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Often times folks obtain internet accounts, but they don’t know the true power behind internet accessibility when it comes to searching ones’ roots or family tree. So, I am making this Genealogy Forum available to you, as a way to help you research your family history. This is to be a guiding light to assist you in learning about what Genealogy is, and to give you some valuable basics which I have compiled to help you with your search.
Daily on the internet, there are people discovering relatives they didn’t know existed, and sharing old family photos, stories, military achievements with their newly found relatives. A person recently made a connection with a 2nd cousin she didn’t know existed, then discovered this cousin had three photos from the 1920’s which even had her own father (at the ages of 3, 7 & 10 yrs old) and Grandparents in them. She cried when she found out the existence of these treasures and was able to obtain copies. Many people now have their own family websites specifically geared to their family history, including photos of ancestors, diaries, bible entries, military records & citations, birth, marriage & death certificates, naturalization papers and more. If you want to check out a few family sites, click on these:
What is Genealogy? It’s a record, or an account of your ancestry listing both your ancestors and descendants in your family line. Some call it making a pedigree chart. In the past Genealogy was normally done by hand (or passed down in Family Bibles) and then published by many families in book format and kept at the National Archives, or passed down to their descendants. Nowadays, the electronic way is doing most of your research on the internet, combined with some research at Family History Centers (FHCs), the National Archives, or obtaining vital records on ancestors and compiling all the information on your own Family website so your relatives have easy access to the information, old family photos, records, letters, etc. They can be simple (maybe 50-100 people), ranging from those in your immediate family to extensive pre-dated histories reaching back to the biblical ages (in some cases) that might encompass 10,000-30,000 ancestors.
The US GenWeb Project: A few years ago the US GenWeb was started. As a result, there is a GenWeb site for every State, and within each State there is a site for every County. There is a World GenWeb Project which encompasses sites for various Countries, such as Canada, Ireland, Germany, Scotland, England and many others. This makes resources available from Countries all over the world, allowing you to travel throughout the sites to view on-line censuses, tombstone data, military records, Surname queries, passenger lists, land grants, naturalizations, birth, marriage & death records and so much more. There is also a FTP Archive Site associated with each GenWeb site that stores the archival information, so be sure to visit those. Many archives have wills & deeds on them.
New
LDS Site: Recently, the Latter Day
Saints opened a new website for family research. It has some great information and
records on-line. Please check it out!! Just click on the underlined title at the beginning
of this paragraph.
Why do Family Genealogy? Passing on
what you do know, or can assemble, to your children is one of the most precious gifts you
can give them. Knowing their roots, and why their ancestors came to America helps them
find out who they are. Years ago it was passed down in Family Bibles, but that age old
tradition has gone by the wayside, and Family Homepages have replaced the age old
tradition. In addition, often times it has helped to save someone’s life because they
were aware of medical problems from past generations. For example, knowing about a history
of multiple births & their family occurrence rate gives your children insight into
what they might expect. Knowing of past medical histories is essential too, especially
when it comes to heart & kidney diseases or disorders, diabetes, mental illnesses, and
so much more. Just having a central location where the family information is stored on
burial sites or tombstone information and family photos is priceless!! So, leave your
children, or those that come after you something they will treasure and can pass down the
tradition to their families. The chart below is the guideline for you to use to start you
on this journey. Remember, this does not nearly encompass everything out there, but, it
has all the basics that will teach you how to do genealogy, and lead you to your ancestors
(and family nuts in some cases, grin)...enjoy your travels!! And, if you have questions
along the way, please Email Me....
| Basic Guidelines | General Information | Associated Websites |
| What’s Needed? | Internet accessibility of course, and software specifically for Genealogy. This is a great starter program and comes in DOS or Win 3.xx and is used to enter your family data. Other software is listed below | Brother's Keeper |
| Getting Started | Basic information from experts on how to get started, what to gather and where to look. Some valuable sites are also listed for ethnic research. These sources not only provide you with information on the basics, but also valuable links to take you to other sources you may need | Cyndi's How To Online Beginner's Treasure Maps Backward Footprints Family History Show Genealogical Helper On-Line Genealogy Classes Genealogy 101 Searching Your Family Tree |
| Afro-American Genealogy | Don’t know where to start to find your ancestors that were slaves? These sites have some valuable search tools and resources | Afro-American Genealogy Resources Afro-American History Afro-American Mosaic |
| Native American Genealogy | Some how to information, along with some valuable information on various tribes and records | Guide for Native
Americans Native American Genealogy North American Genealogy Native American Links |
| Organizing Your Files | Keeping records is essential! Also how you keep them and what you put in them is just as valuable | Organizing Files 20 Ways To Avoid Grief |
| Other Genealogy Software | Other sites offering genealogy software that’s FREE | Cyndi's Software List |
| Gathering Information | FREE Basic Genealogical forms in PDF format to use in gathering your family history | Free Family Tree Charts Genealogy Forms Family Group Sheet Federal Documents |
| Surname Search Engines & Sites | After you gather facts on your ancestors and have some dates & locations for them, these sites are good places to search your family surnames for matches & potential exchange of data with any new relatives you find | Ancestry Hometown Roots Web FREE CD Surname Searches GenForum SpringBoard GENDEX -- WWW Genealogical Index Gen Surnames Looking for Surnames Family Tree Maker Surname Search w/website links IGS Surname Search Rootsweb Lineage |
| Soundex | Information on what the Soundex Coding system is, and a site to easily transfer your surnames into Soundex Codes | Soundex Coding Information Soundex Coding Machine |
| Census Information | If you know what county and the timeframe your ancestor was there, you can search on a census to find out who all was living in the family group, their occupations, and even their country or state of birth if that is unknown. In some cases, siblings or elderly parents may be living with them. This is a good source to prove they were there & obtain vital records | Census Records and How to Use
them Cyndi's Census Listing Census Project Census-National Archives Locator Census Bureau Genealogy Virginia Census Documents Census Data US Census Records on CD ROM FIND COUNTY/TOWN |
| Occupations & Medical Terms | So, your uncle was a Yeoman? Or a Candar? Visit these sites to find out what those are. Or, if you have gone through death records at the FHC and your ancestor's cause of death was Brights Disease, Apoplexy Lobar, etc.. be sure to check these sites out to find out what those terms mean! | List of Occupations Glossary/Occupation/Disease Charts German Occupations & More! |
| Query Lists & Obits | If you know what State or County your ancestor was born or lived, you can do a written query for their name and provide your net address so they can respond directly back to you in email. This is a great source to find living relatives of your ancestors. Be sure to write the Surname in caps, and include info on siblings, spouse or other information you have. Genconnect is a FANTASTIC source, do a query on your Surname, then visit the links they bring up! | Archive of all Queries: for
xx=put state abbreviation Queries Info GENCONNECT!! Ancestry Website |
| Sample Family Websites | Examples of a few Family Homepages & also a sites with some genealogy graphics for use on your homepage! | Mark Hickman's Lane Family Middleton Keepin Up With the Jone’s Chris Stern Gen Graphics |
| Family History Centers (FHC) or LDSs | Research at FHCs is free. Cost of ordering a microfilm roll is only $3.25. These sites give you information on what is at the FHCs and will also help you find the one closet to you | Family Search Site FHC Utah FHC Summary FHC FHC Listings Find Your Family History Center |
| National Archives Research Admin (NARA) | This takes you to the actual NARA site. The other site provides written text on doing searches at NARA | NARA Site NARA's Genealogy Page NARA Summary |
| Photo Preservation & Restoration | If you have old family photos that are in need of restoration check here for good information | Photo Historian Williams Computer Services Photo Info Photo Preservation |
| Resources Available | This is just a sample of some of the resources for Genealogy on the Net. Link-O-Mania includes great sources from US & foreign countries. The disease chart is good for interpreting death certificate information or data from death records found on microfilm (at FHCs) on relatives that died in the 17 & 1800s. Some include information on Family Homepages. The North American Genealogy site has several sources for Native Americans, Canadians & US. The Library of Congress has a wealth of information on women, pioneers, etc... | Cyndi's Genealogy Sites Genealogy Home Page Net Sources Gen Links Galore from A to Z Link-O-Mania Bazillion Genealogy Links Useful Free Genealogy Stuff Helpful Genealogical & Other Links Ohio Death Certificate Index IN Marriage Index German Genealogy Page National Archives England General Searching North American Genealogy Library of Congress Genealogy Help Links Research It! History Links Barrel of GenLinks |
| Books | A listing of some useful books for researching ethnic roots and used or hard to find genealogy books | Broadview Books Genealogy Books Afro-American Genealogy Amazon Books Genealogy Book Shop |
| Passenger Lists | Please read & use the Guide to help you research Immigration & Ship Passenger Lists, it's one of the BEST tools I have ever seen! If you know where & when your ancestors arrived, check these passenger lists for the Port of Entry to find their ship info | Immigration & Ships Passenger
Lists Guide ISTG The Passenger Lists The Olive Tree Irish Passenger List Family Roots of Pictou County Emigration Ships Ships to Canada Ellis Island |
| Listserve’s | Being on a listserve & receiving posts from the area where your ancestors lived (i.e. Nova Scotia) can be a great source. You can find others searching relatives that might be related to yours, as well as gain an insight into that area & their customs | Newsgroup & Mailing List
"Netiquette" United States Regional Lists Family Surname Lists Listserv-Northwest US County Lists |
| Social Security Death Index (SSDI) | A searchable index to find the SSN of deceased ancestors. Why? With that information you can obtain their application info, birth & death dates, their parents info & more! | Ancestry Hometown’s SSDI |
| Land Records | Information on Land Records & their importance, also where to locate land patents & warrants | History & Use of
Land Records Where to Obtain Land Patents/Warrants |
| Maps | Locate on a Map where your ancestors lived, even if it was a foreign country | MapQuest USGS Mapping Info MapBlast AniMap County Boundary Historical Atlas Expedia Maps |
| Tombstone Project & Cemetery Lists | Some counties have listings of cemeteries, and even include the burial information. You can search by State to see what is available and on-line. There is also information for folks willing to volunteer their time to locate and record tombstone data from cemeteries near them | Tombstone Project Cemetery Interment Lists on the Internet |
| Geographic Locators | Find any town/city in the US (or Canada) and the associated county for that location. A county is required for most of your Genealogical searches | US Geographic Locator |
| Vital Statistics | Knowing where to get birth, marriage & death certificates on your ancestors is essential. By obtaining a certificate for an ancestor, this will lead you to information on their parents to continue your search backwards | NY Vital Records & Forms US Vital Records Vital Records Info VitalChek <= Fast source |
| Military Records | Often times good Military records were kept. Sometimes this is the another source of finding ancestors, or learning more about the ones you know exist (if they were enlisted). I do suggest you visit "The Wall", it's a very touching tribute to those that died in the Vietnam War, as well as information for those looking for buddies from the War | Military Records and How to Use Them Military Sites Links Index to Microfilmed War Records Militia Rolls & War of 1812 Civil War WWWI Index Korean War Project Military Records for Genealogy War Records The Wall (Vietnam) |
| Adoption Information | Many sites exist now to help reunite adopted children with their birth parents & vice versa, so if you were adopted, don’t give up hope on finding your birth relatives! | Adoptees & Birth parents Search Adoption Resources |
| NY State Resources | Visit your State’s GenWeb site & also Niagara County’s. Learn valuable info for your searches in NY | NY GenWeb Niagara County GenWeb NY Genealogy Net Resources |
| Canadian Resources | Some beginning sites to search for Canadian ancestors. Be sure to visit the GenWeb for each Province & county, many of them have on-line censuses! | Canadian GenWeb National Archives of Canada 1871 Ont. Census Index Canadian Geographic Locator Nova Scotia Sea Captains in Canada |
| Creating Your Family Homepage | These sites provide info on how to digitize your family records & set up your very own Homepage (like mine) to publish your family tree. Check with your ISP carrier on the fee for a homesite. The Gedcom to HTML, is a file used to transform your Gedcom file into Html format for your website | Creating Your Family Page CS Designs GEDCOM to HTML A Few Scanning Tips Clip Arts Links HTML 101 Class |
| Internet & World Wide Web (WWW) Information | Are you new to the Internet? Do you find yourself struggling with some of the terminology out there or how to do things? Try the WWW for Beginners, it's a great tool! | WWW for Beginners
Web Corner Internet Public Library |
| Fun Sites to Visit | A database that allows you to visit your HS database and leave your email address & info on yourself. Also a site listing first names & traits associated with them. | My High School Names Today in History |
| Missing Person Search | Need
to find someone you've lost from your life? Have a child that ran away or was
abducted? These sites will help you conduct your own search on-line, or even help
you find someone to hire to do the searching for you. One of the greatest phonebooks is Switchboard. They even have maps once you find the person you're looking for!! |
Conducting a Search |
© Sunset’s Genealogy Forum, Somerset Studios
If you
have any Genealogy questions, please Email Me...
