Please tell me a free way to find out my family's heritage with only my great grandmother's name in 1 week????

Answer 1

Start calling the relatives you know. Lots of people keep at least some family history in their Bible. Also remember to ask the relatives you call for name/phone number of relatives they know that might be able to provide more information for you.

What you'll find is that quite a few of your relatives know a little bit of your family's history (and sometimes the history doesn't agree between relatives). That gives you at least a great start, especially if they have birth dates/death dates, and locations.

Genealogy forums provide an interesting way to run into relatives you've never met before or knew in childhood, but lost contact with (I met my Dad's cousin that actually went to school with him, though I'd never met her. She had moved to Iowa while our family has lived in several cities. She provided an incredible amount of information, including a contact that provided info on our family before they came to America - something that's always very hard to get).

The Ancestry.com and other genealogy websites provide a way to fill out details and/or verify info you already know. Once in a while, you get lucky and find totally new information. In fact, I hit the jackpot on one branch of my family. They came from Guernsey Island and an extensive genealogical history of Guernsey Island residents already exists all the way back to nearly 1600. Many of them founded and settled Guernsey County in Ohio when Ohio was opened for settlement. Once I matched one of my relatives, I suddenly had 200 years worth of history in one fell swoop (even though both of a married couple came from Guernsey Island, I was only successful in matching one of them back to Guernsey Island - while I have plenty of LePages to match the other half of the couple to, I had no way to determine which LePage he linked back to.)

Answer 2

Try researching the roots of that family name and see if you can find anything. There's probably a genealogy section at your public library and ask one of the reference librarians to help you out (trust me, I work at the library and I have to put stuff away in the genealogy section: don't try navigating it by yourself). There's http://www.ancestry.com and http://www.genealogy.com you can try using also. Good luck!

Answer 3

I usually go to this site. http://free-genealogy-info.zoomshare.com/4.shtml

Loads of free links, and if you are lucky you might find someone from those links who will step forward and help you. Try the free look up links on that site.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Depends on how far back you are wanting to go. Your local library is a great place to start. I had an aunt who researched our family heritage just using library resources. Ask the librarian, he/she will be able to point you in the right direction.

Answer 5

I will, if you can tell me how to write a prize-winning children's book in a week. I think a Newberry award would look good in the trophy case.

Seriously, the chances of finding your heritage that quickly are not good. If you live in the USA, have a fast connection, a subscription to census images, and spend 8 - 12 hours a day, you might be able to get back to the early 1800's or the immigrant ancestors, whicever came first.

If one of your aunts (75% of the serious genealogists are women, oddly enough.) has already "done" a line and published it on one of the big sites, you can copy it and hope she checked her sources.

If I were betting, I'd bet you are a teen who wants to surprise your GGM with a family tree for her birthday, probably one that makes her age end in a 5 or an 0. I'll copy in my standard list of links below. You might get lucky. As an alternative, you might ask all of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to write a page or so of their favorite memories with her. If you bug them every day, a third of them may come through in time.

As a second alternative, a dozen roses don't take up much space, don't have to be dusted and can be tossed, guilt-free, when they fade. That, or a nice bottle of Madeira, a pound of hazelnuts and a toaster-oven for toasting them.

Here is my stock answer:

These questions come up every day:

Where can I find my family tree for free?
Does anyone know the {Surname} family?
What are good sites for ancestors / genealogy?

They are all about tracing your family tree on the Internet. The fourth time I typed in my favorite beginner's links I realized I should save them in a text file and paste them in. This is long and general. Because it is general, not all the links will apply to every question or questioner.

These may help get you started. They are large and free. Many of them, however, have subtle ads for Ancestry.com in them - ads that ask for a name, then offer a trial subscription. Watch out for those advertisements.

http://www.cyndislist.com/
(240,000+ links, all cross-indexed. If you want Welsh or Pennsylvania Dutch or Oregon or any other region, ethnic group or surname, chances are she has links for it.)
http://www.familysearch.com
(Mormon's mega-site. Click on "Search")
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi
(460,000,000+ entries, of varying quality)
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?ln=
Surname meanings and origins
http://www.tedpack.org/begingen.html
My own site: "How to Begin"

United States only:
http://www.usgenweb.net/
(Subdivided into state sites, which all have county sites.)
(The Canadians have Canadian Gen Web, by province)
http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
(Social Security Death index - click on "Advanced" You may find your grandparents.)
http://find.person.superpages.com/
(US Phone book, for looking up distant cousins)


United Kingdom Only:
http://www.genuki.org.uk/
(Biggest site for United Kingdom & Ireland)
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/
(Free Birth, Marriage & Death Records)

(If you posted your question in Genealogy, ignore this paragraph. If you posted it in the "Family" category, read on.)
Tracing your family tree is called genealogy. YA has a category for genealogy,
Home > Arts & Humanities > Genealogy
There are hundreds of more links in the resolved answers there.


Notes:

You usually have to do some research. Sometimes you get lucky. Don't give up if your Great grandfather with your surname isn't there. Try all eight great-grandparents.

You won't find living people on any of the sites except the phone book one. You won't find many people born after 1920 on any of the sites except the SSDI one. Genealogists hide the birth dates, birth places and other facts of living people to protect their privacy. You will have to find your grandparents' or great grandparents' birth dates and maiden names somewhere besides the Internet.

The free sites are supported by advertising, just like TV. You can't watch the Super Bowl without seeing a beer commercial, and you can't surf for dead relatives without seeing an Ancestry advertisement. Many people complain about advertisements. Please don't. They bring you the "free" sites. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

If you get serious you'll need a genealogy program. They are to family research what "Word" is to writing a novel. I like Roots Magic. Family Tree Maker is the market leader. Both cost around $29. The Mormons will let you download PAF for free. It is clunky, but it is free. You can sometimes find old versions of FTM or Family Origins (FO is the predecessor of RM) in bargin bins at CostCo.

Answer 6

Wow, well, that's a tall order! Try ancestry.com, and just do lots of google searches on her name. What specifically are you trying to find out? Your country of origin or details about your ancestors?

Answer 7

Go to www.familysearch.org and type in her name or her parent's names and check for any records. The website's totally free and easy to use.

Answer 8

Start with your name and birth date, then your parents, then grandparents, find out birth, marriage and death dates, what counties, what countries.

Free sites are: www.usgenweb.com, or cyndislist.com

Answer 9

Go to the public library and ask the librarian to assist you.

Answer 10

Should a listened to them stories when you was kid