Where to start on Family Tree?

Question

I want to do a family tree for my husbands family and i have no idea where to start!!!! Please help me? I know i dont want to join and memberships!!

Answer 1

Simple: ask him for full disclosure (full name, date and place of birth, full names and dates/places of birth/marriage of parents, and go from there).

See:

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

ALWAYS you will start with now, and work backwards. That is an absolute. It insures that you know who is who, every step of the way, instead of randomly trying to find people by last names. You don't need last names.. you need relatives.

Hubby's birth certificate includes who his parents are.  Same for his parents.. use the documentation.  Living persons are normally not online, so you have to work with "home" records. If you are in the US (we have persons all over the world on here), people born before 1930 should be in the census records. Ancestry.com does have all of those, but it is by fee.  It IS worth the fee, if you are serious about research.  You also can use it at many local libraries.

The overall process is basically simple, that you learn records that exist, which show the connections. You learn WHAT those records are, as you go along.

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

Bookmark cyndi.. her site is an encyclopedia of sources.

Answer 3

i suggest with his parents and siblings-adoptees, widows, write everything in and don't worry about the parents. than add those parents' and sibligs' chhildren-your husband's siblings and cousins. than work you way up like that. add one generation, than go back and add siblings and cousins.