Post Genealogy Questions Here

[JanW.]

Please use this thread to post specific questions about Genealogy. Trish & I will keep an eye out so that we can try to answer them. If you know the answer to a question posted, please feel free to post that too.

[Joba2]

It seems every genealogy site I try they want money to see anything beyond the very minimum.It is discouraging . I am not ready to pay for information till I know everything I need. Any suggestions? I can't even find my county court house records site.I find the county site but no records there.Just info on the sheriff dept etc.

[JanW.]

Originally Posted by Joba2

It seems every genealogy site I try they want money to see anything beyond the very minimum.It is discouraging . I am not ready to pay for information till I know everything I need. Any suggestions? I can't even find my county court house records site.I find the county site but no records there.Just info on the sheriff dept etc.

Joba2, what area are you searching in? Please don't get discouraged! There are many sites out there that do not charge to lend a hand. Please tell us where you need to work and I'll give some suggestions. (this is my other life - http://www.genealogypitstop.com) I spent many hours putting information there with no charge to anyone. There are other sites out there like this, you just have to get lucky with your search words.

[Leslie]

Originally Posted by Joba2

It seems every genealogy site I try they want money to see anything beyond the very minimum.It is discouraging . I am not ready to pay for information till I know everything I need. Any suggestions? I can't even find my county court house records site.I find the county site but no records there.Just info on the sheriff dept etc.

I too am very reluctant as of yet to spend money on my research! For me it is a matter of time. I don't want to pay for a subscription at some of the wonderful sites out there until I have time to actually "get my money's worth" out of them! Therefore, I do searches for them. Try typing into the search engine such things as the last name you are researching. To narrow it down, do another search with the name and "genealogy" or "family". If you are looking for someone with a common last name try typing in the first name along with the last name. Then add to the criteria if needed. Example: Say you are searching for Joe Smith who lived in the 1800s. Try searches like "Joe Smith", "Joseph Smith", "Joe Smith AND genealogy", "Joe Smith AND family", "Joseph Smith AND genealogy AND 1800-1900". Just try several variations of your search criteria. Most likely someone out there on the Internet has a family tree online that at least mentions your Joe Smith (make sure it is YOUR Joe Smith!!) that can give you another name to research. If your lucky, you may even hit the jackpot and find someone who has found YOUR Joe Smith and traced his family back to the 1700s! So just keep searching. If there's nothing online today, there may be something next month. The Internet keeps growing so don't give up on a search if you don't get any results. (I have a few people that I haven't found anything for yet, but every once in a while I do a search for them "just in case someone added them to their family tree online!") So don't give up yet!!

[TrishF]

RootsWeb is a great starting point that is free to use. However (and this is a HUGE however) much of the information posted by the users of RootsWeb is undocumented and in some cases not even fully researched. Many times the contributor will state whether or not thier information is verifiable or if it continues to be a work in progress and that there may be errors. Take what you find with RootsWeb with a grain of salt and if it supplies an interesting connection that you think may be worthwhile, go and dig up the documentation to prove it or write to the poster and see if they have it.

I'm not sure how many counties in the US actually have their records online yet. You may have to go to the county courthouse to get the records or if it is far away, write to them. Many provide this service. I think I may have mentioned before about LDS libraries. If you have one near you, they are a great source of microfilmed document type information.

[KathyLou]

I am new to the forum but have quite a bit of experience on researching my family on the web. Genealogy is another love of my love.

Sometimes you can find information relating to the county that family has lived in. http://www.usgenweb.com/ . This site has state links. Each state link as county links. You can find anything from cemetery listings to wills to actual family research that others have done. As usual, do not take everything as gospel - treat it as a starting point. I also like to document where I found each piece of information. That helps when I need to go back to the source.

[TrishF]

That's great information KathyLou! Thanks for sharing it with us!!

[Leilauni]

You can also go to GenWeb online. They are working on getting all cemeteries online so that you can search the cemetery information. There are obituaries there and some of us are walking cemeteries for the tombstone project..so there will be photos of all tombstones online for those who live too far way to go visit. I have adopted the Mt. Whitney Cemetery in Lone Pine...a nice relaxing way to spend an nice day...talking to those you remember and getting to know those you didn't.

[JanW.]

Originally Posted by Leilauni

You can also go to GenWeb online. They are working on getting all cemeteries online so that you can search the cemetery information. There are obituaries there and some of us are walking cemeteries for the tombstone project..so there will be photos of all tombstones online for those who live too far way to go visit. I have adopted the Mt. Whitney Cemetery in Lone Pine...a nice relaxing way to spend an nice day...talking to those you remember and getting to know those you didn't.

It's wonderful that you are involved with projects to help preserve information. I've been working on cemetery projects for several years and would encourage everyone to help where they can. In addition to GenWeb, you might also try:

www.findagrave.com (you can submit a single memorial or many, and for anywhere)

www.ohiogravestones.org and www.pennsylvaniagravestones.org

I'm sure there are others, but these are ones that I work with in addition to GenWeb. Perhaps we can start a thread for worthwhile projects.

Hugs,
Jan W.

[Scrappingmamaw]

You might try searching the message boards on RootsWeb too. They were a wealth of information to me in my research. There may be private family websites that will allow you in by invitation if you link to their family. I have also found much useful and helpful info and "clues" there. MyFamily.com has private family websites. Hope this helps.

[Joba2]

This geneology section on the forums is the one of the main reasons I was attracted to SAS. I hope it remains a vibrant part of the site.

[scrappinmama]

It it's available where you are, you can also go to the local family history center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and use what they have there for free. The only charge is for any materials that you copy or wish to purchase such as pedigree charts, family group records and census extraction forms.

They also have a website at: http://familysearch.org that is an excellent starting point.

[JanW.]

Originally Posted by Joba2

This geneology section on the forums is the one of the main reasons I was attracted to SAS. I hope it remains a vibrant part of the site.

It will remain a part of SAS. Please do not hesitate to ask questions or leave suggestions for things you would like to learn about.


Hugs,
JanW.

[Barbwire]

Another big help for getting information from far away is Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness or RAOGK www.raogk.org
Of course you have to know the location, name, and approximate date before you make the request, but you can get all the information off, or a copy of, a birth/death/marriage record that you normally would have to pay money for.
I do free research in my area for many people because I was helped by wonderful people out there for free when I was researching my family tree. You would be surprised how many other people do this all over the US. There also are people out there who do research for free using their paid subscriptions to Ancestry. You just have to find the right person.
Good luck.

[Pauli]

Hi, I have found some of the more elusive branches of my husbands family tree just by googling the last name and digging thru piles of websites. Some of obvious dubious truths, but most are reliable, in that I was able to verify information by other means.
ALSO, and this is great, because its free, some libraries have access, either from home, or library only, to Heritage Quest. Another try, is either the genealogy or historical society of the area your ancestor (might have) lived. They may be able to tell you where, if any, the older records are kept, and whether you can search them yourself (awesome vacation in my book) or if they are in closed stacks.
Another way to find information, even as a start to finding more, is county or city histories...... I found family connections in them, that otherwise would have been lost to me.