Hi all. I was wondering if anyone has any information on how to get a family tree, ancestry, or genealogy done. I’m not sure of the correct title I’m looking for basically its a family tree I think I’m looking for.
I know most of these things online cost money and I have no idea what’s a good price and what’s a rip off, so I was hoping someone on here would have a resource for me to start the ball rolling.
The reason I’m wanting to do this is that my Dad has always wanted one done and I thought maybe I could get one done and figure out his past relatives and maybe make it a christmas gift or something. Yes, I know I’d have to tell him some things in order to get the names of his relatives, but still I really want to do this.
Is there any way to do it without spending any money? I don’t mind spending any money, but I do like to save money!!
Actually, if you know where your family is from in the past few generations, you can look through libraries, birth records, and cemeteries for your family tree.
Check a local college library, you may be surprised. My grandmother found an entire book written about my grandfather’s side of the family. Which is rather surprising, considering how small it is.
After you trace your roots as far back as they can go on the American side, maybe a genetic test will let you continue the search in another country, if you want to look that far back.
And, remember, you’ll be amazed what you can discover just by googling a name.
Good luck, and I hope you find what you are looking for.
And, remember, you’ll be amazed what you can discover just by googling a name.
I did this. I have a VERY uncommon maiden name. We’re the only ones in the US. I googled and wound up making contact with my cousin in Naples and he was able to fill in a lot about our family and I filled him in on the past 100 or so years of our family in NY.
My daughter found an amazing amount of things about our family at www.ancestry.com . I think it was free, too. She even found a copy of the papers my father filled out when he came to the country back in the '40’s.
I’ll double check the site when I get home to make sure that’s the free one.
I have always wanted to do this, I have contacted my family members but nothing yet. I did just google my maiden name though, and I got a beer, at least 2 musicians, and a tv host! (my dream is to be related to Beck’s Beer!:clink:) And when I googled my married name, everything was in dutch (de Geus). Then I googled The Beck Family and received much better hits with that one.
if you have names and addresses of any relatives (Aunts, cousins, second cousins even distant relatives) send letters asking for information! my Mom did a fabulous job researching our family tree. hundreds of letters and a little legwork in libraries/ records offices… she got lots of old photographs, letters and records from various family members. it was fascinating. Then she scanned them all in and made a bound book with a family tree, pictures, letters, information, a little bit of relevant history of the time- it was neat.
DH and I have done a bunch of this. If you are close to one of the National Archives they are fun to search through although all those microfiche… many libraries and LDS churches also have info.
Although you should not limit yourself to internet searches because not all info is on the web yet you can get an amazing amount of info and it’s a good place to start.
Full names, siblings, children, etc…
Birth dates and places
Death dates and places
Marriage and divorce dates and places
Anything you can think of…write down…
TALK to family members and write down everything they know or “think” they know…it may come in handy. Be aware that misspellings are common especially on those old handwritten census records, and names were often changed or misspelled during trips through Ellis Island or wherever.
To give you some idea what can be found…
DH was looking for a connection to Mary Todd Lincoln. We went to the National Archives, libraries and LDS churches before the internet and found a lot of stuff, but we got stuck at one point. We had the name S.S. Todd in Santa Rosa, CA, but couldn’t seem to get further. Because of the time frame DH started searching the internet for civil war info and all of a sudden he yelped…he came up with a possible name. Going from that I ended up finding a relationship to other names we had! We’ve now gone back to the Revolutionary War and found out our daughters are eligible for the DAR if the should be interested some day. Amazing! Oh! I should also mention that we made the Mary Todd Lincoln connection.
I have gotten back to about 1800 when family came over from Luxembourg and I can’t seem to get further, but it’s been interesting.
One of my other hobbies (when I have time)! Ancestry.com is one of the best sites out there and a good place to start. I ordered the Legacy software, which has the best reviews out there, and it is the best for collecting little bits of data from here and there. (It has the best reviews, too.) It also gives you a format to work in (as opposed to the gazillion little pieces of paper I used for years).
First, start with you and what you know. You’ll know some dates and places. Ask your aunts and uncles, get names of their aunts and uncles - probably someone has done this already. Depending on where your family is from, you may find it very easy or you may find it very hard. For example - my paternal grandmother had information going back a few generations (mostly from family Bibles) and with that information, I found that her ancestors arrived in New England in the 1600s - and practically instantly I had generations and generations worth of information. Massachusetts and Connecticut have been well researched by others and there is tons of information. On the other hand, my maternal grandmother has some ancestors who arrived from Germany in 1870 - the part of Germany which has been devastated by a couple of world wars since then. The priest in one town also kept records in PENCIL (and those were pretty much illegible after 100 years). That was a dead end until/unless I can make it to Germany to hunt up old churches in small villages near Poland. So some of it is just plain old luck. But it can be addictive!
You can pay someone to do one for you, but it is expensive. Feel free to PM me with questions about places to look or good sources.
thank you thank you thank you!!! That is so amazing that you were able to go that far back. I am getting so excited about all of this and I’ve only gotten as far as my grandparents full names!!! I still have to get their birth and death dates!! I’m so crazy.:rofling:
:teehee: You’re welcome! Open the Rootsweb site (world connect link there) and put in your parents names and dates. It will probably give you info that you can then check into. You are at the mercy of anyone who has ever put info on the web though along with all their typos. :roll: :teehee:
Don’t forget to ask the librarians at your local library. They can clue you in on local information and people in your area who know stuff. Plus they are really good at researching!
Oh you guys/gals! My cup runneth over. This may sound a bit odd, but just from typing in my dad’s parents info my grandma’s whole family was found! All the kids my great-grandparent’s had their names and my great grandfather’s name. I couldn’t believe it. This is just so awesome to find out.
Just talking with my mom and her side I found out that her dad had a 1st wife then married my grandma. And from that first wife my mom said that her sister (my aunt) told her that they think they have a half sibling out there.
Is that not so cool??? I’m stoked. Not even sure what that means!! And I’ve only just begun. I wonder what’s out there for me to find…my Dad is going to be so happy.
where do you live? In most states the birth and death records are available and are public records in NC they are in the register of deeds and are public records. do you know the county of your dad’s birth? you would start there with his birth record and work backward… it is alot of fun and work… :think:
there are many online services but many are rip offs :psst:
hope this helps you!!!:yay:
It IS awesome isn’t it?! Now make sure you document all the info and check the births and deaths dates listed against birth and death records. Also… I found some distant relatives doing this…they are usually the ones putting the info onto the websites. :cheering:
We’re fortunate because I have a cousin who is really into this subject. The web sites Jan in CA posted are the ones he used. We also have a distant relative in German who traced my paternal family line all the way back to 1200! Unfortunately, his chart and research is in German, so I don’t really get most of it.
What was really fun was going to a branch of the National Archives. I got to make a copy of the manifest for the ship that my great grandfather, his brother and sister were on.
You know, I was talking to my Dad last night and found out some very interesting things about his family. Unfortunately what he was told was extremely vague :(. But none the less it sounds like I’m going to have some heck of a time digging up the past.
Now I don’t live in the state the I was born in or any of my family for that matter, is it going to be that much harder to get the info???
many libraries and LDS churches also have info.
do you know the county of your dad’s birth? you would start there with his birth record and work backward… it is alot of fun and work… :think: