How can i find out more about my ancestors if i have little to nothing to go on?

Question

i just want to have some kind of family lineage i can tell my kids about where they come from my family is spread throughout the u.s my grandmother is dead i have no way of contacting Any of my family.

Answer 1

If you know where and when you were born, you can get a copy of your birth certificate. That is a start. It will tell you what your father's name was, unless your mother was spiteful and put "Unknown". Some women do that.

If it is "Unknown", you are stuck and will probably never know. The birth certificate will tell you your mother's name, age and native state. If her name is "Mary Smith", you are, again, stuck. If it is "Malinda McCorkle", you may be able to find her on a state-wide death index or birth index.

Then you start looking for HER parents, and theirs, working slowly. It is like doing a jig-saw puzzle. Some people have a harder time than others. If you know your mother and father's names, but they can't or won't talk to you, you have a little bit of a start.

Answer 2

Hi I don't known too much about USA sources being from the

UK but take a look at this link it may help you to get started.

peter

http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/

Answer 3

I pay for the use of the "paid"sites for my own research use. I will be happy to look up information for you to see if I can get you started. Send me your basic information.Be assured my help is free.

Answer 4

Lashelle, very few of us "have" info to work with, in the beginning. Finding that info is what research is about. One concept that will help you out, is that the whole thing works on documents or historical records.  In other words.. you really don't need to rely on family, not to mention that they may not know more than you.. or what they have 'heard' can be inaccurate.

There are some basic rules. Start with YOU, and work back. This is totally vital to success. Example.. from the start, use your birth certificate as a record to "prove" your parents. Next, use their birth certificate to verify their parents, as well as being certain of the date and place. By now, you have names of 4 grandparents, and remember that the ladies have birth names, that you need to trace them.  If grandparents are already dead, then you have their death certificate as an additional document. Their headstone is another type of 'record'.  Use all the records you can.. you WILL FIND that info conflicts, and if you only have one item, it may be wrong.

Most new people grumble at using documentation for what they "know".. until they hit the inevitable.. that what they "knew" is different from the records. It is human nature.

You are not likely to find living persons info on the internet, so the early part of the work, MUST be in home.

Once you 'hit' persons born pre 1930, they should be findable in census records. Ancestry has all of those.. people here will often do lookups, but if you get serious, you'll want to have access yourself.  There are always some costs but they are manageable.

Please, stop by my favorite site..

www.cyndislist.com

especially her beginner section.  

When you have some names/places/dates.. post them here on the board, and see what we may do. It also helps you to learn, as you see where those records can be found.

Answer 5

Do you know approximately when your grandmother died or her birthday?  What state? Her maiden name could help too.  If you edit your question with this info, I'm sure you'll get lots of help getting started.   Or if you want to try to do it yourself, try this link for a site with some good advice on getting started and has links to lots of good sites.

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