The easiest way to trace ancenstory, free?

Question

Hoping to get ideas to trace my ancestory effectively, and affordably

Answer 1

The easiest way to begin a family tree is to begin with yourself. Genealogy software can be purchased relatively inexpensively now at places such as Wal-Mart, or Best Buy.

Start with your own family first. Include your spouse, their parents and grandparents. Do your children, and if they are married, their spouses and any children.

Next, move to your brothers and sisters. Make sure you include their spouses parents and grandparents because this is how many of us connect family trees to one another.

Once you have the current families in place, move on to your parents brothers and sisters, their spouses and children. As you move backwards in time, ask older relatives to share family stories, and if they remember any relatives from their childhood. Write down their information or record it on tape, as our families genealogist I can tell you that it doesn't take long before they can be lost forever.

I will only offer one Internet based resource for you, but it has been the best for a number of years.
http://www.cyndislist.com/ . Cyndi's List has been around for over a decade and one of the best places to use for a resource.

I hope this helps and feel free to email me if you have any other questions. [e-mail]

Happy Hunting!

Answer 2

Hey Soloking...,

Your first answerer gave you good advice!

After you take care of interviewing the living, and organizing any certificates, pictures, information from interviews and getting software to store your tree in. The real work begins.

You can get clues from Family Search - remember that information is not necessarily validated.

You should get involved in the GENEALOGY Forums at Roots and GENFORUM. Simply type the SURNAME you are interested in, with the Keyword GENFORUM at the YAHOO Search line, and many sites will be found for you to begin discussions and postings with people interested in the same name.

Vital Records will come into play eventually. You will want to know someones parents, and be stumped! Get their birth certificate, and the parents will be listed. Use Death Certificates the same way. Marriage Certificates will do the same thing too. And Obits are a treasure trove of information.

Here are some links to use when you get past your initial work. (you, your parents, their parents, far as you can connect). The software section is if you want to shop around for specific software to meet your needs.