Rickey Vrieze: If it were me I would have used my common sense and googled it instead of coming to YA.
Libby Berkovitch: Kitty, the web can be a useful tool but with any website you must distinguish between the records they have and their subscriber submitted family trees which ARE NOT RECORDS. Even when you see the absolute same information on the same people from a ton of subscribers that doesn't mean for one moment it is accurate as too many people copy without verifying. No way do the websites hire people to verify what their subscriber submit. It would cost a cool fortune and their rates would be so high that only those with a large income could afford them.You start with yourself and work back one generation at a time, documenting everything as you do. You have your birth certificate? It has the names of both of your parents including your mother's maiden name. Can you get birth certificates on your parents and grandparents? Death certificates usually a! lso have the names of both parents of the deceased including mother's maiden name. Now there will come a time in the U.S. when births and deaths were not routinely recorded. Some states started in the 19th century and some did not start until the first quarter of the 20th century. Then church records can be helpfulTalk to living family and find out what they might have. Maybe some have some birth, marriage and death certificates on your ancestors. Maybe they have some baptismal, confirmation, marriage and death certificates from your ancestors' churches. Maybe they have some old wills, deeds, family bibles, family photos, letters from elderly and deceased relatives. Interview senior family members and tape them if they will let you. Chances are they will get into telling stories of days gone by you wouldn't write down but in those stories all too often there are clues that will later help you break through a brick wall in your research. You should go back now a! nd then and listen to the tapes again as you very likely will ! hear things you didn't hear the first time around. Not all family stories pan out but you should get them anyway as there still can be clues in them.Go to a Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints (Mormon) Church. They have records on people all over the world, not just Mormons. If you find anything in their database you would like to view and print off a copy of an original document, they can order microfilm for you to view there for about $5. I have never had them to try and convert me nor have I heard of them doing that to anyone else that has used their resources. A lot of their volunteers are not Mormon. Use the following link to find the nearest Mormon FHC.https://familysearch.org/locations/centerlocatorTed gave you a great answer as to genealogy programs to use. For websites there are 2 that are my favorite because of the amount of records they have online. Still with both you must distinguish between the records they have and their subscriber submitted! family trees. One is FamilySearch.org which is entirely free and the other is Ancestry.com which many public libraries have a subscription to you can use for free. Now no way are all records online. The regular posters here feel Ancestry.com's ads and promotions are misleading but still it does have lots of records....Show more
Sammy Hatzenbihler: Maybe try to do some real research instead of copying whatever you find on websites.and all those real records start with you and your own records and they are at home......at least that way you could have some real ancestry and be able to prove each person, which will then show you how it is done and that is never online http://familytimeline.webs.com/recordsinyourownhom...
Damaris Weiler: What you should do is somehow get yourself adopted by a family that has a full and complete genealogical record which would save you a lot of work and worry.
Arnette Dominici: RootsMagic is the best genealogy program, IMH! O, but it costs $29. That's only $5 per year if you use it for 6 years ! before upgrading to the next version, which I do.The US Gen Web county-level sites vary. Some are amazing, some are not.Roots Web is a little dated, but still chock-full of data.http://www.tedpack.org has some advice and some reflections on genealogy. It too is a little dated, but warm, witty and easy to read.Google is great, especially if they have digitized a county history from where your ancestors lived, and one of your ancestors bought an entry. It can also lead to things. The County library in Preble County, Ohio, teamed up with the historical society and put a batload of data on-line; it must have taken them a hundred thousand people-hours. I never would have thought to look, but while Googling, I found it....Show more
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