my grandfather has recently passed, and it occured to me that i know nothing about my heritage. What is a good way to start looking up family member of the past.
2007-04-17 08:54:23 · 10 answers · asked by nellie1362 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
Talk to all of your older relatives and get their dates of birth, marriage, divorce, schools, etc. from them, and get from them the names of their parents. Then obtain a copy of your grandfather's death certificate and it will list his parents' names, and go from there. Find the oldest people first, talk with them, and then go to the records.
2007-04-17 08:57:45 · answer #1 · answered by John B 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There is a lot of good information given by the other answerers. Try to get as much information from your sernior family members, in particular, as possible. Tape them if they will let you. Even when their minds are a little fuzzy and they ramble a lot. Sometimes in that rambling, there can be important clues. People who do this say after they have done research for a few years, they go back and listen to the tape and hear things they didn't hear the first time around.
It is good to have confirmation on any record you find from other records. Remember what one person hears and the other says is not always the same thing. Many times the informant for the record recall of the exact information is not perfect. Census records are good but you must be prepared for discrepancies.
2007-04-17 21:22:59 · answer #2 · answered by Shirley T 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
This is pretty simple to get started. Get a sheet of paper. List yourself, siblings and connect to your parents. Then list their parents and so forth as far back as you know. Then start talking to family members about who is further back. You should be able to get about 4-5 generations this way. Also collect any family stories about these people that they might have. This adds life to the geneology. Once you start getting to births prior to 1930 you have access to the records contained in the United States Census. If you know what state they were from you can access these records and get the entire family living with them in one fell swoop. Good way to find cousins and what not that you don't presently know. Also legal records, such as deeds, marriages, divorces and the like are also good places to dig. Find out the history of your surname-if Irish, Scottish Welsh or the like there are Celtic Societys that can help out with this. If Norse then there are the Sons/Daughters of Norway/Sweden that can also assist. There are also German associations and so forth that can also give guidence. The Church of Latter Day Saints offers classes in geneology and has a very complete library. Be careful to check references out as there are bogus ones out there. Also check with your local geneological society. There are probably experienced geneologists there that would be more than willing to take you under their wing and teach you the ropes. Have fun.
2007-04-17 16:37:18 · answer #3 · answered by mcdomnhal 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Generation by generation! Begin with yourself, and ask living relatives to help you with all they recall about each generation back, get places and dates of birth, marriage and deaths. Once you have filled out genealogy software you'll know what you don't know - and probably too if someone in your family is a family historian already, to help you along.
Some resources to help you online would be familysearch.org, rootsweb.com and ancestry.com. At your library there may be a genealogy section with genealogists who can help guide you. Another local resource will likely be a mormon Family History Center where much is free or very low cost.
2007-04-17 16:19:53 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Okay, hun, Utah has a Big Huge place my Great Uncle goes through to get his information for our families Geanology!! And he's made books for us through them!!! We found out that we're actually related too, John Adam's, who rode in on the Mayflower!!! And I have a "Great, Great, Great, Cousin who shares my own birthday, and so does my sister!!! Its All pretty cool, if you ask me!!! But he got most of his information from the Institute in Utah, I forgot the name of it!!! Its famous for looking up family tree's!!! Vital Statistics or something to that effect..... Good Luck to you!!!
2007-04-17 16:08:14 · answer #5 · answered by Hmg♥Brd 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Begin with old relatives and get as much info from them and then start up with one of those expensive genealogy sites OR become a Mormon and use their database...my father-in-law has gone as far back to the middle ages on his genealogy.
2007-04-17 16:06:27 · answer #6 · answered by SirLok 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
First ask your relatives about earlier ancestors (born before 1900). They may remember your great grandparents. Search for the names on familysearch and freecen.
You'll be surprised how far back you can go.
2007-04-18 23:37:17 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Probably not more than a generation or two because much turns out to be hearsay and I doubt anybody can trace his lineage to the flood.
2007-04-17 15:57:58 · answer #8 · answered by vanamont7 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Go to your library. most libraries have a good genealogical section. You can also go to ancestry.com. You can get tips there too.
2007-04-17 16:03:46 · answer #9 · answered by robee 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
have you tried with a specialized company? i heard that there are some companies that do this particular thing: trace your genealogy.
run a google search...
2007-04-17 15:59:30 · answer #10 · answered by julie 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋