How can i find my family tree??

Question

How can i find my family tree??

Answer 1

agreed with the others here--  on a piece of paper- start with yourself then your parents, grandparents, great grandparents and keep going- at first don't worry about siblings or cousins -do only direct ancestors (less of a headache)  you can always add the other family members later.  If your grandparents are not alive (like mine)  look at your parents birth certs and it will tell you tons of info.

WARNING-  this is addictive!  you might be able to put it down for a few months but soon enough you will researching again- it can be like opening a can of worms-crazy but fun.  I have been doing this for nearly 17 years and have thousands of names and info.

Another fun thing is debunking the old family legends you have...  i heard so many different things and have not proven one of the old legends in my tree-- but found out some very interesting facts including court document from the state of Connecticut from 1662 when an ancestor of mine was tried, convicted and hung for being a witch!

have fun!

Answer 2

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 3

ASK YOUR GRANNY.

Answer 4

Researching it one generation at a time starting with yourself and your parents.

Don't expect to find it online.  You might find some of your family lines but you cannot take as absolute fact everything you see in family trees on ANY website, free or paid.  The information is subscriber submitted and mostly not documented.  Even if you see the same info repeatedly by many different subscribers that is no guarantee it is correct. A lot of people copy without verifying. The information can be valuable as clues as to where to get the documentation.