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.

[gilmore]

...

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

I had 63 done. It was overkill and a waste of money. Twelve markers are too few for most genealogical purposes, 36 or 25 are entirely adequate. At Family Tree DNA you can have them upgraded later if you have an exact match and want to determine the probable distance of your relationship to him, since they keep the test material for 20 or 25 years.

[Coinneach]

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 ____,

Our family has had the 8-C legend around forever. And at one time I started to believe every family had it. As it turned out, ours was true. What wasn't mentioned was that the only reason the three brothers came over was by the generosity of their sister, who happened to be married to the new Governor of the region. It's fairly well documented because a US President descended from one of them. (My great-grandmother was a cousin once removed.) That particular line goes back to the 13th or 12th century. I'm incredibly indebted to the distant relative that did the history in the early 1920s.

While the other side of my family is not as well documented, it will be the most fun. On that side, my grandparents were the ones that came to the US in 1906. Finding out more about them means a lot more research and learning another language.

It's a fun journey. You'll love it.

By the way, the Penrose Library in Colorado Springs has a good genealogy section in the original Carnegie Library bldg which is attached (corner of Cascade and Bijou).

[gilmore]

Our family has had the 8-C legend around forever. And at one time I started to believe every family had it. As it turned out, ours was true. ...
It's a fun journey. You'll love it.

Yes, it happens to be true from time to time. There were three Fontaine brothers and a sister who came to Virginia from England, their father having been a Hugenot clergy man who was a refugee from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. They became the ancestors of many, many Virginian and Southern US families, both notable and ordinary.

[Phil]

As others have said, ask members of your family first, particularly the older ones. The main thing to remember though is never take anything for granted and only believe what you can verify from documentation. Peoples memories play tricks and you find, like I did, that you find the truth is usually very different so just use what they say as a guide. Also try and copy any birth/marriage certificates they have and any family bibles. Good luck.

[Kilted Sapper]

I also have found that if you use coat of arms searches that you can usually narrow your search to your heraldry.

[macwilkin]

I also have found that if you use coat of arms searches that you can usually narrow your search to your heraldry.

If you are referring to the so-called family histories that come with "family crests" from "bucket shop" heraldry places, I would advise you to proceed with caution. Remember, arms in Scottish heraldy belong to individuals and not surnames.

Todd

[gilmore]

Beware. Most of the info provided with "family" coats of arms is bogus, or if true, not relevant to anyone other than the person granted the arms.

[LANCER1562]

You might also try the Mormon Church in Utah as they have one of largest genealogical depositories in the country.

[davedove]

You might also try the Mormon Church in Utah as they have one of largest genealogical depositories in the country.

And have centers all across the country.