How to find family tree?

Question

I'm trying to find my family if they are still alive and what not. I have the names of my grandparents on both sides and wondering is there a website or anything that I can use to find out who is in my family?

Answer 1

Looks like your parents are a missing link in your life.  If you were adopted you would want to start with what ever agency or person handled the adoption.  If you send a letter to them they will keep it on file and pass it along if your parents were to file one in return.  On the other hand, if you were simply raised by your grandparents or extended family member, and there was no adoption, I would have to wonder if you really want to find them.  There are several ways to find people who are still living one of the best is Zaba search. Enter a name and place and see who pops up.  If you do not have a name, you might want to talk to any people you know of who knew your parents. See if you can figure out where they were raised and check out school records.  If they are old enough to have been on the 1930 census, you could also check those grandparents you know and see if they are listed on that census.

Without more information I can't be more specific.  

Good luck!

Genzoli

founder CGC

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/california...

Answer 2

You can go backwards, but nor forwards. Banks and credit cards use "What was your mother's name?" and "When were you born?" to establish identity so often that genealogy web sites hide facts about living people, like their birth date and mother's maiden name.

You would need a site that let you enter a man's name (Your grandfather) and his wife's maiden name, (grandmother) then showed all of the children they had. Once you found out you had an Uncle Elmer, born 01/01/1945, you'ne need a site to find out who he married, and you'd go back to the birth site to find out who their children were.

If, for example, Uncle Elmer married Jane Jones on June 01, and they had their first child September 01, you would know Uncle Elmer and his wife-to-be were making whoopee in the back of a car that had tail fins, back in 1963, before they were married. If he was now a Bishop or a banker, he might not like the whole world to know that.

You are either adopted or estranged; you didn't say which and it is none of our business. I can offer you my sympathy, but not any web sites.

First cousins and siblings are nice to have, sometimes; it means you hear the same jokes at Thanksgiving, but you generally have a place to go for that holiday, instead of inviting people you know slightly to try to make up a pretend family.

Answer 3

I have been doing research now for 9 yrs solid what I did first was join Ancestry.com I looked up my Past ancestry and found other cousins doing same I found second cousin  and we shared much information then we met and then this yr I put on a desendants reunion we had like 60 people there witch was sm from what it could have been many I know of just didnt come it being on a sunday and rainey but thats where I would start if u are looking for alive ancestors find people searching on your same genelogy I found cousin in MO , Hawii< Org this past yr and they where second cousin My goal is to never lose family again  

Answer 4

I think you should start with your parents birth certificates & from there your grandparent's birth and death certificates.  You have to fill out forms and Pay --but it's certainly worth it.  I wish I had done it when I and my mom were younger.  I really wish you well.  You're going to have to do the legwork yourself or hire a professional genealogist to do it for you.  You could also join Ancestry ..com but it's expensive.  Look through earlier posts on this subject ...many have already posted all the websites available.  remember, The Latter Day Saints do NOT charge you but Ancestry.com takes all their info & charges you a lot.  Another thing, when family trees are posted, a lot of them are not open to the public so you can only leave a post & hope someone replies.  The Social Security death index is free and good if your grandparents are deceased & so are the local libraries & public records are excellent but if they do the search, you pay for it. Have your parents given you any information - like your mom's maiden name & both grandmothers' maiden names?  That helps a lot.

Answer 5

Everyone seems to be operating on the premise that you are adopted.  You do not say that in any way, so I don't understand why everyone thinks so.  Regardless, here is some info:

First, if you find anything on the internet, it will not be of living people.  Genealogy sites hide that info for reasons Ted explained.  Second, you will find very little, if anything, on anyone who lived and/or died in the last 50-100 years.  You can try to start with your grandparents, but if they are still living, you will not find them on genealogy sites.  You need to go back another generation or two before you start to find information, and even then, you will find very little.  The further back you go, the more you will find because the more distant cousins you will have who have posted family trees they are working on.  However, just because it is on the net does not make it true or accurate.  It requires original documentation, such as birth/marriage/death certificates, census records, church records, cemetery records, wills, land, and court records, etc.  Verify everything you find with original documentation.  It will cost money to get that documentation.  Public records does not mean free records.  Also, there is not one magic website.  There are hundreds of thousands of genealogy websites and you will find stuff on some but not on others.  YOU have to make those decisions on where to look, depending on what or who you are looking for.  For different ancestors, you will look in different places.  This is not a hobby you will accomplish in a week, or for free.  It is years of researching, and always expenses involved.

Answer 6

There are several website to start your search:

www.familysearch.org (both submitted and real records)

www.gencircles.com (submitted trees)

www.genforum.com (sharing info on a specific last name)

www.rootsweb.com (look at the left side for the world trees)