Genealogy...where to start?

[davedove]

If no one else in your family has done genealogy work, I'd start by talking with your oldest living relatives in each line and getting their memories of people. That's usually a good start.

Correct, your own family is the best place to start, and not just the oldest ones.

Just be careful of "family legends" as these can sometimes be the result of generations of rumor and wishful thinking.

Step 1: Get all of your own information together and documented.
Step 2: Do the same for you parents. Be sure to include information on siblings, as this can guide you in new and exciting directions.
Step 3: Do you grandparents.
etc.

[gu3]

Be sure to include information on siblings, as this can guide you in new and exciting directions.

And this is often the difference between tracing the your ancestor John Campbell born in KY in the 1830's and someone else's ancestor John Campbell also born in KY in the 1830's.

[Highland Logan]

Picking out the truth in genealogy is the big one. Between the family stories and the errors re-printed in family trees it can be a hard go, but the payoff is worth it to do it right. I was able to get back to William Logan (10 generations), born ABT 1650, and was able to vist the grave of my 6th Great grandfather Rev. Robert Logan in Rafford, Morayshire, Scotland, last fall.

Frank

[smaughazard]

You had mentioned ancestry.com, but you might find this page particularly helpful: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

[pdcorlis]

Agreed Todd -

Some sites are a real treasure - allowing you to view original census and other digitized records via the web but the real value of the internet may be connecting to others who has already done some of the heavy lifting for you. Thanks to the work of others I was able trace my father's paternal line back to the 1600's in under a month.

But - you must check and re-check all the work!

Cheers

Phil

[creativeaccents]

Be wary of family trees already posted on the genealogy sites as they can be FULL of errors. Many post info that they have not gotten from original or verifiable sources. A good investment is gen software when you begin. Don't post or send trees to others with data on living persons.

[auld argonian]

This was posted on my family's genealogical website. I'm not sure where it originated but it is pretty funny:


THE 13 COMMANDMENTS FOR NAMES:

1. Thou shalt name your male children James, John, Joseph, Josiah, Abel, Richard, Thomas, or William,
2. Thou shalt name your female children Elizabeth, Mary, Martha, Maria, Sarah, Ida, Virginia, May,
3. Thou shalt leave NO trace of your female children,
4. Thou shalt, after naming your children from the above lists, call them by strange nicknames such as Ike, Eli, Polly, Dolly, Sukey---making them difficult to trace,
5. Thou shalt NOT use any middle names on any legal documents or census reports, and only where necessary, you may use only initials on legal documents,
6. Thou shalt learn to sign all documents illegibly so that your surname can be spelled, or misspelled, in various ways: Hicks, Hix, Hixe, Hucks, Kicks, Nicks,
7. Thou shalt, after no more than 3 generations, make sure that all family records are lost, misplaced, burned in a court house fire, or buried so that NO future trace of them can be found,
8. Thou shalt propagate misleading legends, rumors, and vague innuendo regarding your place of origin,

A. You may have come from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales...or Iran,
B. You may have American Indian ancestory of the______tribe,
C- You may have descended from one of the three brothers that came over from ____,

9. Thou shalt leave NO cemetery records, or headstones with legible names,
10. Thou shalt leave NO family Bible with records of births marriages, or deaths,
11. Thou shalt ALWAYS flip thy name around. If James Albert, thou must make all of thy records in the names of Albert, A.J., J.A., Al, Bert, Bart, or Alfred,
12. Thou must also flip thy parents names when making reference to them, although 'Unknown" or a blank line is an acceptable alternative,
13. Thou shalt name at least 5 generations of males, and dozens of their cozens with identical names, in order to totally confuse searchers.

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


Best

AA

[davedove]

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

Something I have also found in my own research is a family reusing names. Say a family has a boy and names him Thomas (which also happens to be the same as his grandfather, uncle, and three cousins). This boy then dies very young. The family has another boy and also names him Thomas. After all, their first Thomas is gone and why waste a good name.

[auld argonian]

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

Actually, we have a large number of Leonidases, Augustuses, Hamishes and several Ephraims.

The biggest problem that I have with that is that my kids see these as really cool precedents for naming their future children...Hamish, I wouldn't mind but they better come up with a good nickname for little Ephraim...

Best

AA

[sirdaniel1975]

This was posted on my family's genealogical website. I'm not sure where it originated but it is pretty funny:


THE 13 COMMANDMENTS FOR NAMES:

1. Thou shalt name your male children James, John, Joseph, Josiah, Abel, Richard, Thomas, or William,
2. Thou shalt name your female children Elizabeth, Mary, Martha, Maria, Sarah, Ida, Virginia, May,
3. Thou shalt leave NO trace of your female children,
4. Thou shalt, after naming your children from the above lists, call them by strange nicknames such as Ike, Eli, Polly, Dolly, Sukey---making them difficult to trace,
5. Thou shalt NOT use any middle names on any legal documents or census reports, and only where necessary, you may use only initials on legal documents,
6. Thou shalt learn to sign all documents illegibly so that your surname can be spelled, or misspelled, in various ways: Hicks, Hix, Hixe, Hucks, Kicks, Nicks,
7. Thou shalt, after no more than 3 generations, make sure that all family records are lost, misplaced, burned in a court house fire, or buried so that NO future trace of them can be found,
8. Thou shalt propagate misleading legends, rumors, and vague innuendo regarding your place of origin,

A. You may have come from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales...or Iran,
B. You may have American Indian ancestory of the______tribe,
C- You may have descended from one of the three brothers that came over from ____,

9. Thou shalt leave NO cemetery records, or headstones with legible names,
10. Thou shalt leave NO family Bible with records of births marriages, or deaths,
11. Thou shalt ALWAYS flip thy name around. If James Albert, thou must make all of thy records in the names of Albert, A.J., J.A., Al, Bert, Bart, or Alfred,
12. Thou must also flip thy parents names when making reference to them, although 'Unknown" or a blank line is an acceptable alternative,
13. Thou shalt name at least 5 generations of males, and dozens of their cozens with identical names, in order to totally confuse searchers.

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


Best

AA

I don't think I could have said that better.