Research to identify your ancestors

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Genealogy research web links, 2

(Note...see the very beginning of this blog for important steps on how to get started on your genealogy).


http://www.usgenweb.com/ .... links to all states in the U.S. and includes counties.


http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ ... Social Security Death Index


http://www.archives.gov/index.html ... The National Archives (military records, etc).

Friday, February 15, 2008

Genealogy research web links, 1

(Note...see the very beginning of this blog for important steps on how to get started on your genealogy)


http://www.familysearch.org/ ......free site with tons of information.


http://www.cyndislist.com/ ..... free site...contains links to every possible genealogy site imaginable. This site is an index for other information sites. It only gives you a link to go somewhere else. This is a VERY helpful, wonderful site.


http://www.rootsweb.com/ ....free site, very good


Friday, February 8, 2008

Step 6....Research

Now you are ready to begin the research process to locate information about your ancestors. There is much....very much...information to be found on the internet, as well as in books, court houses, cemeteries, and funeral homes.

Internet research is fun and easy. 1)..Try doing a Google search for your ancestors name. Put quotation marks around the name so that it will narrow down the results and not give you lots of only first name finds.

While still in Google, 2)..type the name of the town and state that your ancestor lived, adding the words “vital records” after the place. Try experimenting on Google with other types of searching similar to these.

Whenever you find some information on any of your ancestors, be sure to record that information into your computer genealogy software program (step 5).

On my future posts I will also share with you some genealogy website links to help you in your researching of ancestor information.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Step 5...A computer genealogy software program

Oh, what a wonderful and helpful tool to have to use in your genealogy work.....I am referring to any one of the genealogy software programs on the market, such as “Family Tree Maker”.... “Family Tree Builder”.... “The Master Genealogist”...to name a few. Just do a Google search for “genealogy software programs”

After installing the program onto your computer, you type in information such as family (ancestor) names, birth and death dates, birth and death places, marriage information, any family history notes and tidbits....anything you want at all. After your data is into the program, it will organize everything for you, link all your family lines together and you can print out pedigree charts and family group sheets that will have your family information on it....based on what you typed into your database.


A Pedigree Chart, when filled out with all the information you know at the moment, will aid you in the following ways:

* At a glance you can follow a family line for several generations.
* At a glance you can see what information you are lacking and can begin researching for it.

Begin with yourself as #1, and work back on your family lines as far as you can go with the information you have at the moment. Take a yellow highlighter pen and mark the areas that are lacking information. This alerts you to what you need to search for and when you find the information, then write it on the highlighted area and then type the data into your program .

The genealogical program will also print out other records and lists for you. What a great way to print out your information and share it with other family members...or share on the internet with others who are researching your surnames.