How can i trace my relatives?

Question

I have relatives in La Coruna, Spain and need to trace them, I don't speak Spanish and have never been to Spain, please help me with any ideas!

Answer 1

use a large piece of paper and a pencil

Answer 2

genesreunited part of friends reunited

Answer 3

you can go to genesreunited.com it should help you

Answer 4

First, write out your family tree as far back as you can go.  Mom on one side, dad on the other.  Write down alll the info. you know about each person.  My goes like this.  Me at bottom, then my mom on the left- her full name, date of birth and place of birth, dad on the right- same info. and so on with her parents and his parents.  Then, I think it's best when you get to the part where you don't know their place of birth, date of birth, maiden name, etc., you draw a line to write on later.  Go as far back as you can possibly go until you have all lines except for your paternal grandpa's side because you will always know his last name, if nothing else.

Once you are done with that, this is an official document that you will always have and you must keep in a portfolio to refer to later.  Then you start with your parents and you can look them up on www.ancestry.com.  There are periodic censuses.  You can also find these on Ancestry.com.  I found more info. about my grandpa, my great-uncle and my great-grandma and great-grandpa from the 1930 federal census.  It said their first and last name, occupation, where they were born and the state that their parents were born in.  It is a very valuable tool.

You can also go down to the cemetary where they were buried and find out what funeral home did the funeral service.  Then you go down to that funeral home and they keep records on all their deceased and I think that is where you can get the death cirtificate.  If not, they can at least tell you the city that they died in and then you go to that city and buy a copy of the death cirtificate from their file.  This is also where you can get marriage cirtificates and birth cirtificates.

Start collecting  all these documents and it will be a fascinating journey.  Also, you don't need to go to the city to get information.  You can call the city office and write them.  I would recommend calling first.  As far as Spain goes, at their different offfices, they have people who speak English as well.  There are also passenger lists books for people who migrated over here from other countries that are at the library.

Good luck and have fun.

If you want any more info., email me.  :)