Where is a good place to go to start a family tree?

Question

I am mainly looking for free websites that show how the "tree" should be structured and offer good tips on where to go to start looking for specific family member information.

and also anything you personally have done that worked out well.

Answer 1

a family "tree" is really a pretty generic term, referring to the collected information as a whole. I don't think that there is any preferred structure, so to speak. Different people have preferences on what they view.
The easiest would be your own direct lineage. In chart form, it is a pedigree...your parents, grandparents, gr grandparents, so forth. These are your ancestors. Many people look at this as their goal.
But those are not all your RELATIVES. All your ancestors probably had more than the one child, this is where you have uncles/aunts, cousins. For basic research, you can keep these on what are called family group sheets.. a page that includes a husband/wife, their data, names of their parents (not full data, just the names), and list of their children (including names of their spouses). I have used plain notebook paper for this, filing alphabetically by husbands last name. No trying to figure any unique system. The names of the parents "point" to their own fgs; and the children when married "move" to their own.
The alternate from tracking your ancestry, is to arbitrarily select one set of ancestors, ie your paternal gr grandparents, and come "down" to all living descendents. Personally, I shy away from this. One of our families chose to do a book this way, despite my warnings. After 15 yrs, the book has never been finished because people have this habit of growing up, having new babies, divorcing.. thus making it completely impossible to ever finish. Those that contributed are angry that there is still no book. Those that didn't, STILL send new information and would be hurt if not included.
Then came computers..and genealogy programs, as a place to store all the individuals. www.familysearch.org is the LDS church site, that offers PAF, a free program that has been around a good while. I strongly suggest that it is a very workable program, and after you know what it does, if it isn't meaty enough, you can buy a program.
Here's my warning after 20+ yrs of research. Prepare to be addicted. When you wind up with 10 or more 3 ring binders, or 3 filing cabinets, you know you are hooked. No one ever believes they will have that much info. You will. Avoid scraps of paper at all costs.. they fall over, get lost, etc. Standard size paper, preferably notebooks. ALWAYS ALWAYS note where you got the information. You will, of course, ignore this, and 5 yrs later, remember that you were warned.
As for where to start looking, I love www.cyndislist.com, that has an amazing list of resources. Just browse, to see the different places that will give info. She includes beginner's tutorials, that are essential.
After a while, you get like me.. you run out of your own dead people to search, and you look for anyone you can find, just for the challenge.

Answer 2

Go to Wal-Mart and purchase Family Tree maker, if you are serious, it cost about $50.00 but its invaluable. Obviously you have a computer, load it and it's 99% self explanatory. You get three months of genealogy .com to get you started. There are really no free web sites I know of, but any large library has a genealogy department that would be glad to assist you. I have my family traced back to the Carolina's before the revolutionary war. Between my wife and myself, we have over 4 thousand names in our family Tree maker program...As all the others told you, get most of your information to start from parents, aunts, uncles, etc, Write everything down, names dates, places, etc. Its a lot of work but a lot of fun. We have made a connection to Sarah Crockettt, widow of Davie Crocket after the Alamo. I had ancestors in the French and Indian wars before the revolutionary war. The only thing I hate is the Census if held confidential for 70 years before release. The last one was 1930. It has my Dad and Mom but no siblings as of 1930. I did find out my Mom lied on her marriage certificate when she got married, she was only 16, not 18 when they got married. Good luck with your search.....Nuf Said

Answer 3

You ask where to start...as in the very basics of how to even structure this. There are four resources in your area that I'd refer you to in order to get yourself organized.

The first is to contact the Family History Center at the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) in your area. They will be open a few days a week and have the largest collection of genealogy records in the world. Staffed by volunteers, you'll get very good help in learning how to structure your research (including copies of family pages that you can copy and use to record your research). And you'll find out which records are most important to your research.

The next place to go is the USGenWeb pages for the counties where your ancestors lived. These are full of local genealogists who know what records are available and many who will go with you to learn how to pull records from court houses, county clerks and property records. For ancestors who lived far away, there are also volunteers in those counties who will be happy to pull records from there for you so that you don't have to travel far away to get what you need.

The third place for you to get up to speed is your local genealogy society. When you go to the GenWeb site for your county, you should find info on them and when they meet. Nothing is more valuable than sharing with other people who understand our addiction.

Finally, I'd suggest you visit the surname and regional pages at www.genealogy.com. This is a great place to hook up with other people who have an interest in the same families and towns and countries as you. They happily share what information they have and are a great place to get a sense of direction.

From there you'll have a good sense of direction and should have a good time doing your research. Good luck and happy hunting!

Answer 4

There are lots of forms for genealogical charts (various genealogical societies have lots on the internet free of charge.)

But the very best place to begin your quest for information is with your parents and grandparents. Sit down with them, and go through sets of questions. Names, dates of birth and dates of death, if known, of family members, where they lived, what they did for a living, who they married, names of their kids, and so forth. Try and do this for both sides of your family tree.

I suppose the very best thing is to find out if any relative has ever done genealogy of their family. If they have, that is a tremendous savings of time and energy, as well as cost.

The oldest members of your family are the best to ask about THEIR parents and grandparents, for that allows you to go back four or five generations. They also seem to have a greater interest than parents, while they are busy with raising kids and earning a living.

My suggestion would be to get an inexpensive cassette tape recorder, and take down everything they say on tape. You can't write fast enough to be sure you get everything. Then, you can transcribe the information when you have the time, and can rewind the tape back and forth to get it all.

Ask if the relatives have copies of pictures of their oldest relatives, and can you photocopy them. Write the names and all other information you can get on the back of the photo copies.

That is a good place to begin. Of course, there are tons of documents you can get with a little research and effort: US census records, going back to the first census in 1790. Military records, birth and death records, marriage records. Tax records, land records, old lawsuits, letters, documents, photos. Histories of early settlers, immigration records, school records, etc. etc.

Good luck, and enjoy the search.

Answer 5

So you are looking for someone in the family Hey? For kicks I have to say "your back yard". but, for real the Mormons have the most comprehensive genie tree that will knock you out. I would just type in Mormon church,then once to the sight, type in genealogy. I believe its free as well. Hope that helps. good luck pardner. I learned of this from a fella who is Mormon and has only one wife..in each state

Answer 6

All I ever use is FamilySearch.org! I found my ancestors right away and they already had a family tree started that I just expanded on. Good luck.

Answer 7

hello..

First of all find out the oldest living person you know in your family.Once you find that person you can collect all the inforamtion you want from that person.you can ask about family history,like from wher the family originally came etc,with information you can go ahead.

Answer 8

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. I am not chastising you for failing to search the resolved questions first. I am explaining why this is the same answer I gave to many other people. The fourth time I typed my favorite beginner's links I realized I should save them in a text file and paste them in. This is a long, detailed and general answer. Because it is general, some of the links (or paragraphs) may not apply to your question.

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.

In the USA, some public libraries have census image subscriptions. Many Family History Centers do too. FHC's are small rooms in Mormon churches. They welcome anyone interested in genealogy, not just fellow Mormons. They have resources on CD's and volunteers who are friendly. They don't try to convert you; in fact, they don't mention their religion unless you ask a question about it.


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 best way to get started is to ask your oldest living relatives about themselves and their parents. You may find great-grandpa's death date and burial place on the web, but only his children, your grandfather and grandaunt, can tell you what sort of man he was.

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.

This is a general hint: Even though you go in through YA Canada, YA Australia, YA UK or YA USA, all of the questions go into one big "pot" and get read by everyone in the world who speaks English. Most of the people here are in the UK and USA, but you sometimes get questions and answers from people who worry about kangaroos eating their roses. So - put a nation, or, better yet, if you are asking about a specific individual, a nation and a state / province in all of your questions. It will help people help you.