Amy: Genealogy?...?

answers1: There are many FREE programs. I prefer Brothers Keeper, and
I find it really simple to use. It will let you add a lot of
information and print out books ... I use the trial version and copy
to text and then use a text to pdf converter after I edit it. For free
information start with what you know. 
Ask parents and grandparents etc... Then joining RootsWeb mailing
lists and/or posting queries to genealogy message boards will find you
help with accessing census records that are usually pay ones. Lots of
people on those lists are willing to help each other out. Try out the
various FREE genealogy programs to find the one that you like. I am
sure that you find that this becomes an obsession.
answers2: first start with your family, your parents names and birth
places and their parents names and birth places, then you can go to
any of these cities and look up the records, and from those you can
get the name of the parents of those people. and so on.
answers3: Like Ted Said, 
 
PAF is absolutely free and can be downloaded following the path he
gave... now here is my pat answer for researching your roots. 
 
 
Here are a few links that may help you in your search. 
 
<a href="http://genforum.genealogy.com"
rel="nofollow"class=Clr-b>http://genforum.genealogy.com</a> 
<a href="http://boards.rootsweb.com/"
rel="nofollow"class=Clr-b>http://boards.rootsweb.com/</a> 
 
These are the messageboards at both GenForum and Rootsweb. You can
look at the message boards either by surname, county, state, country
and there is even some little specialty boards like ones for wars and
cemeteries, etc. You may or may not find your relatives on these
boards and even if you don't it would be wise to post a query and see
who answers. I have found these to be very useful boards for finding
your genealogy. If someone responds to your query, the board will send
you an E-mail to let you know that someone has responded. 
 
I must say, however, that a good genealogy query, doesn't just say. "
I need information on John Smith" Try to provide as many dates,
places, and details as possible. One little thing can make the
difference as to the answer you get. 
 
a good query has 
 
1) the persons name 
2) all of the biographical information you know to date and 
3) asks a specific question 
 
The reason a query should be so specific is because people won't waste
your time and theirs telling you what you already know. I have done
lookups for people already and reported my findings only to be told,
"Well, I knew that!" It would have been helpful if they would have
told me that they knew that from the beginning. I probably would have
checked a different set of sources to further the search. Also, by
providing ALL of your known information (for example, the childrens
names) it gives people alternate people to research to help arrive at
your answer. 
 
 
 
<a href="http://lists.rootsweb.com/"
rel="nofollow"class=Clr-b>http://lists.rootsweb.com/</a> 
 
This is the link to the mailing lists at Rootsweb. Basically a mailing
list is like a study group. All of its members are interested in a
particular surname or locality in one way or another. Everytime
someone posts, you receive an E-mail. You can always unsubscribe at
anytime. If you aren't interested in joining the list, there is a
searchable archive of all the postings. Some of these mailing lists at
Rootsweb go back 10 years. Simply click the "search the archives" link
and then enter your search terms. 
 
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/.......... 
 
This is the link to the world connect family trees at Rootsweb. These
are user contributed family trees. These may or may not be related to
your family, but it is a starting point. If you find one with members
of your family, I always recommend double checking it, or getting in
touch with the contributer whose name and E-mail address should appear
with the tree. 
 
http://www.gencircles.com/ 
 
This is a link to the trees on the gencircles website. Again, I
recommend double checking any information you may find on your
particular family. 
 
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/f... 
 
Finally, here is the site for the church of the Latter Day Saints
website. Simply put in your search terms and press search. I'm sure
you can figure it out from there. 
 
If you are interested in doing your genealogy, the best way to get
started is to start with yourself. Write down everything you know
about your parents, then keep going back until you run stuck. Most
people can get back to their grandparents and maybe a set of great
grandparents. At this point there are so many ways to get back further
in your tree. Much of it depends on the records available. For
instance, it you live in the United States, public records are only
going to take you back so far. Many localities weren't required to
keep records until the late 1800's or even early 1900's, and many
courthouses were burned in the Civil War destroying many of the
existing records that were already in place. In Europe and many other
countries, records go back a lot further. Other avenues of getting
information are studying old land records, wills, cemeteries, city
directories, local histories and military records. Another gold mine
of information is if your parents kept old letters of the family. It
wasn't uncommon in the early twentieth century for women to have post
card books. Some old post cards have some interesting information as
well. If you are young, you may have the honor of being able to
interview your grandparents for information. If you do this, I would
recommend taping the conversation because often it is impossible to
remember everything they said and you will have a treasure for future
generations. Even though tracing your tree yourself takes a lot of
time and a lot of effort, you learn so much and it is so much more
worthwhile than pulling up a tree on a website and wondering where in
the world the author got their information. 
 
Here are a few more websites that may help you in your search. These
are more United States oriented so if you live in another part of the
world, these will probably not be of help to you. Hwever, the above
mentioned links will appeal to a world wide audience. 
 
http://www.usgenweb.org/ -When you get to the main page, you can get
to the state and individual locality pages by clicking on the
appropriate links. Keep in mind that some towns are going to have more
information than some smaller obscure towns. It all depends on what
kinds of volunteers contribute information to their sites. Genealogy
is very much a hobby that depends on people. 
 
Check your LOCAL LIBRARY. Many libraries have subscriptions to
Ancestry.com or hertiage quest that you can Access from home with your
library card number. Heritage Quest is geared mostly toward the US
records. 
 
www.interment.net or www.findagrave.com These are cemetery sites that
have grown by leaps and bounds. 
 
http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-b... 
 
This is the link to the Social Security Death index. This is a very
helpful resource to finding death dates of people who died in recent
years (since about the 60's) 
 
If your family immigrated to the US in the last 100-125 years you can try 
www.ellisisland.org 
This one is cool because you can actually have a look at the ships
manifests!! 
 
If you start your search for your ancestry, it will probably turn into
an obsession. It is very addicting and it is like a big puzzle with so
many benefits. You learn where your family came from, where they've
been, often you can learn about family medical history. There just
isn't a down side. Remember the old addage, "If you want something
done right, you often have to do it your self." You are not going to
just find your entire genealogy in one search. It is an ongoing
puzzle. I tell people, if you can find one thing every time you are
searching, you are doing GREAT. If you find any more than that at any
given time you are LUCKY!! Write to me if you have any questions. I
would be happy to help if I can. Blessings
answers4: I'll paste my long, standard answer below, but first - The
Mormons will let you download PAF for free. It is a basic genealogy
program that lots of people use. It has a good HELP section that will
teach you how to use it. Go to 
 
<a href="http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/default.asp"
rel="nofollow"class=Clr-b>http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/default....</a>
 
 
Click on Order/Download Products -> 
Software & Databases -> 
Personal Ancestral File 
 
=========================== 
Here is the stock answer. 
 
These questions come up every day: 
 
Where can I find my family tree for free? 
Does anyone know the {Surname} family? 
What are good sites for ancestors / genealogy? 
 
They are all about tracing your family tree on the Internet. I am not
chastising you for failing to search the resolved questions first. I
am explaining why this is the same answer I gave to many other people.
The fourth time I typed my favorite beginner's links I realized I
should save them in a text file and paste them in. This is a long,
detailed and general. Because it is general, some of the links (or
paragraphs) may not apply to your question. 
 
These may help get you started. They are large and free. Many of them,
however, have subtle ads for Ancestry.com in them - ads that ask for a
name, then offer a trial subscription. Watch out for those
advertisements. 
 
<a href="http://www.cyndislist.com/"
rel="nofollow"class=Clr-b>http://www.cyndislist.com/</a> 
(240,000+ links, all cross-indexed. If you want Welsh or Pennsylvania
Dutch or Oregon or any other region, ethnic group or surname, chances
are she has links for it.) 
<a href="http://www.familysearch.com"
rel="nofollow"class=Clr-b>http://www.familysearch.com</a> 
(Mormon's mega-site. Click on "Search") 
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi 
(460,000,000+ entries, of varying quality) 
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?ln= 
Surname meanings and origins 
http://www.tedpack.org/begingen.html 
My own site: "How to Begin" 
 
United States only: 
http://www.usgenweb.net/ 
(Subdivided into state sites, which all have county sites.) 
(The Canadians have Canadian Gen Web, by province) 
http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi 
(Social Security Death index - click on "Advanced". You may find your
grandparents.) 
http://find.person.superpages.com/ 
(US Phone book, for looking up distant cousins) 
 
 
United Kingdom Only: 
http://www.genuki.org.uk/ 
(Biggest site for United Kingdom & Ireland) 
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/ 
(Free Birth, Marriage & Death Records) 
 
(If you posted your question in Genealogy, ignore this paragraph. If
you posted it in the "Family" category, read on.) 
Tracing your family tree is called genealogy. YA has a category for
genealogy, 
Home > Arts & Humanities > Genealogy 
There are hundreds of more links in the resolved answers there. 
 
In the USA, some public libraries have census image subscriptions.
Many Family History Centers do too. FHC's are small rooms in Mormon
churches. They welcome anyone interested in genealogy, not just fellow
Mormons. They have resources on CD's and volunteers who are friendly.
They don't try to convert you; in fact, they don't mention their
religion unless you ask a question about it. 
 
 
Notes: 
 
You usually have to do some research. Sometimes you get lucky. Don't
give up if your Great grandfather with your surname isn't there. Try
all eight great-grandparents. 
 
You won't find living people on any of the sites except the phone book
one. You won't find many people born after 1920 on any of the sites
except the SSDI one. Genealogists hide the birth dates, birth places
and other facts of living people to protect their privacy. You will
have to find your grandparents' or great grandparents' birth dates and
maiden names somewhere besides the Internet. 
 
The best way to get started is to ask your oldest living relatives
about themselves and their parents. You may find great-grandpa's death
date and burial place on the web, but only his children, your
grandfather and grandaunt, can tell you what sort of man he was. 
 
The free sites are supported by advertising, just like TV. You can't
watch the Super Bowl without seeing a beer commercial, and you can't
surf for dead relatives without seeing an Ancestry advertisement. Many
people complain about advertisements. Please don't. They bring you the
"free" sites. There's no such thing as a free lunch. 
 
If you get serious you'll need a genealogy program. They are to family
research what "Word" is to writing a novel. I like Roots Magic. Family
Tree Maker is the market leader. Both cost around $29. The Mormons
will let you download PAF for free. It is clunky, but it is free. You
can sometimes find old versions of FTM or Family Origins (FO is the
predecessor of RM) in bargin bins at CostCo. 
 
This is a general hint: Even though you go in through YA Canada, YA
Australia, YA UK or YA USA, all of the questions go into one big "pot"
and get read by everyone in the world who speaks English. Most of the
people here are in the UK and USA, but you sometimes get questions and
answers from people who worry about kangaroos eating their roses. So -
put a nation, or, better yet, if you are asking about a specific
individual, a nation and a state / province in all of your questions.
It will help people help you.

Amy

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Sunday, 15 September 2019

Genealogy?...?

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