Help me on a quest for my elusive ancestry.......?

Question

can any top of the class answerers tell me the best online resources for tracing ancestors born in the 1920/30/40's..... free would best......... but i'll pay if i must....... there's a touch of the scottish about me i feel........ thanks for your time........

Answer 1

http://www.smarter.com/---se--qq-where+c...

Answer 2

Try ancestry.co.uk. No guarantees but worth a go. If youve got details of their birth or their parents you might find something. Good luck!

Answer 3

rootsweb.com is free.

It's a Q & A type forum.

Post the info you have and perhaps someone researching the same lines will be able to help you.

You can post a few names, their birth and death dates here.

There are quite a few genealogy site members here, who are very willing to help.

Answer 4

Ancestry.com is really helpful in researching your family history, it is definitely worth paying for.  There are lots of  free sites which are very good too, but ancestry.com has the census records which are really valuable.

http://www.ancestry.com

Here are some links to some of the free sites:

This link it for the Mormon churches vast collection of family history from all over the world, as well as some government records.  They also offer free family tree software (.PAF5).

http://www.familysearch.org/

Rootsweb has family trees with over 250 million names.

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/...

Cyndislist is a popular site with extensive links for specific countries and ethnic groups.

http://www.cyndislist.com/

Ted Pack's website is really helpful for people who are getting started in their research.  You'll find helpful details and advise for using the most popular sites, I would suggest going here first:

http://www.tedpack.org/yagenlinks.html

Answer 5

The number one tip that I can give you is that you have to be explicit. I can't tell you the best online source for you..because it DEPENDS on the person, the time, the place.  Example.. ancestry.com for the UK is not going to be of value, if your grandfather was born in Alabama. Not to mention.. I am personally against the idea that ANY one website is "best".  Genealogy is made up of finding bits and pieces, which may be scattered in many locations, and often, won't even BE online. The one document you need to 'crack' the brick wall, might be in a dusty courthouse in Montana.

Another issue is realizing that living persons have rights to privacy, which translates into a person born in 1946 is probably still living. You should not be able to find his/her birth certificate on the internet. If that person is Aunt Mary, you need to approach her for her birthdate.

When you say "a touch of the Scottish" in you, I suspect that you could be referring to your financial habits, and not necessarily where your gr grandparents were born. Or both. *smile*  If your intent was meaning frugal.. we all are. The trick is that all research will NOT be free, but you can manage the expenses, like any other hobby.  

Any tutorial out there should include the basic rule- you start research with yourself, AND get into the habit from the beginning of using valid records to confirm your work. This builds a solid foundation, without guessing or what I call "dart throwing". For example.. pulling out your own birth certificate is documenting who your own parents were, and facts about yourself. Sounds silly? It might.. until you reach the ancestor born in 1872, and no one  is there to tell you the info.

We have many people here to help, and btw.. my BEST help came from someone fairly new. Keep an open mind. The wording of any question defines the level of help you can get. Compare "How do I get birth certificates?" to "my grandmother, Mary Jones was born in Georgia in 1903, and I can't find a document of that".  With the first question, one of us will have to narrow it down.. while the 2nd one often leads to someone looking in a known resource, and sending the actual record you need.

Most new researchers are hoping for a ready made family tree, with a few keystrokes, like finding a finished portrait.  The truth of it, is that research is more like a jigsaw puzzle. Thousands of pieces, from various locations, and the purpose/intent is the fun in YOU finding how the pieces fit together and creating the finished product. In all honesty.. those who supposedly find such finished trees.. miss out on the achievement of finding what NO ONE else knows.

I encourage you to post something that you need to locate, with as much details as you can.

Answer 6

You need to ask for some help mate. If its the UK then theres a couple of truly brilliant genealogists to help you just ask them.

Answer 7

Well, I am not "top of the class", but I keep trying.  Try these:

You should start by asking all your living relatives about family history.  Then, armed with that information, you can go to your public library and check to see if it has a genealogy department.  Most do nowadays; also, don't forget to check at community colleges, universities, etc.  Our public library has both www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com free for anyone to use (no library card required).

Another place to check out is any of the Mormon's Family History Centers.  They allow people to search for their family history (and, NO, they don't try to convert you).

A third option is one of the following websites:

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/

Cyndi's has the most links to genealogy websites, whether ship's passenger lists, ancestors from Africa, ancestors from the Philippines, where ever and whatever.

Of course, you may be successful by googling: "john doe, born 1620, plimouth, massachusetts" as an example.

Good luck and have fun!

Check out this article on five great free genealogy websites:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...

Then there is the DNA test; if you decide you want to REALLY know where your ancestors came from opt for the DNA test. Besides all the mistakes that officials commonly make, from 10% to 20% of birth certificates list the father wrong; that is, mama was doing the hanky-panky and someone else was the REAL father. That won't show up on the internet or in books; it WILL show up in DNA.

I used www.familytreedna.com which works with the National Geographics Genotype Program.

Answer 8

Try Familysearch.org, too.  It's free.  It may be possible that someone has already searched out your ancestors, and it's there already.  

To start, though, I would ask your relatives if they knew anything.  Oftentimes they will know something that could take you a while to find online.

Cheers!