I don't know much about my family. Where can i look to get reliable info about the heritage that won't cost me a fortune and that actually has the right info on it. I've paid fees before but don't get anything usefull from them.
2006-07-20 12:16:12 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
Start with your parents/grandparents birth and death records. Look for an obituary on them. Go back to the place where they lived and see if there is any neighbors who knew your parents or grandparents. Look for some family friends who can give you some information. You can also go to the church where your parents/grandparents went.
Keep looking the information is out there.
G.G.
2006-07-21 05:28:32 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Start with family members and old time family friends who are alive right now. Pick their brains for any shred information: names of people, dates, stories, locations, circumstance. Even bits of information that seem unimportant now, might be important later.
Also, find existing birth and marriage certificates through churches, city and country governments. Birth certificates often list the names of at least one, if not two generations of people.
And then do the leg work of writing or visiting the towns for more information and records. Put ads in newspapers and use internet resources to let other people, interested in geneology, know who you're looking for.
You can't paid a geneology site to give you family history information, because your history does not preexist on the internet. It has to be entered into the site by someone who researched it. That person would need to be you.
I'm not sure how reliable the paid geneologist is, whom you hired. You need to find someone who is as interested in your history as you are and who knows what they're doing.
Just start gathering the information that exists, be patient, and take it one step at a time. Working in geneology is like working a puzzle with missing pieces.
Except that geneology is about YOU, and it's exciting, interesting and fun to try to make sense of the bits of information you do find.
2006-07-20 14:42:07 · answer #2 · answered by Joe_D 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
try going to sites such as houseofnames.com, family listings done by the latter day saints (mormons), rootweb.com, linkpedia.com/geneology, and other sites offer free information. most free sources are federal or state government sites, vital statistics, military records, marriage and birth records, church records county records (most are instate archives) and census records before 1930 but these are usually hard to get without paying a fee, immigration records. public libraries will usually have a geneology section if the city is large enough to support a librarian familiar with it. also, most state and federal records can be viewed at federal archive locations such as in Fort Worth texas. it takes time and lots of patience. family members are of most value as they can provide material that isn't common knowledge and may give you background info on everything they can to help build your tree.
2006-07-20 18:03:20 · answer #3 · answered by de bossy one 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I traced a lot of history on my family from public records. If you know where they came from (other country) or their port of entry in the US, those are good places to start. Military records, school records, land transactions, all of these are useful. That coupled with family history passed down through the ages, pictures, etc. helped me get back to 1500's Europe on my dad's side and colonial America on my Mom's side. Hope this helps.
2006-07-20 12:21:09 · answer #4 · answered by Kevin C 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try starting at sites like familysearch.org to gather basic information. I was able to find my grandmother's SSN (she's now deceased so it's public knowledge) and you can go from there in finding out information.
2006-07-20 12:19:17 · answer #5 · answered by penpallermel 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Consult a reputable genealogist. Most libraries in decent-sized cities have a history and genealogy section with WONDERFUL reference librarians that can help you get started. They are free.
2006-07-20 12:21:12 · answer #6 · answered by blowry007 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Mormon Church maintains records of several million family names in some massive database they have. Try that...
2006-07-20 17:47:30 · answer #7 · answered by christopher s 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
theres tons of programs out there. my parents are geneolgy crazed. umm... i have a program on my computer called PAF 5 (personal ancestral files), try looking that up on google...
2006-07-20 17:41:45 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
where are you located general area
2006-07-20 15:12:08 · answer #9 · answered by Joe 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
try familysearch.org or interveiw your oldest relatives
2006-07-21 06:59:12 · answer #10 · answered by mia61us 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋