Talk to all your living relatives and ask for all the information they can provide. Write it down; don't forget who said what (source).
For websites,
Start with:
http://www.searchforancestors.com/...
http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...
http://www.usgenweb.com/
http://www.census.gov/
http://www.rootsweb.com/
http://www.ukgenweb.com/
http://www.archives.gov/
http://www.familysearch.org/
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...
http://www.cyndislist.com/
http://www.geni.com/
Assuming they emigrated from Europe, start with Ellis Island and the Battery Conservancy sites:
http://www.ellisisland.org
http://www.castlegarden.org
For Scotland, check:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
For ship’s passenger lists, try:
http://www.immigrantships.net/
www.cyndislist.com/ships.htm
www.geocities.com/Heartland/5978/Emigration.html
www.immigrantstips.net/
www.searchforancestors.com/passengerlists/
www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration/passenger-arrival.html
For those with native American ancestry, try:
http://www.tribalpages.com/
http://www.cherokee-nc.com/geneology.php...
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/herita...
Netherlanders: http://www.genlias.nl
For a fee, try a DNA test:
When you really want to know where your ancestors came from, try such sites as: www.familytreedna.com, dnatribes.com, dnaancestryproject.com, and, of course, the National Geographics Genotype program, https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/geno...
For Jewish ancestry, try:
www.israelgenealogy.com
For people from India, try:
http://www.fibis.org/
Have a look at these sites these are South African ones,
http://genealogy.about.com/od/south_afri...
http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/page2.html....
http://www.jewishgen.org/safrica/website...
http://southafricanfamilyhistory.wordpre...
Meaning of names:
http://www.winslowtree.com/surname-meani...
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/f...
Here are some general sites with lists of African names:
http://www.swagga.com/fname.htm
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/afr.php
http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/ba...
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/...
Military:
www.military.com
http://www.familymilitaryrecords.com/
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/militar...
http://websearch.about.com/od/peoplesear...
http://genealogy.about.com/b/2007/05/24/...
http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ww1/draft/sea...
Finding live people:
Two good places I use are www.zabasearch.com and www.peoplefinder.com
Don't forget, use your local library. Ours (a small one, yet) has www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com, as well as periodicals, books and guidance from an experienced genealogist.
Keep good notes on where you find what: sources are very important.
2007-12-23 17:05:24
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answer #1
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answered by Nothingusefullearnedinschool 7
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Sophia, it requires research. There are lots of websites that can help you.
Just don't take as absolute fact everything you see in family trees on any website, free or paid. The information is user submitted.
Most of it is not documented or poorly documented. Even if you see the same info repeated by many different submitters, that is no guarantee it is correct. A lot of people copy without verifying. Use the information as clues as to where to get the documentation.
Check out and see what your public library has. They might have a subscription to Ancestry.Com which has lots of records. They have all the U. S. censuses through 1930. The 1940 and later are not available to the public yet. They have U. K. censuses
also.
A Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints(Mormon) Church has records on people all over the world, not just Mormons.
In Salt Lake City, they have the world's largest genealogical collection. Their Family History Centers can order microfilm for you to view at a nominal fee.
I have never had them to try and convert me or send their missionaries by to ring my doorbell. I haven't heard that they have done that to anyone else.
Good Luck!
2007-12-24 03:15:22
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answer #2
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answered by Shirley T 7
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