL's family as we apparently live right down the road from some distant relatives who have kept up with it. I'm just wondering how odd it would be for me to call them out of the blue and ask for what they have. We met them once about 5 years ago when a Fed Ex box was delivered to them instead of us and they seemed nice enough. But they are a much older couple and it would be nice to make some contact KWIM?

[tenofcups]

I just ran into an interesting side benefit of the genealogy work I've been doing. A relative is very sick and they're trying to figure out what it is. It may be some sort of dementia and the family was trying to figure out if we have any sort of family history of that. My mother remembered that one of her uncles had had a problem.

When she mentioned it to me, I was able to say that her great-grandfather had the same problem. I have a copy of his full death certificate and that's noted as a secondary cause of death. He died in the early 1930s so no one living knew him or would have known what he died from. But the records tell us.

This just happened tonight and I'm still kind of amazed at this "practical application" of the information I've been gathering.

Boilermaker, I definitely think it's worth contacting them to see if they'd be willing to share their information. I bet they'd be thrilled! The worst they could do is say no, but I'd bet they'll be really happy to share the information they've gathered and have it passed on to another branch of the family.

[Scooter]

A couple questions for those of you on Ancestry:

1. Is it possible to merge two people in a family together?

Here's my situation: we're trying to piece together my grandma's family. It's very confused because the grandparents lived there with their 2 sons and their wives and children. We're putting together info from a couple censuses, WWI draft cards, and death indexes. At this point, I can't tell if I've added too many kids to each of the two sons, because I may be confusing nicknames with real names. (For example, on one census it's Giovanni and another it's John. Most of them are not that easy though.) If I later find out that two people were the same, can I merge them? Or do I have to delete both, create the new person, and reattach every media citation I had already found and attached?


2. How would you enter this? I have a guy with 5 kids. I can't tell if he has two wives or one with a nickname. (birth dates are inconsistent so I still need more info.) How do I enter the kids? If it's two wives, I don't yet know who is mother of whom. I can't figure out how to move one child to a different spouse. If you change the mom's name, the software makes it look like the husband had two wives with the same name. :rolleyes: Right now I have them listed under "unknown spouse" because I'm getting pretty sick of reentering their info an reattaching all that media! There must be some function I'm missing?

[Scooter]

Just coming to dig up this thread because I saw Rosebud bumped up the "Who Do You Think You Are?" thread.

Anyone doing any research right now?

I've started emailing people I find online that are researching the same ancestors as me. It's been amazing, I've gotten both of my parents back in touch with long lost cousins (once or twice removed, but still). One of them even has a diary of my 3x greatgrandmother, who crossed the prairie to CA during the gold rush. I am dying to get my hands on it. I also found someone on my husband's side who is working on the same mystery as me, and someone in my family who is a genealogist and still lives in the East Coast town that my family lived in for centuries--great contact to have.

tenofcups, just read your last post, that is amazing! I hope that info was able to help your relative, what a difficult situation.

[Rosebud]

I haven't been doing much research lately simply due to lack of time. I have a genealogist in NYC researching some early New York-area ancestors for me. I find it really helpful to have a local get into city archives, because so much of that stuff isn't online. She hasn't turned up much yet, but I'm hopeful.

My Grandma just asked me to print up some info on a particular branch of the family, so that'll probably get me going again.

One thing I did do several months back is write up a complete genealogy for a branch of my father's family and send it around to relatives. The response was pretty incredible. Most relatives had not been aware of that family's origins and stories and I got a lot of emails from cousins saying how glad they were to have the info. So, if you're not currently researching, writing up family info and sharing it with relatives is a good thing to do. :)

[Scooter]

That's a great idea to send it to everyone. How much info did you send out? And how did you go about finding a local genealogist?

[Rosebud]

It was a pretty complete genealogy. I didn't include info about the current (living) generation, but everything prior to it was included. If you'd like, I can send you some examples of the format I used. I like to include not only names, dates and personal stories, but also information about the time and place these people were living in. Political influences at the time, etc. I cite lots of references to give everything more legitimacy. I like to footnote specific sources, for example:

1. Source: www.history.com/this-day-in-history/tipperary-revolt-ends-in-failure
2. Source: Archives Office of New South Wales. Archives in Brief.
3. According to VIC BDM 1836-1888 Pioneer Index

But I think any way you can get your information on paper and share it with others is a good thing. It's important to be able to pass on your research to others so these things trickle down to the next generation.

As for hiring genealogists, I've done it numerous times, usually with great results. When I hit a persistent brick wall, I turn to the pros. I use the website for the Association of Professional Genealogists. They have a page on hiring a pro (http://www.apgen.org/articles/hire.html), and the links on the left of the page will help you find a member in the location you desire.

[Scooter]

Thanks, Rosebud! Sorry for the late reply. I think I've got too many lines I'm still researching to send anything out to the family yet, but it's a great idea.


Thank you so much for that link! I was getting concerned about going down the path of hiring someone. I came across someone on Ancestry who had one of my relatives on her tree. He never had children and just passed away 2 yrs ago so we would have known. She had him listed as a father of three, and having lived in another state. I wrote to her to find out more--how she got that information and why it conflicted with mine. She replied telling me that he probably had dementia when we knew him, because her information is correct. I found that a little insulting, so I did some searches myself. Apparently, she'd randomly been saving facts to his profile on her tree, as long as the person had the same name. So there were like 3 different people who she decided were the same person--even though their stats didn't match up quite right--and then she was telling me that her info was correct and this uncle was wrong about his own life! But here's the scary part--her user profile says she's a professional genealogy researcher and the head of a genealogy center!! :eek: I am guessing she wasn't formally educated in research...but it does make me leary of who can be trusted to help.

[Rosebud]

Interesting article on CNN today:

What the census can teach us about ourselves (http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/01/11/census.family.research/index.html?hpt=C1)

The article is about a family who used census records on Ancestry.com to locate their grandmother's long-lost brother. There's a lot of general research tips included, as well.


Easy online access to census forms allows millions of Americans to learn more about themselves and their histories. Most revelations won't be as dramatic, but experts say you never know what you'll find.

Basic population statistics are released soon after each census is tabulated. However, for privacy protection, documents with names and personal details of respondents aren't released for 72 years.

The latest information made available was gathered in 1930, and reveals a glimpse of life during the Great Depression. Census takers asked the usual questions: names, ages, birthplaces. But they also wanted to know if there was a radio in the house -- reflecting broadcasting's growing importance. Forty percent of all households had a radio in 1930.

But as family historians know, it's the personal fragments garnered from census documents that tell the most dramatic stories of American life. These historical gems often provide clues that, knitted together, can weave a story as cherished as any family tapestry or ancestral tartan.

[tenofcups]

Just a reminder -- first episode of the season for Who Do You Think You Are? tonight. My DVR is set!

[Scooter]

Mine is too!

It looks like Kim Cattrall will be on this season, which is interesting because she was on the British version (she was born in Liverpool). It was a very interesting episode, her mother's father had walked out on them when her mom was a little girl and he just disappeared. It was more of a missing person hunt though, so hopefully this episode will focus more on genealogy.

ETA: it looks like the Kim Catrall episode is the same as they aired on the UK version, by what they've shown on the commercials.

[Scooter]

Ok, I have a census question and I'm wondering if anyone's come across this. I've been working for awhile on uploading some old family photos to Ancestry, and I realized yesterday that one of the people in the photos is someone I lost track of in the records. I found him on the 1920 census, but then he's not on the 1930 one. The photo is from '45, so he was obviously still alive.

Does anyone have any tips on finding people on the census? I searched with just his last name, 1st initial, birth year, and the state I thought he was in, but still came up with nothing. His wife is also missing from it, wasn't in the photo, and I can't find either of their death records. I'm stumped!

[Alegna]

Scooter -

I've found my difficulties come from the names being indexed incorrectly. Some of the handwriting is hard to read which leads to mispellings in the index.

Luckily my family didn't move around much and were from smaller towns so I was able to just look through the entire county census till I found who I was looking for.

SSNs were assigned until 1936, and even then I don't think it was a requirement. So the SS Death Index might not include them. The forums on Find a Grave (http://www.findagrave.com/) might help. I was able to rule out a few cemetaries in the search for my Great Grandmother because posters checked for me.

Have you searched for his birth year and first name only? I know it is a wide net to cast but sometimes you have to go big.

[tenofcups]

Scooter -

I've found my difficulties come from the names being indexed incorrectly. Some of the handwriting is hard to read which leads to mispellings in the index.

I've run into this time and again too. I have a gg grandfather whose name was literally spelled wrong in every single index after 1900. I was able to find him a couple of times because it turned out he lived with his daughter in a few census records and I was able to find her, but I've also had to really widen the search, which can become terribly frustrating because then you can end up with THOUSANDS of names to weed through and no guarantee that any will actually be the person you're looking for.

But I also have some people I haven't been able to find at all, even though I know for sure they're still alive at certain times and even know what city they were in.

Scooter, I can come back later with some tips for searching on Ancestry (I've got a crazy deadline day today), but for now, I can also suggest that there might be records you could check that aren't on Ancestry. I'm not sure what state you're looking in, but some of them have censuses for years other than the standard federal census. NY state, for example, took censuses on some of the off years -- I've found great grandparents in the 1892 and 1905 NY state census.

Several cities in NY also have city directories for early years that you might be able to take a look at to see if you can find his name/address. I'm sure other cities/states must have them as well.

And FamilySearch.org (the Mormons) has some records that don't come up in Ancestry so you might want to pop over there and take a look if you haven't already. It's a free site.

Do you want to share what city or state you're looking in? Maybe some of us know of some other resources.

Geni.com has loads of family trees -- you might find him on there with some info that you can use. I don't remember if the site is free, but I do know I've found it very confusing to work with though I haven't explored it in-depth yet.

Oh, and if you feel like working backwards, if you have reason to believe he was at the same address in 1930 as in 1920, you could take a look at the 1930 census for that address and see if he's still there, just mis-indexed. It's a little complicated to go backwards like that and takes some time, but I've done it. Or if you know he has children living with him, you could also try searching by their names.

[magrat]

Myheritage.com is free too, you might find a smart match there.

[tenofcups]

If anyone has Irish ancestry, they're making a push in Ireland to release the 1926 there early. They usually have a 100-year rule on when to release the census. More info here: http://www.cigo.ie/news.html

[Rosebud]

Wow, wouldn't that be great? I sure hope it gets an early release. Thanks for the heads up!

[Scooter]

Thanks to all who gave me search tips!

Alegna, I've found a lot of people on the death index who were born before they started SSNs. I don't know if maybe I'm just finding people who were issued those numbers as adults for some reason, though. Maybe some people I can't find because they never went and got one. Do you know anything about how that worked?

tenofcups, yeah, I've looked on the Mormon site with no luck. Maybe if I went into one of their libraries I'd have more luck. I've been compiling a list of people to look for when I go in there. I google a lot, too, which has been very successful at times. But I haven't been to geni.com yet. I've found some city directories, but haven't come across one for this area. This person lived in 3 different states in the 1900, 1910 and 1920 censuses, so I don't know if he stayed in one city or moved around the state after that.

He was in Los Angeles in '20 and our photo was taken in CA in 1945.


Oh, and if you feel like working backwards, if you have reason to believe he was at the same address in 1930 as in 1920, you could take a look at the 1930 census for that address and see if he's still there, just mis-indexed. This is exactly what I fear I'll have to do. Sometimes the names are mispelled so badly on the census I'd never think of trying that in a search.
ETA: Damn, I found their house (thank you google maps for helping me go through the census quicker than expected). They moved. :(

magrat, thanks, I hadn't visited myheritage before.

[Alegna]

From Wikipedia:
The SSNs were issued by the Social Security Administration in November 1936 as part of the New Deal Social Security program. Within three months, 25 million numbers were issued.[3]

Before 1986, people often did not obtain a Social Security number until the age of about 14, since the numbers were used for income tracking purposes, and those under that age seldom had substantial income.


The Death Master File is a computer database file made available by the United States Social Security Administration since 1980. It is known commercially as the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). The file contains information about persons who had Social Security numbers and whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration from 1962 to the present; or persons who died before 1962, but whose Social Security accounts were still active in 1962.

[tenofcups]

Rosebud (or anyone else with Irish ancestry), just saw this as part of a listserv I'm part of. Oddly enough the listserv is for Jewish genealogy, but they keep up pretty well with developments around the world since you never know where Jews came from, passed through, or ended up. Anyway, in case you hadn't seen this already:

A new portal started today, March 4 for the Irish Archives Resource (IAR):
http://www.iar.ie . The public may now search a wide range of Irish archives
online. The IAR is funded by the Heritage Council of Ireland and is
supported by the Archives and Records Association (Ireland).

The National Archives of Ireland, also has a genealogy section:
http://www.nationalarchives.ie/genealogy/beginning.html where members of the
public can consult a professional genealogist about sources relating to
their family history. Many of the collections listed on this portal will
contain information of interest to genealogists and family historians. Items
such as rental ledgers, wages and salaries books and employee records can
often contain references to people whose lives have otherwise gone largely
unrecorded. The National Archives, established on 1 June 1988, took over the
functions previously performed by the State Paper Office (1702) and the
Public Record Office of Ireland (1867).

[tenofcups]

Just realized I forgot to put the original source of that info. Apparently it was earlier reported in Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter. I'd never heard of it, but just checked it out and it looks interesting. It's here if anyone else wants to check it out: http://blog.eogn.com/

[maxandmolly]

I've been working on my family genealogy for about a year now. Some has been really straightforward. The early settlers in Mass kept great records. One side I can track from Germany to the boats to the city my grandmother was born 75 years later. My grampa is a adopted but not this isn't your legal name no records of either set of parents set of mess.
But I have two problem areas - my Nana was Jewish, and her mother's name was so utterly common in the Bronx in the early 1900s that I can't tell which records are her. I know she was born here but I believe her parents were the ones to immigrate, although I'm not sure. I have names for her father's parents but again, I'm not convinced they're right.
How can I know I a) have the right people & b) trace then back to Europe?

[Scooter]

Alegna, weird, I posted a reply to you days ago and it disappeared. Anyway. Yes, I was aware that the SSNs didn't start until the New Deal, but I'm not sure why some people got them and some didn't. I did not know about the 1962 thing, though, that does help, thanks!

tenofcups, thanks for those links! It looks like the National Archives has genealogists that can help you only if you show up in person during the walk-in hours. I'm going to have to contact them to see if they are able to give any advice to people overseas, e.g. via email. I have a relative who came from Ireland as an apprentice at age 11, and have had no luck so far with that trail, so we'll see if this helps.

M&M, I'd probably start with a census search. Often family members lived close to each other, so see if there are any neighbors who were parents, siblings, or children. Do you have her later address there? You can look to see if any of the people with her name are living at the same address--it's written along the left hand side of the census. You can also double check other information, like the countries of birth, family member names, and occupations. I'd also look for her father's name to see if he registered for the draft in 1917, which will list his address, wife, and how many children (usually). If you can find that, you can check the census for that address.

It sounds like her parents came over after 1892, which is very lucky in researching immigration because you can search Ellis Island's site: http://ellisisland.org . Their documents are great because they usually tell the town of origin, who paid the passage, and the address of where they're going. If you find them on there, check the rest of the document in case they came with other siblings or cousins or anyone. Those would be my two starting points, I think.

[tgr68]

I'm just starting and already feeling a bit overwhelmed. :(

I have holes in the family tree as recently as my grandparents. My parents won't talk about it due to incidents of drug/alcohol abuse, infidelity, "out of respect" for the parents they grew up with, not wanting to air dirty laundry, etc. I know of some of this because my paternal grandmother was willing to share, but she has since passed.

Any advice on where to go to get some of this info when dealing with common names and tightly lipped relatives?

[Scooter]

Tgr, I'd start by compiling any information you have for your grandparents. Full names, dates (birth, marriage, death), siblings, places of residence (and generally when they lived there). Did they go to college? What was their profession? Are they interred in a cemetery? If you know where that is, you can contact the cemetery to get burial records, which sometimes have more information than you'd expect. And you may find that they have other family members buried there--which gives you more names and dates. You can also order birth and death certificates "for informational purposes" in the county where those events occurred. Those will give you your great-grandparents' names, including your great-grandmother's maiden names.

Another great resource when starting out is the census data. If your grandparents were born before 1930, you should be able to find their families on one of the censuses. This is where the sibilings' names and the places of residence come into play. There may be a thousand John Smiths, but if yours was born in Mayberry in 1920 and has a brother named Ezekiel, suddenly it's a lot easier to find him! The census will give info about the parents, including occupation, years married, state of birth. You can follow that back and find them on censuses from earlier on.

There is also military service--there are rolls for WWII, plus draft cards for WWI and II, even if there was no service. That is great for verifying dates and residences, plus you can see the person's own handwriting. I'm not sure how much is available with the free account from Ancestry, but it's an easy place to start. There is also Google--try a combo of the person's name, city or town where they lived, spouse's name, etc. You'd be surprised how much can be found on google if you get creative with your searches, I've found people's yearbook photos from college in the '30s and '50s--you just never know.

The other thing is...do you know if your parents have any old photos or boxes with letters, etc? Is there any way you can take a look through? Sometimes snippets of info are scrawled on the back of an old photo or something. Are there any cousins or older relatives that might have some more information or be willing to say a little more? Reach out to them. If you frame it as genealogy, they might be less worried that you're trying to stir up old wounds and drama. Some of them may have photos or info, too!

[tgr68]

Thanks.

I've compiled a good chunk of starter info:
3 of my 4 grandparents names (1 birthday w/ location)
1 great-grandfathers name
2 great-grandmothers first names
1 grandmothers siblings name

I think I'm going to write my dad's brother a letter and see if he can send me copies of anything of their mothers documents.

I thought of newspapers, but most lived in very small towns with now defunct papers. :(

Does this sound like a good start? I thought its be a little easier than this back to my grandparents, but with an adoption and multiple marriages, maybe I'm exporting too much to stay with.

[Scooter]

I thought of newspapers, but most lived in very small towns with now defunct papers.
Check if there is a historical society in those towns or call their library to see where historical documents are kept. There should be an archive of old papers, maybe you could speak with a historian there. I'd start with the cemetery records, personally, to get their death dates. Once you have more info about dates and relatives, it makes it easier to go through the papers. Then you can check the papers for their obituaries, too.

ETA: what about churches? Were they members of any churches in these small towns? Contact them and see if they can share any of their records with you--marriages, baptisms, etc.

[tgr68]

One side of my family occasionally went to church.

I found an email for the county librarian and will be emailing to see how much they charge for genealogical research. I'd just go myself, but it's 6+ hours away. We've been planning to go see my aunt and uncle in the near future, so I may build in a day for research.

I wrote dad's brother a letter, and it's currently on its way to TX. I'm going they'll be able to send some info back with my dad.

In the meantime, I've been scouring the internet for anything and everything I can get my hands on.

[tenofcups]

I know this isn't the confession thread, but I confess that I'm so envious of DH right now! He started doing genealogical research for his family and in several branches has been able to go back to the 1600s or thereabouts; in one branch, he got back to the year 1,000! He did that all in about 5 nights. I, on the other hand, have been researching for 3 years and have only been able to get back to the 1850s on 2 lines.

It's the difference between my Jewish family and trying to trace them back to Poland (formerly Austria-Hungary) and what used to be Russia (now the Ukraine and Lithuania) vs. his mostly Scottish and German families who have been here for centuries, have kept track of family history, and have multiple people in extended branches tracing the same things.

I don't seriously begrudge him the information he found -- I think it's great! -- and I joke about how it's not fair, but c'mon, it's not fair!

[tgr68]

I feel your pain, tenofcups. I just started with my research. My family has done NOTHING to keep track of this stuff, and DH's family has done an amazing job of it.

[Rosebud]

tenofcups, I've had the same issue. My husband's family is primarily English and German. They've got records going back to the 1500s, no problem. My family is largely Irish, and Irish genealogy is really difficult to trace past the late 1800s. (Although I do have a Scottish line that goes back to the 1100s-- those Scots and Germans were impressive record keepers!)

Jewish genealogy is challenging for a number of reasons. The Holocaust destroyed records and so many people who would have written down their history or passed it along verbally were killed. Prior to that, there were plenty of other political conflicts and forced migrations. If the temple burned down or your people had to abandon their town and move elsewhere, records get destroyed and lost. With any group of people who has been victimized in history, you have trouble. With the Irish, there was the famine and more than 1/3 of the population dying, and also the fact that the Irish were so subjugated that they weren't allowed to own property and the like-- which means your name never ends up on legal documents and it's hard to trace anyone. To compensate for the fact that I'll likely never know who those people were in my past, I've tried to do a lot of reading about Irish history and politics, and I think it helps me understand better what those unknown people experienced and how they lived. You might end up in a similar situation. At least then, you pass on the knowledge of the culture and the geopolitical specifics. It's something!

[Rosebud]

This is great for anyone who has English ancestors but never wanted to pay for the World package on Ancestry.com (like me!!):


FREE England & Wales*
Marriage indexes - 21st-30th April

It's not just royal weddings that are worth remembering. This week, as Kate and William prepare for the happiest day of their lives, look back at equally special days in your family history – using all our official England and Wales Marriage Indexes, 1837-2005, for FREE!*

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/dynamic/bmd#marriage

:) :)

[Scooter]

Tenofcups, if you have any suggestions about looking for Polish ancestors, please let me know! I have one ancestor who came here from Poland, not sure when but he was here in 1845. All we have is his and his brother's names, I'm not even totally sure on the spelling of his last name, and we don't know the town. I'm totally stumped on that one and am not getting anywhere with Polish ancestry sites, they seem really confusing to me.

Rosebud, I keep meaning to get the World package for one month. I have a document with all the people from other countries & their identifying info so I can be organized and research them all in one month so I can then cancel the subscription!

Have you checked to see if your library has any genealogy collections or subscriptions? The County library here has Heritage Quest that you can log into from home and the Ancestry Library Package (includes World!) that's only in-library. I have tried it and it was so slow it took 2-3 mins per page to load. That gets old quick. I spent 30 mins and did find out a little info, but it would take a lot of time. Maybe when my kids are in school next year I can go try it some more.

[jennylou]

Scooter - our plan is to get everything together to do all the world part in a month as well. :) DHs family is incredibly frustrating because I can't get beyond Great Grandparents - they all seem to have come over. My family has been here for a long time, Germans, and much easier to trace. We do have some Irish and the branch that we have was actually pretty easy to trace. None of my side came over through Ellis Island, they all came much earlier.

[tenofcups]

Scooter, So far all my Polish records have come from JRI Poland, but that's a Jewish Polish site and if I remember right, your family isn't Jewish, are they? I haven't ordered any of the actual records yet (that's possible but a lot of bureaucratic nonsense), but they've got an extensive index.

Familysearch.org has some Polish records, but I don't think very extensive. I know there are a lot of Jewish Polish records going back to about the mid-19th century so I would assume the non-Jewish ones go at least that far back too, but I honestly have no idea where to look for them. Sorry!

[Scooter]

JL, That's how I feel about my mom's side. They all came over in the late 1800's, before Ellis Island. My great-grandfather did come through Ellis Island, and some aunts, and those records are pretty awesome. I love how it has them give the town they're coming from and the address & name of the person they're going to stay with. If only we had that info for every immigrant ancestor! We don't even have towns for some of these people.

tenofcups, I'm guessing not Jewish. He married a woman with a very English (Christian) sounding name, but I suppose you never know. He hasn't come up on Familysearch. Thanks for your help, though!

[tenofcups]

Have you guys found any immigration records for people who came over in the late 1800s?

I haven't. I have a few lines that came over in the 1880s and '90s and I haven't been able to find any record of their entry. I know there are some Castle Garden records, but they don't seem to have a lot and I've never found anyone there.

I'm almost certain one family came through Canada. My grandfather always told us his family was FROM Canada, but there are enough other records to prove that's definitely not the case. As close as I can figure, that "from" was really "through." I know they're from Galicia, but that's a huge region that encompasses what's now Poland, plus parts of the Ukraine, some other former USSR countries, and I think Austria. I've never been able to track them to a particular city.

[magrat]

Have you guys found any immigration records for people who came over in the late 1800s?

No, I have the same problem actually. My great grandpa came from Scotland to Canada when he was 16, and soon ended up in North Dakota. I haven't found anything between seeing him as a baby in Scotland until he was living in Minnesota and already married with children. Of course his name was James Millar (changed to Miller) so I feel it's pretty hopeless.

[Scooter]

Have you guys found any immigration records for people who came over in the late 1800s?
Nope. I haven't seen any actual records before Ellis Island opened.

I've found a couple of obituaries and gravestones that mention the place of origin or year of immigration. The 1900 census was great because it asked the year, so at least we get that. But I find that the earlier you go, especially in the 1600s and 1700s, you only get the country of origin. I think they came over here to start a new life and therefore where they were from was not really a valued piece of their history. Which unfortunately means it's difficult to figure out why they came here, exactly. I do know that 2 of my grandfather's aunts came over here and threw their passports out the window while on a train, because they never wanted to see their home country again! I think a lot of immigrants felt that way.

tenofcups, from the little I've looked into Poland, the history is very complicated, with Russia invading repeatedly and the borders changing constantly. I don't envy your research!

[tenofcups]

tenofcups, from the little I've looked into Poland, the history is very complicated, with Russia invading repeatedly and the borders changing constantly. I don't envy your research!

I know -- it's crazy! My grandfather always told us that his family came from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then one day he said they were from Poland. We all looked at him like he was crazy, but my guess now is that someone told him that area had become Poland and that's when he changed the story. But it was so odd at the time and I don't remember him explaining why he was suddenly changing the story. And I've totally confused cousins on the other side when I mention we're from Poland because they've also heard the same Austria-Hungary story on that side and had no idea what I was talking about.

But what amuses me most is census records from the same people over several decades. Depending on who was ruling the land at the time, when asked where they came from, their answers vary each census: I've got Poland, Germany, and Galicia for the same person in different years. Totally confused me at first -- how could they not know where they came from?! But I guess they changed their answer as the governments changed.

Of course, neither of my Russian grandmothers' families are actually from Russia either. One is from what's now Lithuania and the other the Ukraine.

So my Austrian-Hungarian/Russian family is not from Austria, Hungary, or Russia :-)

[Scooter]

I just realized I'm wrong, I did find one immigration record from DH's family, from 1854! It's in the database: "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957." So the database title alone suggests that there are records from at least 1820. But I had ancestors come over to New York during that same time frame and they're not listed in there, so I guess it's down to luck.

I've noticed the same thing on the censuses, with the countries changing. Some of them say Poland and some say Russia, and some say Poland (Russia). Which doesn't really narrow it down much for me. I keep looking up old maps because I've been watching the Tudors and they always talk about the Emperor (Austria-Hungarian) and it's amazing how much the European countries changed in the last several hundred years. I also was confused with some of DH's ancestors who came from Hamburg (the ones with that immigration record). They were listed as German, but on the immigration papers they were Danish. I didn't realize that Denmark occupied part of Germany back then.

[maxandmolly]

I've found passenger lists from immigrants coming in through New Orleans in the 1840s. A whole herd of one branch of my family came in from Bremen Germany through New Orleans in 1847.

[tenofcups]

I just realized I'm wrong, I did find one immigration record from DH's family, from 1854! It's in the database: "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957." So the database title alone suggests that there are records from at least 1820. But I had ancestors come over to New York during that same time frame and they're not listed in there, so I guess it's down to luck.

I think it's also dependent to some extent on how unusual the name might be. I've found a few people that might be relatives, but their names are common and there's so little info on those early records that I have no way of knowing if I've got the right [insert Jewish version of Joe Smith].

[Scooter]

I've got that problem, too. Especially on the earlier census records, where it only lists the head of house. No way of knowing if that is really your relative. Same thing with Revolutionary & Civil War rolls, some of them have more identifying info but many are just lists of names and their states. Most of my male ancestors were John, Joseph, David, Daniel, William, Thomas, and they all had children and nephews and grandsons with the same first names. Very frustrating not knowing if a record refers to them or not.

[Rosebud]

Most of my male ancestors were John, Joseph, David, Daniel, William, Thomas, and they all had children and nephews and grandsons with the same first names. Very frustrating not knowing if a record refers to them or not.

We have five or six generations in a row where the head of household was named Samuel Smith. I cannot even tell you how difficult it was to figure this mess out! That's about the time you start praying for ancestors named Ozias, Ebenezer and Huldah, right?

[Scooter]

LOL! I haven't even heard of Huldah! That one would be great. DH has a Zenas and a Zadock in his family, those were great! Of course, there ended up being a Zadock Sr and a Zadock Jr, but still, not a big problem.

[jennylou]

Ha, you think a Huldah would help, yet we hit a road block on our Huldah. We were able to deduce her father's name and her mother's last name from the marriage registry, but we can't find anything other than that. The worst part is, this is just the early 1900s. DHs family gives me headaches!

[jjsanner]

I have a Cunugunda, but I still can't find info on her line, believe it or not! I think I may have the spelling wrong though. My grandma (who is still with us) doesn't even know the proper spelling!

[Scooter]

If you google that one, there's a Saint Cunegunda, which could be who she's named after, so there's a spelling to try. Although you never know if the parents spelled it right in the first place. ;)

[Alegna]

Funny ~ I just found a Huldah on my tree this weekend.

I've found the census is a crap shoot for spellings. Apparently the census taker would just write down however they thought it was spelled.

My great great grandfather Dyer is listed as Obediah on the 1900 census. I have NO CLUE where that came from. All other documents show his name as Dyer.

I'm lucky, it seems my family didn't move around a lot. I have multiple generations in the same area. Actually most are burried in the same cemetery. DHs family is the same, but his is a little more confusing. A lot of similar names. And honestly, I get frustrated with it so I go back to my side since it's a lot easier to track down information.

I'm all about the instant gratification. ;)

Anybody in Sioux City IA want to do some research for me? I'll be willing to trade central IL research.

[magrat]

My great grandma was Hulda :)

I haven't done genealogy for a while, but I just got the urge and did a little more looking and made some real breakthroughs! I have gone back a couple more generations in one line and now know what towns in Ireland my GGG-grandparents are from. I never thought much about being Irish because my great grandpa came from Scotland, but it turns out his grandparents were Irish and emigrated to Scotland. Can anyone doing Irish genealogy tell me what the Irish records are like? I think I'm looking at mid-19th century. Am I at a dead end?

My other amazing find (from a different branch of my family) was seeing my GG-Grandfather's name on a message board. I was looking up stuff about him because he fought in the Civil War and that generates more records. Anyway, someone posted that they have his diary! He kept it during the war! It's in German and hard to read, but the man is descended from a different daughter than I am and lives near me, so we're going to get together so I can see it. You can think you've learned everything it's possible to learn about an ancestor, and then their diary turns up! Amazing!

[tenofcups]

I'm so jealous -- a diary is such a great find!

[Rosebud]

Can anyone doing Irish genealogy tell me what the Irish records are like? I think I'm looking at mid-19th century. Am I at a dead end?

Normally, I would say yes. Irish records don't go much beyond the mid-1800s for all the reasons I mentioned in an earlier post. That said, if your ancestors moved to Scotland, I am wondering if they may have been Protestant. If so, you're much more likely to find some older records, since Protestants were permitted to own land. What county did they come from, and do you know if they were RC or Protestant?


My other amazing find (from a different branch of my family) was seeing my GG-Grandfather's name on a message board. I was looking up stuff about him because he fought in the Civil War and that generates more records. Anyway, someone posted that they have his diary!

Something similar happened to me a few years back. I'd posted on Genforum about an ancestor, and someone tracked me down there and ended up mailing me an original Civil War photo of an ancestor. It's amazing when things like this drop into your lap! I'm a huge, huge fan of posting on the Genforum and Ancestry message boards, because you never know who will see it and which distant relative you'll end up meeting. I've probably met 4-5 and they've all given a huge boost to my research.

[Scooter]

Magrat, what a wonderful find! Do you or the other guy know German at all? That would be so great to get translated!

That makes me wonder, what do all of you do when you come across material that would be helpful to another family?

I was thinking about this recently because I uploaded a newspaper article to Ancestry. It was from 1899 and about my GGG grandfather, who came to CA in 1849 on a gold mining ship. It told about the ship and what it went through, and listed several other people who came over on it, too. The type of thing those families would love to read.

We've also got a bunch of photos that were sent to my GG grandma by her cousins--beautiful portraits. They have the people's names and I've found the family on the censuses, but I can't figure out exactly how they're related. But their own descendents might appreciate the photos!

Maybe I should go post on some message boards to see if any of these families are searching.

[tenofcups]

Rosebud, I don't know anything about Genforum. It appears you think it's a site worth exploring?

DH has done an amazing job on finding his family's genealogy, including a mystery that no one thought could be solved. His grandmother was adopted by his ggmother as a baby around 1920. No records, nothing official, just a handover of the child and a few bits of information his ggm had that she eventually passed onto his gm.

Luckily we're close enough to the area where this happened that DH could go there on a daytrip and look at records that are not posted anywhere on line. He found a divorce record for the birth parents and put that together with other records he'd found on Ancestry that give us a 99% certainty he found the right people. Then he was able to connect with some people who are distantly related to that family for more information.

Now his mother's generation has to decide if they want to reach out to closer relatives, who may or may not know about the baby or the adoption and may or may not want to connect.

[magrat]

rosebud Thanks for that! They were Catholic. A huge number of Irish Catholics emigrated to Dundee to work in the mills, and I found a few Catholic church records on scotlandspeople.gov.uk. The towns they were from were Cork and Rhode.

It's funny, but I've had a harder time finding out what happened to my G-Grandpa's siblings than finding stuff further back. The government records seem to be surprisingly incomplete. One interesting find though was my GG-Grandma's sister Helen who died at 15 months of "teething." Apparently that was what they'd put when a child that age had an unexplained fever, but it struck home because my son is that age and teething.

I'd also like to know that answer to scooter's question, I sometimes find things that would be interesting to other families. I think posting on a message board is the best bet though. I've found information years and years after it was posted.

[Rosebud]

That makes me wonder, what do all of you do when you come across material that would be helpful to another family?

Two things: (1) Scan it and attach it to my Ancestry tree. Then anyone who looks at that person on your tree can see the info. The only downside is that they may just take the info without contacting you or establishing a relationship, which means you may not learn anything from them. (2) Post on both the Ancestry and Genforum boards saying something like, "Anyone researching the Powell family from Hometown, Maine? Family members include Joseph G. Powell, Anna Lee Powell, Junior F. Powell...." etc. list as many names, places and dates as you can, so that the information would get picked up in a Google search. Then, just tell people to contact you for more info, photos, etc. Make sure your email address stays current, as it can be years before someone hits on this.


Rosebud, I don't know anything about Genforum. It appears you think it's a site worth exploring?

Yes, yes, yes! I have had my biggest genealogy breakthroughs come through this site. It's not at all sophisticated, but it's free and cached by Google, so anyone looking for common relatives would stumble on it very quickly if they did a general Google search. Do a search for ancestors here, and if you don't find anything, post a message listing their names, location, dates and as much information as possible about them. Then just wait. It can take a while, but you'll get responses. I've found multiple family members (who I've stayed in touch with) and whole branches of the tree I didn't know existed through Genforum. It's hit or miss, but absolutely worth trying. I think the Ancestry boards could have a similar result, but I haven't used them enough to know and am not sure if they're cached by Google. It's worth exploring.


rosebud Thanks for that! They were Catholic. A huge number of Irish Catholics emigrated to Dundee to work in the mills, and I found a few Catholic church records on scotlandspeople.gov.uk. The towns they were from were Cork and Rhode.

Interesting! I hadn't heard of Ireland --> Scotland migration. In my experience, it's awfully difficult to find anything about Irish Catholics from about the mid-1800s and earlier. There just weren't many records kept, and the famine years and following waves of emigration only made things more challenging. The only real luck I've had is from actually going to the towns I knew my family came from and asking at the church. The priest in one town let us look at baptismal records- handwritten and definitely not online- and that was helpful. I also tromped through the graveyards, took photos of every headstone that might be relevant, and talked with a local historian. Still, I don't know anyone prior to about 1830. With a big city like Cork, I think it'll be a bit tougher. There are so many churches there that unless you knew the specific neighborhood, you could be flying blind. Not to discourage you at all-- definitely keep looking-- but Irish genealogy usually only goes so far. What I've done to console myself is read a lot about Irish history and the history of the particular locations my people lived. Knowing a bit about what was happening during their lives and what daily life could have been like for them makes me feel better about knowing so few names and dates.

[Alegna]

That makes me wonder, what do all of you do when you come across material that would be helpful to another family?

I've spent some time going through my great aunts scrapbooks. She has obituaries and newspaper clipping from every family memeber, their family members, neighbors, friends. It's really crazy. Then I get to the point where I feel like I don't really need some of these people on my tree.

For example, my great aunts, husbands, sisters, 2nd husband.

But I put it on there because I had the obit. And what do you know, someone on ancestry saved it to their tree. So I hope I've helped them in some way.

I figure if I have the time and the information I should put it out there for others who might need it.

Now if I could just come up with the time to scan and save all those obits/newpaper clippings. ;)

Speaking of which - any suggestions on how to scan REALLY old scrapbooks? These are very fragile. The pages have 2 gromits and a string tied through it. I might be able to untie it, or cut it. But I'd probably have to replace it. I don't think it will lay flat on my scanner. Anybody had any luck just taking pictures with their digital camera? I might try setting up a tripod and doing that.

[tenofcups]

Alegna, DH has had good luck taking pics of old documents with his digital camera, including two bibles that are very old. I think it's a great solution for documents that you can't scan.

[Scooter]

Alegna, did you try taking pics of those scrapbooks? It's what I've done. The lighting is the tricky part because you don't want any glares, but if you set it up well it can come out great.


Have any of you started a journal or something like that to pass down to your own descendents? What medium have you used?

I've been thinking about it a lot lately, wishing that some of my ancestors had written some personal information about their lives and thoughts and experiences. I really would like to start a journal that is specifically for future generations. It will include things like my memories of my own grandparents and parents, besides stuff from my life. I want to especially touch on things that root it in history, because we can already see how different things are for teenagers now versus 20 years ago. Talk a bit about politics, religion, parenting, values in my life, etc. You know, all that stuff you wonder about your ancestors but can't ask them.

I haven't actually started writing it yet, though, because I'm not sure if I should write it by hand or type it on the computer. I think the journal would be best for archiving, because I can write on acid free paper and save it, but electronic versions of things can get outdated or corrupted. My DH thinks an electronic version would be better because there could be more than one copy, so less risk of losing it. I'm very curious if others have done something like this and what form they decided to put it in?

[Alegna]

Alegna, did you try taking pics of those scrapbooks?

I did. I ended up using my ipad to take pictures. Worked ok. Probably would be better if I had a tripod/camera set up. It was great for updating my tree. I could have the photo up on the ipad and my tree up on the computer and not have to flip back and forth.

There is so much in the scrapbooks that I ended up just skimming and taking pictures of names I recognized. But once I started adding the data to my tree I realized there is a lot more that I missed. Or I'll see another name on the edge of the picture.

[tenofcups]

Scooter, I haven't done anything like that, but I think it's a great idea!

As for which way to do it, honestly I think both have advantages and disadvantages, so I'd probably approach it this way -- which are you more likely to actually DO?

While I love the idea of handwriting it, and I think that makes it more personal in some ways, I know that I can type much faster than I can handwrite, which means I'd be much more likely to actually finish the project if I put it on the computer than if I attempted to handwrite it. But that's just personal style -- which do you think you're more inclined to sit down and actually work on?

Also, either could actually be backed up in the other medium. If you handwrite, you can also scan it into the computer so you have an electronic copy. And if you do it on the computer, you could print it out to have a hard copy. So, from that perspective, I don't think there's much difference.

[Alegna]

After trying to decode the handwriting in the census ~ I'd say electronic :)

[sixlets]

I'm sorry to interrupt the current conversation, but I was hoping one of you ladies could steer me in the right direction.

Where can I go to look for information on Native American genealogy? I recently found out (within the last year) that my great-great-grandmother was Native American, and I would love to get more info. I have her name, but that's about it. I would love to find out more about this part of my past, but with it being so broad, I have no idea where to start.

I would appreciate any help! Thanks so much!

[Rosebud]

Have any of you started a journal or something like that to pass down to your own descendents? What medium have you used?

I'm going to echo tenofcups on this-- which medium are you more likely to want to write in? I'd go with that, and then make backup copies, as well.

I tend to do all my work on the computer, but then print hard copies to keep in my genealogy binder, as well. I like that I can email copies of a Word doc to lots of people, since that spreads the info through the family for more people to pass on to the next generation. You're right to be concerned about technology changes, though. My Grandma wrote a short autobiography in the late 80s, but can now only find half of it in printed form. Of course, no one remembers what computer it was originally written on, or what out-of-date floppy disk the file might have been saved on, so we're just missing a bunch of the story.



Where can I go to look for information on Native American genealogy? I recently found out (within the last year) that my great-great-grandmother was Native American, and I would love to get more info. I have her name, but that's about it. I would love to find out more about this part of my past, but with it being so broad, I have no idea where to start.

Have you checked Ancestry.com yet? I know they have some Native American histories and documents. I'd also recommend checking the message boards at both Ancestry and Genforum.org for the particular surname you're researching. After you do searches at these places, you might want to get to a local level and look for historical societies and Native American groups in the area your ancestor came from. They can give you more specifics about that particular tribe.

[Scooter]

Alegna, That is so neat you have that scrapbook to work on. :)

tenofcups, OK, you made up my mind. No way will I get as much done on it if I write it. I really like the idea of handwriting it being more personal, but it's faster to type and easy to go back and add things to it later. And I'm more likely to do it. I don't know why I didn't think of backing up a handwritten one with a scanner! But I guess that's a moot point now. I

RB, I think I'm just going to have to remember to occasionally print out hard copies of it to save in my genealogy file, just in case anything happens to the electronic file. What happened with your grandma's memoir is such a loss! Is she still living?

sixlets, I agree with Rosebud. I'd start with Ancestry.com and the census information. She was probably alive in the mid to late 1800s? That is a pretty good time period for census data, although a difficult time to be Native American. If you know any of her children or where she lived, that will help too because you will be more sure when you find her. Use the census info and other ancestry databases to go as far back as you can, perhaps getting her parents names. If you can find out what tribe she belonged to, my next step would probably be contacting them. Many tribes have their own websites, so you can learn more about their people and culture. Because their histories are oral, there is only so far back you can go with the parentage, but there will be someone who can help you learn about it and get an idea of what life might have been like for her and her ancestors. I found out that I have a Native American ancestor from the 1600s, and was able to find out a lot of information on the tribe's website--but your ancestor is recent enough that you should contact them and find out more!

[looch]

Question for the experienced gals on the board!

I am just beginning our family trees and have managed to get a bit of information from my aunt. I've also joined ancestry.com and have the free trial for 14 days. Before I pay for the year, I would like to know if it's worth my while. My situation is this: most of my family is still living in Europe. I can easily access the information at the local municipalities, so I don't really think I have a lot of use for US census records, passenger manifestos, etc. My DH's family is still all in Europe, same situation. Is the membership worth it, or is it more geared towards families that relocated to the United States?

[Scooter]

Looch, try going to the search page http://search.ancestry.com/search/ and go to Explore by Location. You can see the databases that they have for the various countries. It might give you some idea of whether it's worth it. The problem is that you'd have to pay for access to the world record collections in addition to your regular membership fee, which is a monthly fee and pretty pricey. I don't know if you can sign up for it through another country, like Ancestry.de or Ancestry.fr or whatever, but that is something to look into.

Ancestry can be useful because it's a place to keep all the info together online, which makes it easy to share with other people if you're researching together (which is partly why my family uses it). But it's certainly not the only way to do it and htere are other sites where you can have the info stored online. If you're already stuck unless you pay more for the world access, I'd probably try ll the other sites instead. Which sites are best will depend to some extent on which countries you're researching.

[maxandmolly]

Your info remains stored on ancestry.com even if you cut off you subscription. You just can't search anymore. (Budget cuts recently.)

[looch]

Thanks, I cancelled it. It was a trial for the world membership and honestly, given the information that I have, the tips weren't useful. So, for the time being, I will contact the local municipalities. One of the countries that I would need doesn't have birth/death/marriage records on line, and the other I can easily have a family member that lives there do the research. Let's see how this pans out!

[Scooter]

Looch, good luck! It isn't an easy thing to do this research long distance. If you haven't looked into it, you may also try contacting the genealogical societies in areas where you're searching. They may have suggestions for you of where to look.

[looch]

Thanks Scooter. The good news is for DH's family, I can go to the local town offices as needed, that's shouldn't be an issue, the Swiss are known for keeping good records. It's just a matter of knowing which town office I need to go to! As for my family, the really interesting part is going to be seeing if we have a first cousin marriage somewhere.. According to my aunt, we don't, but I think it's a matter of not knowing. In a small mountain town where a large portion of the population has the same family name...you know where this is going!

[Scooter]

Ha! "Not in OUR family!" lol! That will definitely be interesting. I was expecting more of that sort of thing and more women getting married super young, but I was surprised to see most of the women were married in their 20s. It wasn't until I got back in the 1500s and 1600s that I starting seeing they were all teenagers. But even back int he 1300s I have ancestors who weren't having children until they were in their 20s or 30s. So you just never know what you're going to find.

[tenofcups]

Who Do You Think You Are? is back on tonight! I recorded it, but have only watched a few minutes so far. But already it's gotten me so excited to get back to my research. Probably can't really dive in again for a couple of months. I'm determined to get my entire house painted this winter and that's going to take most of my energy -- how do people pursue multiple hobbies and projects at the same time?!

I really do love this show -- especially when I record it and can skip over the recaps and coming up sections :p

[Scooter]

I'm feeling the same way with research right now, way too much going on to really get into it. I can only seem to manage one hobby at a time. But this show usually inspires me! I found the Martin Sheen one interesting. It reminded me of the British episode with Dervla Kirwan, although apparently her family fought with Michael Collins against Martin Sheen's family.


We're trying to track down a family member's birth information (town born in, parents' names, etc) and have hit multiple brick walls. I think we're going to order his military record from the government and see where that gets us. I haven't done that before because it's $50 for the records and that is going to add up if I order them for everybody. Have any of you done this before? Did it give you any new information about where they came from? I don't want to get my hopes up.

[tenofcups]

I haven't done it Scooter. I've seen some samples on WDYTYA? and they seem to be chockfull of great info, but I've never seen one in person.

I'm guessing you have enough info about the person to be able to order it?

[Alegna]

Scooter -

I did request my Great Grandfathers military records. Didn't really help me a bunch. I'll put them out on photobucket and you can look through them if you'd like. family tree documents (http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h83/baby01_2007/family%20tree%20documents/)

I found getting the person's Social Security Application provided the information I was looking. But I supposed it all depends on how far back you're looking.

Nevermind - it appears they've started censoring the SSA forms. http://megansmolenyak.posterous.com/social-security-administration-extends-foia-r

[Scooter]

Alegna, thank you for those documents! That does help give me a better idea of what we might get.

The war this guy was a verteran in was in 1845, so my resources are limited. We do have two obituaries which are great, but can't find anything about birth, immigration, or even marriage records (around 1850 in California, so records are not easily found. There were many fires that happened CA cities at that time). We know his country of origin but no other information.

[Scooter]

Does anyone know of any websites that help you identify fashion by decade/time period? I've randomly come across some things on costuming websites, but it's usually for a narrow time period. I'm thinking someone must have put together a reference like this for genealogy researchers, but I've never found one.

We have several old photographs (daguerreotypes, tintypes and silver nitrate "cabinet" photos) and can't always tell the time period. I have one of a woman with a capelet that has a huge satin bow tied at the neck, and figuring out the decade would help me know if it's the mother or the daughter.

[Alegna]

Scooter Do you have a local college or university that might have a fashion/history department?

I've never heard of a reference like that, but it does sound like a fabulous idea!

Only 7 more days till the 1940 census is released!

I recently switched my focus to different branches of my tree and was able to get into a lot of information/pictures. I love when you find other people's trees. One guy even offered his assistance.

It's so nice to feel like you're accomplishing something instead of just hitting a brick wall and dead ends :)

[Alegna]

My mom found an entire tote of papers/documents in her basement that belonged to my great Aunt. There is a ton of data about current living people. Cousins and such that I don't know.

I'm going to be a busy beaver entering all this info in!

[Scooter]

Happy Census Day!

I admit I started checking the new census on a few different websites before I went to bed last night--benefit of being on the West Coast. I was so excited. I can admit that in here without being laughed at, right? I'm pretty impressed with how fast Ancestry has been uploading the images, I've been using their site more than others.


Alegna, that is awesome! It's going to to take a long time to go through I'm sure, but that's really exciting! Thanks for the idea about universities, for some reason I hadn't thought of that. If I had any spare time to devote to it, I'd love to start a website to help people identify fashions from different eras. Researching it would be fun, too.

[Rosebud]

Is it just me, or is anyone else finding the 1940 census completely useless? Sigh. I mean, if you're looking for people in someplace like Chicago or Los Angeles, then good luck. Who knows what district you might need, and there's like a thousand to choose from. Or if you don't know the exact location someone lived in, say just the county or state, but not the town, you can't get anywhere. Until they get this thing categorized by name, I think it's pretty much impossible to navigate. :(

Is anyone else having better luck than me?

[karlatta]

Is it just me, or is anyone else finding the 1940 census completely useless? Sigh. I mean, if you're looking for people in someplace like Chicago or Los Angeles, then good luck. Who knows what district you might need, and there's like a thousand to choose from. Or if you don't know the exact location someone lived in, say just the county or state, but not the town, you can't get anywhere. Until they get this thing categorized by name, I think it's pretty much impossible to navigate. :(

Is anyone else having better luck than me?

The LDS church is working on indexing it so that it's searchable. I have no idea how long that will take, but I've logged a few hours doing it.

[Scooter]

It's difficult even if you know exactly the address, from what I've found, because you'll still have to search through 30-60 pages of names, hoping the census taker actually wrote in the street names. And the 1940 census has less information on it than some of the others, from what I've seen--eg. how long they're married, where parents were born, year arrived, etc.

I have gotten lucky a few times, by using the enumeration numbers from the 1930 census and the map of the 1940 census on Ancestry, but it still takes a long time to read through all those names and streets. Overall, I've just looked for a few key people. Once you find someone you can't save the record to their profile until it's indexed, so you just have to attach the whole image to the person's profile instead.

[Alegna]

1940 I'm pretty much waiting till it's indexed. I've got plenty of other stuff to keep me busy in the meantime.

My mom found some more stuff. She didn't even know what she had! A book of family history published in 1894 and a super old family bible with a ton of dates written in it. And in one of the books was a letter written by my 3rd great grandfather in 1855!

[Scooter]

Alegna - you have been really finding some treasures recently! How cool!

This week we visited a family member I haven't seen since I was a kid, he's 92 and still very sharp. I tried not to pepper him with questions, but I did get a lot of information out of him! Very exciting, some names and towns that I didn't know, so at least I have a starting point now for further research. I've been going through the Ellis Island records, tediously logging each person with a certain last name from the tiny town my ggparents came from, and trying to sort out how everyone's related. Looks like there was a mass exodus from this town between 1905-1920, and 20+ people came over. So confusing--cousins, siblings, all these nicknames. I've got to do some research on WHY they all left then.

Have any of you tracked down likely causes of your ancestors' emmigration? I know the early Americans came mostly for religious reasons, but I haven't figured out the later people's reasons.

[magrat]

I've found most of my ancestors on the 1940 census, just not my mom's parents. I'm sure if I went through all the files from the neighborhood all their relatives lived I'd find them, but I haven't felt like doing it yet. I feel starting this way (before they're indexed) has taught me a lot about the census, I've found out more about the neighborhoods, and I've come across people I wasn't looking for because they all lived near each other.

And I found my house! It's the first time that it would have been on a census as it was built in 1938. It was worth $5,500 and the person who lived here was a mortician! And the side street next to it had a different name than it does now.

scooter I can guess all mine came for better opportunities. None of them were wealthy or anything, just lots of peasants I think :) I know my mom's grandpa came because his brother got sick and couldn't use his ticket, so he came instead. Better than working in the cloth mills in Dundee I suppose.

[Rosebud]

Is anyone watching Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/). on PBS? I just discovered it, and it's great. Really interesting look at family history and American lives.

I'm hoping to find some time for genealogy this summer. My Grandmother passed away in February, and she was the one who really inspired me and supported me as I started to work on genealogy. She left me all her family files and photos (8 large bins full), which are now sitting in my office waiting to be sorted. Over the past years, I went through all those files with her and she shared a lot of stories, so I don't think I'm going to find any big surprises. What I need to do is organize, consolidate and think about how I'm going to share all this stuff with the rest of our family. I've written some family histories that I've passed around, but they're very time consuming and I've only just cracked the surface. I was thinking about a blog, where I could share bits and pieces as I go along. That might be an easy way not only to write it, but for younger cousins and such to digest it. Thoughts? Still, I'd have to worry about how to save it for posterity.

[Scooter]

RB, I'm sorry for the loss of your grandmother. It is so nice that the two of you were able to work on this together while she was here. It must have been some comfort to her to know that so much family history would be remembered through you. I think a blog is a great idea. You can share bits and pieces without having to commit to how regularly you do it. That is a great idea, I may have to steal at some point. I want to get to a point where I can make copies of everything we have and give it to everyone, but that is going to take a lot of travel before I really have collected all the documents I want. A blog would be a nice way of sharing little stories and things as we go.


I started watching Finding Your Roots, but caught on late into the season. I've got to find the earlier episodes online. Very interesting!

On another note, I just found evidence that one of DH's ancestor's died of the Plague. That's the first Plague victim I've found, which I thought was exciting. I feel a little bad for being excited by that, because he must have had a miserable death, but from a research standpoint it's a little thrill.

[Scooter]

Have any of you ever ordered naturalization records?

[Alegna]

Have any of you ever ordered naturalization records? Nope, sorry I'm no help.

I found my GGrandfather in the 1940 census and it lists him as a widower. That narrows my GGrandmothers death down to 1932-1940. I've got the library in Sioux City, IA searching for an obit for me. :D So excited.

[Rosebud]

FYI, Amazon is doing a Cyber Monday flash deal on Family Tree Maker today. If you don't have FTM, I think it's really the best system out there for organizing your genealogy work. This version is not Mac compatible-- PC only. Currently $38, but at 5:41pm PST their flash deal will start. Access from the Amazon home page. Just passing this along in case anyone is interested in grabbing it.

[Scooter]

Glad this thread got bumped, I've been meaning to post here and kept forgetting.

In case anyone hasn't seen this, the Library of Congress has an online (and FREE!) archive of a ton of newspapers from 1836-1922. You can search by phrase or name. I've been able to find a lot of articles about my ancestors dating back into the mid-1800s.

Newspaper Archive Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/)

Reading old newspapers is so much more interesting than modern-day ones. It was obviously before people used to sue the papers for libel, because they print the most salacious stories, and sure don't fuss about calling things "alledged." For example, I found an article about my ancestor who divorced her husband in the 1890s. They didn't interview him, printed a photo of her surrounded by drawings of cherubs, and went on and on about how he was abusive to their daughter and drank too much and had fallen in love with his mistress. The articles back then were like reading soap operas, it's shocking! But it's lucky for us as researchers because you get some very different perspectives on your ancestors.

[Alegna]

Thanks for the link. I'll have to see what turns up.

I know what you mean about news being different. Even some of the stories from 1950s are crazy to read now. Details about how people died and accidents. Talk about graphic descriptions!

[Rosebud]

Thought I'd share this article on genealogy that appeared in the Wall Street Journal recently:

When a Genealogy Hobby Digs Up Unwanted Secrets (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324734904578241822679163276.html)

Also, I have been reading a few genealogy-related books and wanted to share the titles in case anyone else is interested.

Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing (http://www.amazon.com/Hey-America-Your-Roots-Showing/dp/080653446X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358444825&sr=1-1&keywords=america+your+roots+are+showing) by Megan Smolenyak- Great collection of anecdotes about interesting or high profile genealogical mysteries Smolenyak has solved. I love her, btw-- total genealogy rock star. You can follow her on Facebook and she links to all sorts of cool stuff.

Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA (http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Family-Search-Roots-Secrets/dp/1475190832/ref=pd_sim_b_4)- Autobiography of a man who learns he is adopted and uses old-school genealogy (pre-internet) and then DNA testing to find his birth parents. Very interesting.

Reunion: A Search for Ancestors (http://www.amazon.com/Reunion-Search-Ancestors-ebook/dp/B009WZGOU4/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358445165&sr=1-3&keywords=genealogy+scotland) by Ryan Littrell- The author decides to trace his Scottish ancestry and manages to find a bunch of living relatives and a connection to one of Scotland's most infamous historical events.

[Rosebud]

I thought some of you might enjoy this article from Megan Smolenyak on HuffPo today re: a letter she wrote about her Irish roots 28 years ago.

Letter to Ireland Answered -- 28 Years Later (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-smolenyak-smolenyak/letter-to-ireland-answere_b_2805868.html)

Fun story. Also, I learned that March is Irish-American Heritage Month!

[Alegna]

Found another tote full of newspaper clippings that were my great aunts. Tons of obits and all sorts of interesting tidbits.

I might be in heaven!

[Rosebud]

I thought you all might like this article:

Woman finds 250 WWII letters in old hatbox (http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/06/18088425-opening-the-mystery-of-250-wwii-letters-found-in-old-hat-box)

So cool. It took me about 5 minutes to find this family on Ancestry, so they should be able to connect with living relatives shortly. I would be super psyched if something like this dropped into my lap. What a great slice of history.

[Rosebud]

Exciting news! "Who Do You Think You Are" is coming back!

TLC picks up canceled Who Do You Think You Are (http://www.thewrap.com/tv/article/tlc-bringing-nbcs-who-do-you-think-you-are-back-grave-exclusive-92851)

Can't wait!! :)