Best way to track family tree?

Question

I have always wanted to track my family roots but couldnt due my dads lack of presence. We have recently started talking and now I have access to names on his side. What is the best place to go on the web to track this? I'm currently overseas so I must do it by computer.

Answer 1

I save this and paste it because the same questions come up a lot:

What are good free sites for genealogy?
Does anyone know about the {surname} family?
How can I trace my family tree, for free?

Sometimes they ask in the genealogy category,
Arts & Humanities -> Genealogy.
Sometimes they don't. The fourth time I typed in three of my favorite links I realized it would be better to make a good list and save it. Since this is a general answer, some of the paragraphs may not apply to you. If you search or browse the resolved questions in the Genealogy category, you can find more links from other people.

Two warnings:
1) It takes time. Compiling a good family tree is like writing a term paper for a high school history class. You have to research.
2) Most of the genealogy data on the web is about people born before 1900, to protect living people's privacy. You'll have to find your grandparents (or great grandparents) off the web.

Here are some large free sites.

http://www.cyndislist.com/
(240,000+ links, all cross-indexed.)
http://www.familysearch.com
(Mormon's mega-site)
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi
(450,000,000+ entries, some excellent, some bad, most in between)
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?ln=
Surname meanings and origins; no specific individuals, but fun.


These are for the USA only.

http://www.usgenweb.net/
(Subdivided into state sites, which all have county sites.)
(Canada has a Canadian Gen Web, with sites for each province.)
http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
(Social Security Death index - click on "Advanced".)
http://find.person.superpages.com/
(US Phone book, for looking up distant cousins)


These two are for the UK & Ireland only:
http://www.genuki.org.uk
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/


If you get serious, you should probably buy a genealogy program. I like Roots Magic. Family Tree Maker is very popular. Both are $29 in the USA, but you can sometimes find old versions in discount bins at software stores.

http://www.tedpack.org/begingen.html
has some tips for beginners.

Answer 2

the US census is a great place to start. ancestry.com can get a little spendy, but is a terrific place to search the census online if you want to spend the money. The Latter Day Saints site (familysearch.org) has the 1880 census searchable for free. You have a terrific advantage when you're just starting out to be able to begin in an organized way. Some genealogy software can help, but just having some preprinted structure is really useful too. Note taking can get out of hand really quickly! I know the LDS software (PAF) is free as are the forms for logging all the info you dig up. You can also join a list online to ask questions about your family connections in a particular state or region, or perhaps there is a list out there comprised of other people researching your same surnames. I have met previously unknown distant cousins online and got tons of info by sharing our unpublished sources.

Answer 3

Like Conan Doyle writing a Sherlock Holmes book, start at the end (with yourself) and work backwards. Then to each of your parents, and their parents. Hopefully both your parents and all 4 grandparents are alive to assist. They will remember their parents (your great grandparents) and maybe they also are possibly still alive and can tell you about their parents (you great great grandparents) and here you will most likely hit a brick wall and there will be no survivors of this generation. You need the info from your grandparents and great grandparents birth certs to help you. These are recorded on a local basis, so the place of birth recorded will give a clue where to look. Look also for marriage records to help.

Answer 4

The Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church)has a web site that gives free information for ancestors. I found it not to be too accurate all the time. You can also go to one of their search libraries to hunt for birth, marriage and copies of death documents. The main libraries in your county will also have microfilm of the Census. They list family members in each household as well as date of birth.

Answer 5

Geneology Forum a great site for free searches at
http://genforum.genealogy.com
I found my Dad's family (both sides) and we knew nothing except his parents names. Now we have gone back to the 1700's so far.

Answer 6

Try these websites. You will need to pay a fee but I was able to get lots of info on ancestors.

http://www.genealogy.com/
http://www.ancestry.com/
http://www.familytree.com/
http://www.rootsweb.com/
http://www.familytreesearcher.com/
http://www.familysearch.org/
http://www.ellisisland.org/

I have not used all of these sites but i have used some of them.
Good Luck. Also get as much information as you can from your dad.

Answer 7

If you wanna go reeeeally far back, you might have to contact a genealogy expert.

Answer 8

have your dad give you as many names and dates as he possibly can then try websites like ancestry.com or geneology.com to help with the rest.

Answer 9

See -- https://backgroundreports.im/ancestry