2006-08-21 07:58:21 · 16 answers · asked by cabnew19474748 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
The best way is to hook up with others doing the same thing. Try typing in your family name with the word "family" in the Yahoo search. This will give you a lot of other people to work with!
2006-08-21 08:52:50 · answer #1 · answered by BuyTheSeaProperty 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well, it's hard. Very hard. If you know the names of people, you can check old census records, tax records, wills, church records, family bibles and things of that nature. You can also check passenger logs, to see when they immigrated, where they came from, and what ship they were on. But that's only if you already have enough information to go on. Mainly what you're going to want to go on is land. There were very good records of who owned what land, to make sure it was claimed and that there weren't fights. If your ancestors owned land, that would be the best place. But if they were poor immigrants working in New York City, you're probably not going to find them. If they had an odd last name, something not common to the area, they're relatively easy to track, if you can find something. But keep in mind that people often misspelled names in official records, such as the census. Names that were hard to pronounce were done unintentionally, but names that were...unfashionable, due to country of origin or religion, were often changed by the family itself.
Now, having said all that, I use www.myfamily.com. Yes, it costs money. A whole $20 a year. Wow. Beats Ancestry.com by, oh, $130. You can create an online database of all the information you currently have and it'll look up close matches it has. You can invite other family members, add photos, family stories, recipes, there's a chat room and a message board, a file cabinet, etc. That's just the basic package, too. But yes, it does cost money. And no, it is not complete. No record is. But think on this, I've actually found family members I didn't know existed through this. VERY COOL. And they had info I didn't. Depending on your last name, there are also individual surname webservers, e-mail lists, and message boards out there. All you have to do is look.
2006-08-21 08:54:39 · answer #2 · answered by graytrees 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Rust Skipper already gave you the best answers. All I can add is that you have to learn how to notate relatives in a tree, and that you have to be careful to keep records of every person you find about. For that will give you the leads to the next one. You can use note cards to make files on each person, with cards for their different facts in life.
Some places like family.com give you th possibilty of building a family tree online, filling only the spaces. But it will be very entertaining and fun for all the people in the family to be able to look into the inforamtion you find.
Also, you will find new friends an relatives. It's fun searching the family tree: where better sings a bird, said an author, the title of one of his books. Search for Alexandro Jodorowsky books: may be that is alredy published in english. A strange strong novel related to family searching and your inheritance.
2006-08-23 18:11:23 · answer #3 · answered by Lilly Nuh 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Trying Searching search engines for the Last name you are looking for I searched mine and was able to trace my tree back to the early 1500's because the family was/is a well known Pennsylvania family and there was a book written about them.
Also when using your search engine click on Images also I found a Family members tombtone that some had posted.
Also try www.Findagrave.com They have millions of cemetery records and burials. I know like my listings I list on the memorials the persons linage.
2006-08-23 00:54:51 · answer #4 · answered by hypergirl328 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have the 1841 census you will know where your family lived, next thing is to check the parish registers. Try the local Family History Society they may have transcribed them.
Good Luck.
2006-08-23 07:36:34 · answer #5 · answered by david383775 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Libraries keep newspaper files from the first issue published. It would be time consuming but it might be worth it.
Check with a local library--they might give you some advice.
2006-08-21 10:02:51 · answer #6 · answered by PBarnfeather 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try parish records, military records or sailing lists if you haven't done so already
2006-08-22 09:49:52 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you know where they lived you can use county archives and consult Parish registers
2006-08-21 08:05:26 · answer #8 · answered by andigee2006 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
go to a faimily tree web site, It'll probly cost you though which sucks
2006-08-21 08:05:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to your search engine and type in 1801 census. I hope this helps.
2006-08-21 08:45:08 · answer #10 · answered by IKnownothing 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋