Family History for Beginners by Ancestry

Tracing Your Ancestors Through the Census Records.
Once you’ve found your ancestors in the 1930 census, you’ll want to trace them back through the other census years as well. Learn the differences between each census, from 1790 to 1920, so you know what to expect and can make your search even more successful.

If you want to read more about this, here is the link for Ancestry.com. http://email.ancestry.com/cgi-bin13/DM/y/h4GV0QRIUB0G310vJz0GY

I have done this with my relatives and it helps not only to trace a specific person, but also to find out who there children and parents are. Sometimes by looking at their neighbors you will be able to find more family members.

I hope this helps

Genealogy Website

Hi everyone,
It has been a little while since I have posted anything on here, but wanted to give everyone an update. My personal website www.wintersfamily.net/genealogy/ is back up to be used to access my family history. My husband has been working hard to get it back up with some new modifications.

If you want to add your personal family history website to our list let me know and I will add it in. There is also some new information in the website. Look it over and let me know what you think.

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Genealogy Sources - when to use them

I was using one of my favorite forums for genealogy and ran across someone I have spoken to in the past. It had been a couple of years since I had contacted her, so I decided I would check and see if she had any new information. I sent her message through the forums and the reply I received was that she was amazed that I would contact her considering I took all of the information she had and placed it on the Internet and didn't site her as her as the source. As I used her information for verification purposes I didn't see the need to site her as the source. My question to other genealogists is if you are receiving information from someone and are publishing it on a website, without receiving monetary rewards do you need to site the source of the information?

It is an interesting question as there is so much information available on the Internet for anyone to access. Many people make it possible to download gedcoms to be able to connect with fellow researchers. But I put the question out there to all my fellow genealogists. Should we site sources when publishing information on the Internet even if the information was received from a person but used for verification purposes.

Happy Hunting

Ancestry Site

Ancestry uploaded a bunch of military information onto their site recently. Here is the letter I received from them. I hope it is helpful to all of my fellow genealogist out there. It also explains why they had slow downs and apologize for it affecting anyone.

Dear Friend,

Today’s massive launch of military records and historical newsreels was a big hit in the press. So much so that Ancestry.com experienced record traffic — and some of our valued members experienced slow-downs and other issues on the site.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We’re working nonstop to get Ancestry.com up and running in top form. Please check back with us soon to access the exciting new Military Collection and the rest of our collections.

Thank you for your patience,

Andrew Wait
General Manager, Ancestry.com

It is also free through D-Day, here is the information I received:

At the front lines of our nation’s history, America’s patriots valiantly fought for life and liberty. They dedicated their lives to the cause of freedom, unshakable in their resolve to secure and sustain our unalienable rights. Through the centuries, millions of Americans would take up arms in defense of their country. Ancestry.com honors all of them with the release of the U.S. Military Collection - free between May 24th and June 6th (D-Day).

I hope the new information on ancestry helps you like it has helped me. As always enjoy your research into the dark and unknown corridors of your family history research.

The Tapestry

When most people think about history they think about old, dusty libraries with the old man in the corner with his tweed jacket on and a pipe clamped between his teeth. This is so far from the truth. History is a rich detailed tapestry that can come to life under the hand of the right person. If it is a person who doesn't have an interest or care about the lives and beliefs of the person they researching then the colors of the tapestry will be dull and faded. But if it is a person that enjoys researching and taking care with the history of those same people the tapestry will brighten the more someone researches. The colors will become vibrant and rich, showing the details of the past.

The reason I am prosing is because it is important to have an interest in history before you start your research. If you are someone who doesn't care about history then maybe doing family history research isn't for you. If you are encouraging someone to look into their history it is important not to alienate them from the history, show them something interesting and they just might catch the bug, but don't force it.

I can imagine sitting in that dusty old library and it touches me. It is a place where I would love to visit and spend long hours. I enjoy recreating the tapestry of my family's life, watching the colors come to life, renewing the vibrant colors for my family. Most of my family don't have an interest in researching but they do enjoy hearing the information that I am able to provide for them. This will help you in that it might stimulate their memory and help them to bring more information to life. So when you work on your tapestry, think about how you would like to create it. Do you want to recreate a tapestry that is dull and faded or do you want it to be vibrant and rich in detail? Whatever you decide will help you in your history, do you want the detailed information or just the bare bones to get you further back. The answer is up to you.

GenForum

When I am working on my genealogy research, one of the main sites I use is www.genforum.com. It is sponsored by Genealogy.com and is a place where people can go and look up the surname they are researching and search to see if anyone is looking for the same people they are or to post a message to find out if anyone is looking for the same information or already has the information.

You can look up information through surnames, regions, countries or just general genealogy research questions. Now one of the things to remember is that names can be missed spelled or the spelling changed on names especially in the United States. When the people immigrated to the US the agents who worked the ship manifests and logs weren't always able to spell the people's names so they guessed which caused the person's surname to change. That is why there are so many different spellings for the same last name.

Another thing to remember is that just because you find information that you links to your information does not mean it is factual. It is always important to go and verify the information that you have with the court houses, churches and cemeteries so that you have paperwork to backup your information.

It is also important that if you see information on this site that meshes with your, don't just think about how it will benefit you, think about how the information you have will benefit the other person. What I mean by this is, don't just download their information, send them an email letting them know that you found a possible link so that you can possibly help them also. By doing this you might also be helping yourself because the person might have found more information by then.

I hope the review helped and happy hunting!
Patti

Genealogy and the Web

You now have all of your information updated from interviewing your family members and writing down everything you could remember. You also might want to revisit some of the family members that you talked to first as you might have received different information from other family members and it might help them to remember something else.

So you ask yourself, what do I do next? I have all of this information but what do I do with it? How do I continue it on to find out more information? There are a few different websites that you could go to and start your research. Some of the websites I like are www.familysearch.org, www.ancestry.com, www.genforum.com, and www.rootsweb.com. I would recommend you start with one family, take your family group sheets with your information that family. You can start with the oldest family member in your list, but you also want to look at the children. This is because you might find someone who has different information that you do on the Internet, sometimes they will have listed another marriage and different children or they might have found the information you are already looking for.

If someone does have your line back farther than you do, remember it is always smart to verify any information that someone has. If someone has put information into the computer, it doesn't mean it is accurate. So take there information and visit the courthouses and cemeteries to verify it is correct.

This is an in depth process and the part that can take you years to compile. I would recommend that you take lots of notes and keep everything organized. The next topic I am going to focus on is the different websites that I use and what I use them for. I hope this information has been beneficial for you and happy hunting.

Thanks
Patti

Interactive Genealogy

So you think you have written down everything you can think of, and you probably have for now. But as you start talking to people you will remember little tidbits of things you have overheard as you have grown up. So the next step in the research into your own personal history is interviewing.

Now you need to make a list of all the people you think should be interviewed to find out information, then make another list of people you think shouldn't be interviewed...and interview both. Now before you start interviewing your family members take something into consideration. There might be information in your history that people don't want you to know, so the more people you are able to talk to the more robust your history is going to be.

After you have made your list of people to interview, you need to figure out what you want to ask them. If you go over to talk to your great Aunt Mildred, she will talk your ear off and you will walk away without any information. But if you have specific questions you would like to know, like the names and ages of all of her brother's and sisters (even if you know the answer ask anyways, because she might have different or more information). Continue this until you have interviewed everyone you can think of and when you are talking to your family, remember to ask them if they recommend anyone you could talk to, you never know who might have information on your family.

As I have stated I have been researching since I was 16, and a few years ago I got a funny letter from my Uncle. My cousin had decided to do some family history research and started looking on the Internet. He called my Uncle really excited, he said, "Uncle, I found someone on the Internet who has a lot of information on our family. She has a lot of the information you do."
My Uncle asked the name of the person and when my cousin told him, my Uncle laughed. The person my cousin had found was me and because he hadn't looked closely at the family history he didn't know my married name, so he didn't know it was me.

So remember, think of as many people to interview as possible, decide on your questions, interview, ask for recommendations and then the most important piece of any research...organize your notes. After each interview update the information in your spreadsheets. If the information is varied, you might need to create alternate group sheets for one individual, but it is extremely important to stay organized.

Have a fantastic day and Happy Interviewing!
Patti

Genealogy - The First Step

I will tell you right away, genealogy research is addictive. It gets into your blood and it is hard to stop. You keep thinking that the clue you need is right around the corner, in the next book you read or court document you look at. Keep this in mind before you start your research.

With that said, I believe the first step in genealogy is to write down as much information as you can think of. Write down place names, people, how you think they connect, as many dates as you can remember, and as many places you can remember. Think of any stories you heard growing up from your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. This is an important first step, if you don't have the basic information it makes it more difficult to find any further information.

Once you have written it all down, then organize it. Put the people together with the places that you think they are from. If it helps draw the family tree out so you can see it. It might also help to break the information down by family. You could start with putting the paternal side in one folder and the maternal side in another folder. This way you can keep track of what information you have where and it won't get mixed together.

You can even invest in a computer program that will help you stay organized. There are some good programs out there, I personally use Family Tree Maker. But there might be a better one out there for you. It just depends on your preferences. If you do input the information into a computer program, print out the family group sheets and review them to make sure the information is correct and fix any errors.

Next we will go over what the next step in this long process is. I hope this was beneficial to you.

Thanks and Happy Hunting
Patti

The Web and Genealogy

Hi, I have been researching my family history for 20 years. I have hit roadblocks and I have make great breakthroughs. One of my favorite accomplishments was when I was able to locate a family history back to the 1500's and it wasn't even a line I was actively researching. I was working on the ladies husband and trying to find some information on his and decided to try and find her information and see if it gave anything new for him, instead I was able to take her family back to Germany and our family didn't even know we were German. I think my most difficult one to research is my father's, the last name is Mynarcik and it is very difficult to find information on them. My grandparents came to the US in the early 1900's and because of the World Wars and communism I haven't been able to find much information. I will keep trying through because that is what makes a person a genealogist. The wanting to persevere even in the light that you might never succeed.
I remember talking to my Uncle about doing research on the Internet. He had started the family history and I am continuing it. He thought that I wouldn't find anything of value by using the Internet, that you needed to go to the courthouses and cemeteries and interview family members. All of this is true, you need to do that, but the resources the Internet offers you now are tremendous. When I started the only thing available to use was RootsWeb and newsgroups, (mind you this was before there was a World Wide Web). But I stuck with it and found some great leads and have been able to link with some fantastic information. Now remember you won't always succeed, you will always have that one line that will drive you crazy. But with perseverance you should be able to find some information and will help pad your history if nothing else.
I plan on using this blog to create a how to on how to use the different websites, which ones work and which ones just want you to spend money. I plan on keeping you up to date on my family information as I hopefully find out more. Until my next post, enjoy hunting!
Patti