Tracing Family roots

[johnnym]

I have done some genealogical research as well. I can show 20 generations going back to 1370 in England on one branch. Several other branches go back to the middle 1700's. I am descended from the Ross, McClelland, Buchanan and Shepherd clans. Of my 4 grandparents 2 are Irish/Scottish/English, 1 is Belgian/French, and 1 is Czech. No mention of royalty of famous personage.

[turpin]

My mother and father are 6th cousins, even though she was from Virginia and he from Indiana. Both descended from William Willis who emigrated from England to Virginia in 1643.

[jordanjm]

A really good website to help you get started doing geneology is http://www.familysearch.org

[gilmore]

A really good website to help you get started doing geneology is http://www.familysearch.org

Unfortunately, the LDS (Mormon) genealogical archives are not as accurate as one would like. They accept almost anything that is contributed at face value, with very little in the way of quality control. While there is much that is of value, there is also much that isn't, with no way to distinguish between the two. It is a good place to start, but after you start, the next thing one would be well advised to do is to go back over everything one has gotten from it to ascertain its reliability from original sources.

[Riverkilt]

Aye Gilmore, for sure...some real dissappointments and bad leads - even typos from putting the old info into the system. Methinks some of the LDS mainstream want so bad to find their ancestors that they accept most anything....a fine effort, and there is some good stuff. But some of the LDS info on that website ain't even close...

Ron

[LK-13]

my Great Uncle Robert Shaw (not the actor)
worked with several other people in our clan and has put together a book
that documents the Shaw line back to the 1340's.
there are records that go back farther, but i found everything to be a very confusing read earlier than 1300.
we get a very mixed bag with the MacDuff, Macintosh, MacPherson, Macbean, Davidson and Farquharson all uniting under one flag as Clan Chattan.

i have also found that the name SHAW spelt this way apparently means "WOLF"
"An Old English word "sceaga" (meaning a small wood or thicket) gave rise to the Shaw name in the Lowlands, particularly in Lanarkshire. There were three landowners from there who were forced (along with thousands of others) to sign the "Ragman Roll" in 1296, swearing loyalty to King Edward I of England. The name spread across southern Scotland and into Northern England and also Ireland (giving rise, later, to George Bernard Shaw).

In the Highlands, the name came from the Gaelic "sithech" meaning "wolf" and was initially used as a first name but became a surname early in the 13th century. Shaw Macduff, a younger son of Duncan, Thane of Fife (a descendant of Kenneth mac Alpin) assisted King Malcolm IV in putting down a rebellion in Moray and he was made keeper of Inverness castle. Shaw's grandson was granted land in Rothiemurchus (in Strathspey). His son married a daughter of the Macdonald Lord of Islay in 1291.

The Shaws and their Mackintosh allies supported Robert the Bruce against the Comyns (Cummings) and took part in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

James Shaw of Rothiemurchus, a descendant of Shaw "Corrfhiaclach" (Bucktooth) is regarded as the first chief of clan Shaw. He was killed at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411. In the 16th century the Rothiemurchus lands were lost after a Shaw chief murdered his stepfather and the lands were forfeited to the Crown who sold them to the Laird of Grant. " <= www.rampantscotland.com

[Sean_the_Kilted]

I've been researching my family and that of my wife for about a year and a half and have traced her family back to 1467 in Switzerland and mine back to the early 1600's in New England and Italy. Its definately facisinateing and addicting. US Census records have been one of my favorite sources of information

[ckelly327]

I originally started to do mine by myself about 10 years ago when I could still get some information from my grandmother while she was alive. While doing research at various cemetaries in New England I was surprised to find the number of babies and infants who had died and the current family never knew about them. It was sad but enlightening. These were mostly first generation Irish in the states who seemed to have 10 or 11 kids but only 7 would survive to adulthood. Then there was the shock that my saintly grandmother was born less than 8 months after her parents got married but that's a whole other can of worms.

I've still only found reliable info back to the 1750's but I haven't even tried to contact any authority in Ireland yet. It's about time to start up again.

[Cawdorian]

Genealogy is one my passions, the LDS records are not very accurate and do not make a good source. Many of the genealogies you see posted on the internet contain many mistakes.

Documentation is the key to accurate information, I recently got a wake up call on my own family line that I thought was fairly well researched. I received a copy of the death certificates of my GGF & GGM, after looking at my great grandmother's death certificate, I found that some well meaning individual out there on the internet had inserted an entire generation between my GGM and her mother and posted the mistake for the rest of the world to copy. The records and documentation do help solve these mysteries.

There are some good websites out there such as www.rootsweb.com and Stirnet (google that one), but they should be used as a guide, look for transcripts of the US Census and copies of transcribed Civil War and Revolutionary War pension applications. These records are a good source of family history.

Many counties in Virginia and Kentucky have historical societies, they have many family records. I am sure there are other states and counties that have have done an equally good job of gathering and preserving records. Another good source of records are the Clan Associations, many have very good and accurate records. Clan Campbell and the Clan Donald Societies are examples of some who have done a good job. The price of membership costs less than a tank of gas and get you access to a huge amount of information.

There are also some family associations out there that have a lot of records inculding deeds and wills , try doing a google search on your surname or variations thereof (Burns, Burnes, Byrnes or Burness as an example) and see if it turns up a family association.

These are just some suggestion to get you started.

I forget who said they were related to Daniel Boone, if so we must be cousins. I have quite a bit of information on this family, if you are interested, PM me.

[Dirka Skene]

Ha! I couldn't imagine tracing MY family roots. I leave that job to my Uncle and Grandfather. If they told me I was descended from Tanzanian hog sloppers, I'd believe them.