How do I find out about my family's history? Like a family tree type thing?

Question

I want to know my roots. Dad's last name Rogers, Mom's Last name Manville.
Is there a way I can use the Internet to find out where my family's from and if there's any royality?

Answer 1

Here are some places to try:
www.Genealogy.com
www.Ancestry.com
www.OneGreatFamily.com
www.familysearch.org
www.rootsweb.com
www.usgenweb.com

Answer 2

First of all information in family trees on any website must be taken as clues not as fact as most is not documented. Even if you see the same information over and over by different submitters, a lot of copying is being done which means they frequently are copying errors over and over.

Don't be led astray by coat of arms peddlers.

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerpsst.cfm

Start with your family; get as much information from them as possible, particularly senior members. Tape them if they will let you. Some of the information might turn out not to be confused but insignificant rambling and story telling might
turn out to be very significant.

You didn't state where you lived. We have people on this board from the U.K., U.S. and Canada.

Go to your public library and find out what resources they have. They might have a subscription to Ancestry.Com which has a lot of records and is obtaining more all the time. They have all the censuses through 1930. The 1940 is not available for the public yet.

Call your nearest Mormon Church and find out if they have a Family History Center and if so the hours they are open for the general public. They have records on people all over the world, not just Mormons.
Most of the people there will not be Mormon. They don't talk about religion and they will not send a couple of their missionaries by just because you availed yourself of their services.

While you are there and at the genealogy section of your library, you will most likely meet people that can give you a lot of good ideas and advice.

Answer 3

Well Ihad an uncle who did the same thing as you and got names th went back to the late 1500's. I think he did by finding out where my ancestors lived and then he'd go to the churches in the area and ask them if any names he was looking for were in any of the churches documents. Another way you can do this is just by asking your family members and looking at old family members journals(if you have them). And there is also a website for making family rees but I think you have to pay for it it's called.. ancestory.com.. And if you want to see if you have any royal blood, type in some names at google. Good Luck

Answer 4

People ask that a lot here. The resolved questions in this category are full of links and tips. I'd paste my stock answer for you, but I don't have it handy.

You should know it is about as difficult as writing a term paper for a high-school history class. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, but it is research. Also it never ends, because each person you find opens a new "assignment" - who were his/her parents?

Most teens give up when they find out how much work it is.

If you have English, French, BeNeLux, Swiss or German roots, chances are (85%) you are related to Charlemagne. If you get to him, you get lots of Royal links.

Answer 5

Start with talking to surviving family members. Perhaps someone has a family Bible with names and dates you can check primary source records against. This will give you a base from which to compare Census records, marriage licenses, land grants, and probate records. Part of the fun, of genealogy, after all, is visiting long lost cousins. For example, if Nanma told you that her father came to Texas from Georgia after the American Civil War, that's where you can look for his name in the 1850 U. S. Census, which will also give his dad's name as well. If Gran's cousin, Albert, is scheduling his fifth trip back to the Western Hebrides, it's a sure bet that your ancestors came from Scotland.

Americans should also know that U. S. Census records are available to the public from 1790 to 1930 at any public or university library having a government document repository. [Moreover, the US Census is available on line for certain localities.] The Census, however, only lists entire families, grouped as a unit, beginning in 1850. I traced my family back to all of my great great grandparents on both sides of my family tree before computers came along just by writing letters to distant relatives, asking county clerks to send me photocopies of marriage licenses, as well as being a frequent visitor to my local public library.

Today, some states, for instance, Texas, have older marriage records on line, but no all localities do. Some countries, such as England and Scotland, also have extensive on line services as well. You might also find the following free-of-charge web site, sponsored by the Latter Day Saints, useful: http://www.family.search.org.

All of this probably won't tell you if you are related to royalty at least in the United Kingdom because an Act of Parliament in 1714 established the Hanoverian Succession. All members of royalty since that time are either from the Hanover and Saxe-Coberg Gotha lines (which changed their family name to Windsor at the end of the First World War).

Ancestry.com does provide a feature that identifies distant common ancestors. Since subscribing to that service, I have found links of direct descent from the Stuart dynasty on both my paternal and maternal side of the family. However, I also suspect that a sizeable portion of Anglos in the American South as well as possibly 80 percent of the population of England and Scotland can make the same claim. I will gladly give away my rather dubious and distant "cousin" relationship to both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton if anyone wants them.

Answer 6

There are very good primers on how to research family history at both rootsweb.com and familysearch.org. You'll need genealogy software to load the information as you learn it, for good organization. Ask your living family elders for all they can tell you of full names, dates and places of births marriages and deaths as far back as anyone recalls.

Next you'll order genealogy copies of those records, which will get a generation further back through the 20th century. Now you're ready to begin researching family history online -- and closer to home at the library and maybe your nearest LDS family history center. Don't overlook family cemeteries nearby either. A very basic need will be access to census images as one of your historic resources.

Welcome to our giddy addiction!

Answer 7

ancestors.com genealogy.com but they both charge you. Start with the basics grandparents names dobs then great grands and so forth one generation at a time as far as you can go you may be surprised at who you find. We found Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill, and Stephen Douglas (the guy who ran against Lincoln)