I've been very lucky in finding out my family's history. My Dad's family didn't talk much about family history, but I found out a few years ago via Rootsweb that my paternal line has been in the U.S since before there WAS a U.S.! (A cousin - 2nd, once removed - had done a lot of work and published his database there. I have since verified a good portion of it, and intend to continue to verify it.) I've currently put the research/verification on hold until I get a full-time job and can afford to travel to verify some of the records found online.

Going back to the mid/late 1700's makes things kinda tricky in determining whence we came before then, as some of the records have been lost/destroyed through the ensuing 3 wars (Revolutionary, 1812, Civil) and untold natural disasters (fires/floods) that have passed through Virginia. Plus, a lot of people in the area had the same name (for example, it appears there's three James Scotts and two Alexander Scotts in the same county at about the same time, only two of whom appear to be related - one of the Alexanders had a son named James). I've made the presumption, based on the family name, that we're Scottish, and can therefore wear the Scott tartan. <-- relating all this to kilts, etc.

Mom had a cousin do research on their line several years ago, so I know they came from Germany (Hessen-Darmstadt, on the France/Luxembourg border). I'll focus more on them once I've gone as far as possible with my paternal line.

In addition to the U.S. Genweb, Rootsweb and Ancestry, there's also Cyndi's List (www.cyndislist.com), which has a lot of links to research websites.

Another place to look for information in the U.S. is your state's Department of Vital Statistics (or whatever your state records department is called ). They should have birth, marriage and death certificates, plus there's the federal census records up to 1930 (those just became available a couple of years ago). If the state records don't go back far enough, try the county of residence for the person/line you're investigating. Another place to look is court records (estate settlements, property transfers, lawsuits, etc.). Get names and dates from your living family members, then start digging.

I found a lot of family birth/death/marriage certificates on microfilm in the local library's archive for the Dept of Vital Stats. Once you have the certificate numbers, getting a verified/certified copy from the state is just a matter of filling out the paperwork and sending them a check.