How should I get started if I want to do some genealogy research?

Question

Any advice if I want to start searching out my family's history?

Answer 1

Start asking members of your family first to get you started.

Then from there yu can join a genealogy society in your area and they can offer you come advice also on how to get started. i hope this helps you as im doing my family as well.

Answer 2

1- You will always start with the present, and work backwards, using documentation and records to verify your facts.

2- Please don't get trapped into researching a surname. If your mom is Mary Jones.. your only goal is to find the parents of your Mary.  There are areas online where people working a same name 'gather', but it still is critical to be explicit about the person. In the same vein.. spelling is not a basic in genealogy. Relationships are, and many records will be filed with "wrong" spellings.  

3- It will not all be online. Much of it will be (some of it very unreliable), but if you only think of research as on the internet, you may miss major records elsewhere. Focus on the record first, THEN how you might use the computer to find it.

4. Be prepared for some costs. Any hobby has some expenses. Ancestry.com is worth the money, just for the census alone.

5. All of my relatives were dead before I started research.. so I always had to rely on documents. Which turns out ok, since family won't always know, and memories are fallible.

6. If there is one site to keep bookmarked..

http://www.cyndislist.com/beginner.htm

cyndi's is an encyclopedia of resources (thousands).. and she won't have them all. But collecting resources is her main goal (and she is free).

Oh, yes.. be prepared for being addicted. It's like a crossword puzzle that does not have an end.

Answer 3

well my sister is way better at this then me but  well you start by asking your parents and other family members about there family... from what i understand its a lot of looking on the internet and even in some old books just following one of your family names as it changes and to start you most valuable assets is the family you already know...

Answer 4

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 5

Ask the older members of your family as many questions as you can (or they will stand).

  I sure wish I had asked more questions when I could.  Now everyone is gone and I am the one the kids ask questions of.

You need to start with yourself and just keep building from there.  

And people here will be glad to help.

Good luck, have fun and keep in mind it is addicting.

Answer 6

I'm a genealogist and I would advise you to try this blog to learn the right way of doing genealogy.

http://genealogysf.blogspot.com/2008/04/...

Answer 7

Wendy C is correct and wise. Her answers are always worth reading and understanding.

Genealogy is a discipline. And a passionate quest. (They don't always work well together.)

A REAL book on genealogy from the local library is something you can cuddle up with at night, and it will help you understand what is involved. And it's free. Most libraries have several introductory books.

Another big help would be joining a local genealogical society. They're cheap to join, and they have a lot of people experienced in the methodology. And they are generally rabidly happy to share their personal opinions about software and proper methods.

Don't spend money until you know how to use it. Start with http://rootsweb.com and http://familysearch.org before buying subscriptions to the commercial databases.

Genealogy is primarily methodology, because there's plenty of information out there, but it's useless if you don't know how to verify it and assemble it.

Best of luck and happy hunting.

Answer 8

Start with yourself and your parents and ask any older relatives what they know.  Then go to www.familysearch.org and see if the oldest people you know about are listed in their records.  The newest available US census to search is the 1930 census.  If you know people back that far, and their location, you can find information to help you find their parents.  Free help is available at "Family History Libraries" all over the world.  Look them up under "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints".  There is no obligation to using their services.