Genealogy...where to start?

[macneighill]

1. Thou shalt name your male children James, John, Joseph, Josiah, Abel, Richard, Thomas, or William,

LOL . . oh so true. I think everyone in my family has been named Charles, James, John or William. Must be a family tradition . .

MSYCEGWELFY = Make Sure You Confound Every Genealogist Who Ever Looks For You.

AMEN!!!! a "distant" cousin (whom I found through my own genealogical research), his 3rd Great Grandfather was also my 3rd Great Grandfather. Anyway, he called and told me of another family member that has been researching our line for 20+ years and, he received a 600+ page "work" on our family line from a genealogist. Well, within an hour, I tore it apart. There were so many discrepancies. My cousin called me cracking up.

However, with all the research my family has done. They didn't do something that should have been done . . look for different spellings of our name. For 20+ years, those that have researched our line had never made it beyond my 3rd Great Grandfather. Well, within 2 years, I made it back to my 5th Great Grandfather. Our surname was "Neilson" but, was changed to "Nelson".

I do have to agree about the "trenches" . . you'll be surprised by how much more you'll find that way. I did.

There are some very good suggestions here. Let me warn you about something, however. Genealogy can become very addictive. Don't become the person who hides out in the darkened genealogy section of libraries on beautiful days. And don't talk about your genealogical finds to non-family members; they really won't care.

Or, spend countless days, evenings and nights . . perusing through genealogical sites or, "hanging out" on genealogical forums and message boards. Not to mention corresponding with scores of people through email and IM.

Researching your lineage is very addictive. My wife told me she wanted a divorce . . that I was having an affair with the computer :mrgreen:. Of course, she was kidding.

Oh, and as for my "non family members", I have actually sparked an interest in the majority of them to research their lineage now.

There is one other resource, DNA testing. It is in its infancy, only generally available for the last 6-7 years or so. You might take a look at the FAQ at www.familytreedna.com, which has the largest and therefore the most helpful database of DNA test results. You may find something helpful, you may find nothing, or you may match someone who has a well-researched paper trail who turns up in months or years. I think at this point Y chromosome DNA testing is more helpful for showing you areas where it might be beneficial to research, and areas where it would definitely not be helpful to research, rather than giving results that have the certainty of a well-documented paper trail.

I am awaiting my results now . If you can afford it, I would suggest the most markers you can.