What's the easiest way to find out where my family is from?

Question

I was just curious because my family has no idea where we are from just a general guess most of the time. Besides ancestry.com or anything online, how else can I find out where my family is from?

Answer 1

The easiest way would be to hire a professional genealogist.  You can contact them at:

Association of Professional Genealogists

P. O. Box 745729

Arvada, CO  80006-5729

Board for Certification of Genealogists

P. O. Box 14291

Washington, D.C. 20044

ICAPGen

P.O. Box 970204

Orem, UT 84097-0204

Another easy way would be to have a DNA test which will show you where in the world your ancestors came from.  (address below)

But, otherwise, just get busy and dig for them.

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 2

There is nothing easy about genealogy.  Fun, yes.  Easy, no.  It will take you YEARS to do all the research..........probably the rest of your life and even then it will never be completed.  For every question you find the answer to, there will be 3 more new questions to figure out.  If you are really willing to devote yourself to it, genealogy is a great hobby.  If you just want the easy way out, then you can either pay someone else to do it (and it is not cheap) or get a different hobby.

Answer 3

well,if your with ur grandparents you can ask them,or ask ur parents!

Answer 4

It is not as hard as you might think.. and it is not as easy as you think. Guessing is absolutely unreliable.

Finding where your ancestors came from is a matter of learning about, and USING records that have this information.  In simple terms.. if you look at your own birth certificate.. it will say where you were born.  That is simplifying the process.. you need other records (did you know that birth and death certificates are fairly "recent" things?).  The reason for using documents/ records is also simple.. people think they remember (know) more than they really do.  

Once you get to persons born prior to 1930 (in the US), you normally can track them back to the mid 1800s with census records.  They may or may not be in other places.. ancestry.com is the ONE place having all of them. Yes, there is a fee, and yes, it is worth it.  You can sometimes use the library subscription, if you don't mind taking the time to go there on their time schedule. Persons here will also do "lookups" as a kindness.. it is not cool to expect them to look up the entire family.

Don't forget.. you have 4 grandparents, then 8 great grandparents,  16 gr gr.grandparents. EACH ONE will be from a different place.  Don't think in terms of "family".. divide and conquer. Think of persons.

You will not normally find living persons online. You have to start with most recent, use personal records, and go backwards. It is a HUGE mistake to try and skip this step. Take my word on that one.

Once you get used to the idea of which records to use (and it does change, as you go), it will not seem so overwhelming.  On the other hand.. don't expect that you can just type in a person's name and find it all online, either.

Answer 5

By tracing your family one generation at a time working back from you.

You do this by getting as much information from living family as possible, particularly your old folks. Tape them if they will let you.

It might turn out they are confused on some things but what might seem to be insignificant story telling might be very significant.  Ask if any has any old family bibles.  Ask to see and make copies of birth, marriage and death certificates.  Depending on the religious faith baptismal, first communion, confirmation, and marriage certificates can be helpful.  This information can ben helpful as you cannot expect to find info on living people in genealogy websites as it is considered an invasion of privacy and can lead to identity theft.

Document everything you find.

Go to your public library and find out what all they have.  If you already have a paid subscription to Ancestry.Com that is fine.  If not, your public library might have a subscription to it. They have lots of records and seem to be getting more all the time.

They have all the U.S. censuses through 1930. The 1940 and later are not available to the public yet.  Only from 1850 and up to present date did they list all persons in a family. Some censuses will show not only the place of birth of each person but the places of birth of both of their parents.  

Just don't take as absolute fact everything you see in family trees on ANY website, free or paid. The trees are suscriber submitted and mostly not documented or poorly documented.  Even when you see the same info from many different subscribers that is no guarantee it is correct.  A lot of people copy without verifying.  Use the information as CLUES as to where to get the documentation.

A Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints(Mormon) Church has records on people all over the world, not just Mormons.

They are free to use but you should find out their hours for the general public by calling them or visiting their free website, FamilySearch.org.  

In Salt Lake City, they have the world's largest genealogical collection. Their Family History Centers can order microfilm for you to view at a nominal fee.  

I have never had them to try and convert me or send their missionaries by to ring my doorbell.  I haven't heard of them doing that to anyone else that has used their resources.

You will eventually have to order vital records.If you are in the U. S. each state has it own laws as to who, when and where a person can get birth and death certificates on another.  Birth and death certifciates will give names of both parents including mother's maiden name and their places of birth.   Also depending on the faith some church records will.  

Courthouse records, wills, deeds, etc can be helpful.

But you should building up a trail of documentation starting with yourself and working back.  

Your ancestors might have come from a number of places.  If you are like me some were colonial(here before the nation was established) and some were immigrants(came after the nation was established).

You can't always go by a surname for any of your family lines.

Answer 6

There isn't an easy way, unless you are rich. There isn't an easy way to catch a trophy brown trout, either, again unless you are rich. Tracking your ancestors takes skill, time and effort.

You can hire a genealogist to work on it for 20 - 100 hours, at $35 to $75 an hour. (You can go to a trout farm and pay by the pound, too.)

Or, you can research until you get to immigrant ancestors. If you live in the USA and are a basic non-Hispanic white mix, chances are you have German, Dutch, Irish, English, Scotch and Huguenot at a minimum.

I'll let another top 10 paste his/her stock answer for you. Write to me via my profile if you are still interested. Most teens are not, once they discover it is research work. Doing research isn't most teens' idea of fun; they do enough of it in school.