Geneology

[Arizona Scot]

I have just recently started tracing mine back, on my fathers side is Dorward a sept of clan Gordon, on my mothers side there is ties to Macleod and to the Irish O'Dell as well as English and Welsh. The only really interesting thing I have found so far is that it seems that my mothers, fathers family may have been granted land for their help and loyalty in the war of the roses.

[gilmore]

...
Just interested to see if anyone else has done a comprehensive geneology and what you've found if you have.

My family has been doing it for a long time, a couple of generations now. We are American and have most of our lines traced to the Revolution. I have a cousin whose goal is to account for every one of his ancestors back to the immigrants who came here from Europe. He recently retired, and is well on his way to achieving his goal.

What I have found:

1. ALWAYS work from the present backward. NEVER skip back a few generations and then try to make a connection with possible descendants. It's almost always a waste of time, and can become misleading. E.g., your surname may be Bruce, but if you try to find a descent from Robert the Bruce to you in the direct male line, you won't.

2. Start by talking to the oldest relatives you have. Learn how to interview the elderly. Let them talk at their own pace, gently nudging their memories toward relevant facts. On the other hand, don't dismiss some facts as irrelevant. You never know when they may come in handy as clues to what you are looking for, or help you contextualize your information. Tape record them, and maybe transcribe the tapes if you have time.

3. Family stories that are passed down orally are often muddled, embellished, embroidered, or even outright lies, but may contain a germ of truth that can be helpful.

4. Keep an open mind. Always be prepared to revise your work if you come across more reliable material. I have a relative who likes to say that he never accepts something as a fact until he can hold the original document in his hands. Of course, even then there will be mistakes. Documents aren't facts, just the best evidence of facts.

5. When the paper trail fails, try DNA testing. See the FAQ at www.ftdna.com.

[pipesndrumsnun]

I'm addicted! I just found another Irish ancestor by the name of Jones.
Have you looked at rootsweb.com? It is pretty neat/helpful!

[12stones]

My family has been doing it for a long time, a couple of generations now. We are American and have most of our lines traced to the Revolution. I have a cousin whose goal is to account for every one of his ancestors back to the immigrants who came here from Europe. He recently retired, and is well on his way to achieving his goal.

What I have found:

1. ALWAYS work from the present backward. NEVER skip back a few generations and then try to make a connection with possible descendants. It's almost always a waste of time, and can become misleading. E.g., your surname may be Bruce, but if you try to find a descent from Robert the Bruce to you in the direct male line, you won't.

2. Start by talking to the oldest relatives you have. Learn how to interview the elderly. Let them talk at their own pace, gently nudging their memories toward relevant facts. On the other hand, don't dismiss some facts as irrelevant. You never know when they may come in handy as clues to what you are looking for, or help you contextualize your information. Tape record them, and maybe transcribe the tapes if you have time.

3. Family stories that are passed down orally are often muddled, embellished, embroidered, or even outright lies, but may contain a germ of truth that can be helpful.

4. Keep an open mind. Always be prepared to revise your work if you come across more reliable material. I have a relative who likes to say that he never accepts something as a fact until he can hold the original document in his hands. Of course, even then there will be mistakes. Documents aren't facts, just the best evidence of facts.

5. When the paper trail fails, try DNA testing. See the FAQ at www.ftdna.com.

Gilmore, that's excellent advice, unfortunately all of my grandparents have passed, as hava all others who would be useful in this capacity. My mother knows nothing of her side. My father died when I was quite young, so it's been quite a trial. Luckily, there are many others who enjoy geneology as well, and have done most of the work for me.

[Cawdorian]

Another hint, if your family has lived for years in a town or county, try talking to other relatives, even those on the other side of the family. You will often find they are very familiar with the people in question and often have information you can use.

For a few years my wife and I have been searching for some information on her great grandfather on her mother's side of the family, I have searched every cemetery transciption I could find in that county, there wasn't even anyone buried there with the surname. We mentioned it to her dad's brother, he told me real quickly, he's buried in Cedar Grove which is two counties away. I never thought of asking Uncle Lee, he was a member of the other family, but he did know the family history.

Talk to the older relatives on both sides of the family, they often can help you with the history of the other side of the family. They may even know a few well buried secrets.

[ChromeScholar]

Funny, this thread coming up now. My mom has had a stack of family documents going back untold years. I've been trying to get hold of them for some time. She just brought them in for me to copy. The earliest I see is a marriage certificate from 1746.

[McFarkus]

Funny, this thread coming up now. My mom has had a stack of family documents going back untold years. I've been trying to get hold of them for some time. She just brought them in for me to copy. The earliest I see is a marriage certificate from 1746.

Very cool. A treasure trove!

[Makeitstop]

I haven't done it myself, but others in my family have traced our lineage back nearly a thousand years. I don't have a lot of details, but I know they found patrick henry, ben franklin (questionable) a few important native american leaders, and a fire breathing werewolf.

[Riverkilt]

Been whacking away at my family history since 1970...its an addictive adventure for sure. The Internet sure helped a lot.

Main thing I've done is share what I've found with siblings and cousins and nieces and nephews. They not only enjoy the info...some cousins have offered things with info they had handed down to them.

But the main reason for sharing it is so maybe at least one copy of what's been learned for sure so far may survive and save someone doing duplicate work.

The big tease for me now is to figure out where my 5 great grandfather Ludovic Macdonald served under an officer he admired named Gray so that he named his son Gray Macdonald. Ludovic was from Uig, Skye and was born about 1750...so he would have been of military age during the American Revolution...

Roughest part is wading throught the common name lines like Scott and Lewis...or deadending in parts of the world that kept few records, or lost them... like Vermont.

And really cool to meet distand cousins on line and find out how similar we are.

Ron

[Cawdorian]

Death Certificates are readily obtainable and are a good place to find family information, many states list the names of the deceased parents. Death Certificates for the 1920's are readily available from the various state's Department of Vital Statistics for a small fee. I was able to confirm the names of my great great grandparents by the information found on my great grandparents Death Certificate.