Genealogy ?

Question

I want to find out more about my roots, give me free on line help for this, non- religious..
Thanks..

Answer 1

Hey Paula B,

Here are some sites. Generally, the best place to start is with your own birth record. That names your parents, then get their information. Interview any living relatives, now, while the are still living. Collect copies of any birth, death, obits, wills, probate, records they have. Then chart it out.

I use the LDS Family Search site all the time, and while they are a religious organization, my sole purpose is GENEALOGY.

Once you get started, you should think about how to organize yourself - software is available for that purpose. Post more messages, get specific with us. We will help you.

Answer 2

1. Ask your Parents, Grandparents Aunts, Uncles Great Aunts
2. ask who, when where. when born where, when died where
their parents, brothers, sisters.
3, With this info go to
http://www.familysearch.org/ The LDS family Search site
This site is free and will actually give its information for free.
Note who or where you got which data. People are full of information and misinformation. Always ask for their legal name as well as Nicknames. Most Genealogy Information uses legal names.
4. Now go to the nearest FHC at your local LDS church.
You will have enough information that they will be able to help you . These folk live to find genealogy information, and have access to more off line information than you can imagine.

You can also just put the full name of an individual in a search engine. You may be lucky.

I have a small amount of info at thelundgrens.us 90K records

the LDS, and roots, and ancestry have millions of records
Have Fun
Len

Answer 3

I won't paste my stock answer here, because RustSkipper's is longer and less condescending than mine. He's better looking, too. Your phrase "non-religious" caught my eye.

The Mormons are religious. They have the biggest free site in the world for genealogy. They are nice about it. I feel comfortable in a Family History Center, and I'm not even Christian. The president of our county genealogy society volunteers there once a week, and he is a Presbyterian. FHC's are small rooms in big Mormon churches devoted to Family History. They are staffed by volunteers. They don't talk about their faith unless you ask them a direct question. They have probably helped as many people get started as anyone.

If you wanted to learn about meditation, you'd be foolish to shun the Buddhists. If you want to learn about Genealogy, you'd be foolish to shun the Mormons. You don't have to agree with them to browse their records. Lots of us think the idea of baptising dead people is less than rational.

We're grateful they transcribed the 1880 census, though. Think of them as a rich old aunt who invites you to a 12-course meal but wears an aluminum foil hat so that the little green men won't steal her brain waves.

Beyond Mormons, the Quakers kept excellent records. So did some Catholics, Protestants and Jews.

Civil (non-religious) records of births and deaths only go back to 1880 or so. Older than that and it is a church record or nothing.

Answer 4

I am LDS and we do devote a large amount of time to genealogy, because it is important to know where you came from. the site is free and we don't want to shove our religion down your throat, why non- religious? ... but yet you want it for free...

Answer 5

www.rootsweb.com
www.ancestry.com
www.geneology.com
You can search and find lots of information on the message boards. There are plenty more just google it.