My genealogy is interesting but difficult??!!??

Question

My father name is Douglas Brooks.He was born on 21 Apr 1947 and died 22 Sep 2002.His father was Walter Brooks Jr. who died when Douglas was around 5 years old. Walter Brooks Jr. father name was Walter Brooks Sr.,but thats all i know.i want to find more about Walter Brooks Sr. He was a black man most likely fromLexington,SC.Please Help.

Answer 1

Start with the Lexington Public Library and see what resources they might have that will help. I visited there recently when I was passing through the area and found some research by others that had been donated to the library. I know many genealogists are careful to look out for clues that might help those researching their African American roots.

African Americans in the South can be problematic but look into the census and see if you can't find some clues.

Answer 2

Could this be them?

Name: Walter Brooks

Home in 1930: Sandy Run, Calhoun, South Carolina

Age: 7

Estimated Birth Year: abt 1923  

Relation to Head of House: Son  

Father's Name: Walter

Mother's Name: Adeline

Household Members: Name Age

Walter Brooks 41  

Adeline Brooks 40  

Edwin Brooks 17  

Annie Brooks 15  

Robert Brooks 12  

Walter Brooks 7  

Amie Brooks 5

Answer 3

Try these:

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.

Remember, only you can tell for certain if the family tree is yours or not.