Genealogy 101 - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

ShaniFaye · 01-04-2007, 05:55 AM

Since I posted my new years weekend post in the Tilted Living section http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=112014 , several people have contacted me about this fascinating and addicting subject, plus the discussion going on in the graves thread.... so I thought I would start a thread about it (watch it totally die lol)

A lot of people think this is "a hobby for blue haired old ladies and old men with walking sticks and nothing better to do". I am here to tell you thats just not so.

I started researcing my family when I was 13 as a result of a school project, and I am now the one people contact from my own family, my ex husbands family and Dave's family when their kids have to do something similar (and I think Im as far from a blue haired old lady as a person can get lol)

I will be the first to say its not for everyone, but if you are a person that loves to try to solve a mystery, or wants to find out about some story you heard when you were a kid or someone that loves never ending research then it just may be your "thing".

Some people see it as an "overwhelming" but if you start right, its really not.

The first thing you need to do is buy a genealogy software program. There are debates on which is best, personally I recommend Family Tree Maker. I have looked at them all over the years and FTM to me is the best, but everyone is different, I've been using it since it was first on the market.

Once you have the program installed, you simply start by putting in all the information on yourself...then you proceed to your parents, entering everything you know about them...then progress to their parents etc. It lets you print out a report that you can look at and tell immediately what information you still need to get.

Back when I started there was no internet (*gasp* yes it was that long ago....but remember my hair isnt blue yet so it WAS after the invention of the wheel and sliced bread) and you actually had to go to county courthouses and geneaological societys or state/national archives to view service records, census reports (these are made public after 72 years, so the latest one to be released is 1930....1940 wont be released until 2012) which are a wealth of information depending on the year, land deeds, bastardy bonds (which are really cool to look at if the county you are researching required them) birth, death, marriage records etc. NOW you can find a LOT of this stuff online at places like http://www.rootsweb.com and http://www.ancestry.com without ever having to leave your house. I still love visiting courthouses though because the smell of musty old court records excites me lol

I can promise...you WILL run into what we researches call a brick wall....you will have a person that completely disappears for no apparent reason (death), you will have 1st cousins that married (yes, that USED to be legal), and everyone on both those sides named their kids the same thing or you will absolutely need to know where someone was in 1890 and cant find them because the census records burned in a fire in DC in the 20's and the only records you can find are a few here and there that the county happened to still have on file, or you will find you need to find the immigration of some Irish person that came here as a stowaway on a ship to America so there is no record. Its THESE things that make this so infuriatingly addicting.

You could be like me when I was researching my ex's family for 10 years, searching in total vain for a bible I knew had been passed down thru the family because it was willed to a certain family member, only to find out that a branch of the family that you hadnt been researching yet had it, and it had been one mile from your house the ENTIRE 10 years you'd been looking for it, (can we imagine how elated and pissed off I was at the time? The pissed part didnt stay long when I held this 20 pounds bible in my hands and read the entries dating back to 1777)

So many people dont care about "history" or what their ancestors where about, or give a crap about their tombstone etc....this isnt for you, so please dont waste the space here telling me you dont care....it neither here nor there to me, this is for the people that ARE interested and want to start but feel they dont exaclty know where to start.

Im glad to answer any questions. I wont claim to know "everything" but I do have a good working knowledge of US research tactics. Im very adept in reading old documents. I worked with my county historical society for years transcribing things, such as the counties 1880 county census for book publication and old wills. If you have never seen a land grant or will from the 1800's it can be challenging trying to figure out the lingo that was used AND to read the handwriting, so Im glad to help with that if you run across something you cant read.

If more people did this then our brick walls would be less and less in the coming years, because someone always has an aunt or uncle somebody who remembers that even though great great grandmother nancy doesnt have a readable tombstone, she's buried under the poplar tree in the SW corner of the High Shoals Baptist cemetery (actual fact from my family used as example lol)

I hope this has inspired more people to look at their family histories and to understand this is not something you want to wait to do until you are old and cant leave the house, not being able to leave the house is a huge problem when doing research hehehe

BadNick · 01-04-2007, 06:30 AM

I hadn't done much in the past, but coincidentally I'm now slowing moving on a track like this myself. On and off for many years I've been thinking about doing this for our family. My one younger brother and I were born in Austria since my parents decided to escape from Hungary late in WWII after having endured the insanity of the Germans earlier and not wanting to find out what the Russians would do since they were now coming from the other direction. So they ended up in a camp in Austria, under the Western Allies, for people displaced from other areas of Eastern Europe. My brother and I were born there, then a few years later we all came to the U.S.

Just a few weeks ago, I saw a small article in Newsweek which mentioned the ancestry.com site you also bring to our attention, saying that the site now has data from something like mid 1800's to late 1990's on almost everyone who immigrated to the U.S. from other countries. So that day I went to the site, put in my dad's name and some related data about arrival and up popped a list showing my dad, my mom, my younger brother and me, showing when we arrived, names, some other data. So I emailed it all to my siblings and a couple relatives and it started a nice little exchange of memories and further efforts to find more information. Last year my daughter was exploring Europe and went to Budapest and found the address where my dad lived when he was a young, up-and-coming artist already of some notariey; we found that address from postcards he had made up with his name and address imprinted and one of his paintings on the front. She knocked on the door and after some misunderstandings about whether her grandfather lived in the house or not, eventually communicated the facts and got a friendly welcome from the current residents. I'm still planning to follow further trails and go back further and further to see if my great great great .....great grandfather was maybe Attila the Hun

the much maligned but great and honorable revered hero/leader from Hungarian history. One of my favorite traditional paintings of my dad's was his "Attila Temetese" which is Attila's Burial in the riverbed of the diverted Danube River, that painting was purchased by some political/post monarchial family, not the Hapsburgs but one of the other of those old world names from Austria-Hungary.

little_tippler · 01-04-2007, 06:51 AM

I would love to do this for my family and have toyed with the idea for years. My aunt, who I'm very close to, has started a family tree of her own, on my uncle's side, so she has a small piece of the puzzle already. When some of my family members began to pass away (grandmother and father, 2 great-aunts) I felt sad to think that some stories were lost with their passing. I have very little time so I have never sat down and started this. Also in Portugal it's not as easy as we don't have that many resources, particularly online like you do in the US. But I agree that it's a fascinating little adventure to find out where you come from and who your relatives were.

warrrreagl · 01-04-2007, 08:14 AM

Thanks for this thread, Shani. My family history is loaded with cartoon characters, and learning about them has helped me understand my own quirks quite a bit.

Grancey's family is Southern royalty through and through and it also explains her, as well. She definitely married beneath her station, and thanks to genealogy, we now know this.

BadNick · 01-04-2007, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by little_tippler

.....I felt sad to think that some stories were lost with their passing....

I really like this idea. I've talked to my siblings about getting together and recording on tape some of the nearly unbelievable stories my Mom has told us in the past and for the ones who are already passed away, ask Mom to tell us about some of their stories; and then ask my cousins and others to do the same with the elders on their end of the family. We've heard the stories but having them on tape in Mom's voice or Uncle Ed's voice and then maybe some day writing it down is a beautiful idea to me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by warrrreagl

...and learning about them has helped me understand my own quirks quite a bit...

Boy, ain't that the truth. Some of the "weird" things about me would actually be totally predictable if you look around at some of the elders and others in the family.

ShaniFaye · 01-04-2007, 10:56 AM

see thats what I mean....some people are under the impression that their "ancestry" had no bearing on who they are as people now. I have older people in my family tell me they have never met a person more like my great grandmother (who died the year after I was born, so I never knew her) than me, and that Im exactly like her even down to how I stand when Im pissed off hehehe. I remember them telling me that when I was little I was just like her in personality....I wish I was as pretty as she was though

Unfortunately I cant post a picture of her because the few I have of her are when she is 16 with her oldest child who was 1 at the time in 1906

I think thats a really cool thing to know

highthief · 01-04-2007, 12:14 PM

You know what I'm looking for? A fillable (preferably free!) document where I can insert about 7 to 9 generations of the family. Could be a tree, could be a chart or similar. I can only ever find ones that do about 5 or 6 generations before you run out of room.

Know of any such animal, Shani?

host · 01-04-2007, 12:17 PM

Shani....thank you for creating this thread. Coincidently, just the other day, I searched TFP for the term "genealogy" and there were zero results. It is however, a difficult word to correctly spell.

I've been squinting over this 1824 deed, I obtained from the town clerk's office up in CT, looking for clues to my "brick wall" on my mother's side.
I think it accurately represents what you described, as far as the challenges of correctly reading old documents. It was handwritten on a plain piece of paper, no pre-printed form.

My ancestors' names are all over on the right....that isn't the problem. I'd like your opinion on the names in the first six lines of visible script, and the names of the witnesses on the lower left. I won't tell you what I think, until after you give your opinion:
 <img src="http://home.comcast.net/~qvc/deed2.jpg" height=540 width=682> 

There is a better view at this link, and thee view expands, using my firefox browser, anyway, with a mouse click on the display of the picture:

http://home.comcast.net/~qvc/deed2.jpg
 
I was fortunate in that most of my mother's side's genealogy had already been document by a third cousin who I happened across, online. There was only one or two "brick walls", and I had the "beginner's luck" of breaking through one of them, when I found this during a google search:

Quote:

Page 777 360. ISAAC. isaac hall, son of Isaac and Mary Moss Hall ...
Children: 212 Daughter, m Jonsey Curtis ; 213 Wyllis, b 1760, m Mehitable Mix, ... Children: 216 Joel, in Hannah Hall, of Wallingford, daughter of Dickerman ...
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/other/ABL/...ealogies2.html - 281k -

The above reference an entry on page 817 of the History of Wallingford, published in 1870, (Nathaniel (Hull) .132) This established that the Jerusha Hull who had married my GGGG=grandfahter, Jauncey Curtiss, in 1793, was the daughter of Nathaniel Hull and Mehitable Beadles. My cousin, the family genealogist had overlooked the entry, because the name "Jerusha" was absent...the histoyr referred to her only as ".213 Daughter", and because "Jauncey" was spelled "Jonsey".

We then researched the ancestry of our newly discovered GGGGG-grandparents, Nathaniel (1743 -1771) and Mehitable (1745 - 1776), and Mehitables line was:
Father: NATHANIEL BEADLES b: 15 DEC 1703 in Wallingford, New Haven, CT
Mother: ELIZABETH HITCHCOCK b: 26 JAN 1707 in Wallingford, New Haven, CT

Father: NATHANIEL HITCHCOCK b: 18 APR 1679 in Wallingford, New Haven, CT
Mother: SARAH JENNINGS b: 29 AUG 1684 in Hatfield, Hampshire, MA

Father: STEPHEN JENNINGS b: ABT 1647 in Unknown -based on marriage date
Mother: HANNAH DICKINSON b: 6 DEC 1648 in Wethersfield, Hartford, CT

Father: JOHN DICKINSON b: BEF 22 AUG 1624 in bp Billingborough, Lincolnshire, England
Mother: FRANCES FOOTE b: 1629 in East Berholst, Suffolk Co., England

The interesting revelation was that my GGGGGGGG-grandparents were Hannah Dickinson, kidnapped with her children and carried off the Quebec, where she gave birth to a daughter she named "Captivity", and her husband, Stephen Jennings, who pursued the indians to rescue her and his stepchildren and newly born baby, and bring them back safely to Hatfield:
 <a href="http://www.agribusinesscouncil.org/Jennings%20Heritage/cornerstone_for_courage.htm">Cornerstone for Courage: The Case of Stephen Jennings
and The American Deliverance (1677-78)</a> 

A brief description of the entire saga here:

Quote:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....art/GILLET.htm
vi. SAMUEL GILLETT baptized in Windsor 22 Jan. 1642/3, married HANNAH DICKINSON 23 Sept. 1668 in Hadley (Hatfield?), MA, killed 19 May 1676 at Turner’s Falls. Samuel & Hannah settled on the frontier at Hatfield, MA. Hannah was born 6 Dec. 1648 in Wethersfield, died after 1687. She was a daughter of Sgt. John & Frances Dickinson. She married (2) Stephen Jennings in Hatfield 15 May 1677 and they removed to Brookfield, MA. Samuel and Hannah had 4 children.

Samuel was with Capt. Turner at the Falls Fight at Peskeompsinson[36] in which 37 English were lost including Samuel and Capt. Turner.[37]

Hannah had been remarried only a few months when on 19 Sept. 1677 she and her 5-year old daughter Mary and her 4-year old son Samuel were captured during an Indian attack on Hatfield. Hannah was pregnant at the time. When the authorities refused to pursue the Indians in fear of ambush, her husband and Benjamin Wait set out together to recover the captives who were headed for Canada. After a journey that lasted all winter they reached Canada in January and negotiated a ransom with the French. There Hannah had a daughter she named Captivity Jennings on 22 Jan. 1678. Hannah returned to home with her children in June 1678.[38] On 22 July 1710 Stephen Jennings while engaged in making hay was ambushed and killed by Indians at Brookfield. Captivity Jennings married Abigah Bartlett. He too was killed by Indians Oct. 1708.[39]

I can guess what you are thinking....it seemed like a BS fairytale to me, too, when I was doing the research. My 3rd cousin is "no nonsense". She took my discovery of Jerusha Hull's parents and signed off on it, and the descendancy, back to Stephen and Hannah.....and, the "story" gets even more unusual details; acco0rding to court records, Stephen and Hannah's daughter, Captivity, born in Canada while her mother and siblings were held hostage by indians, may have later had a child out of wedlock, and research I have done supports the idea that Stephen's son Joseph was correct....Gabriel Jennings was a "pirate", out of Portsmouth, RI, near Newport, and he was probably Stephen's brother.

Quote:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....nder/peck.html
(begins near the bottom of the page):

....Life went on. Steven and Hannah had six more children, and moved in 1690 to Brookfield, Massachusetts where, it is thought, she died about 1705 and Steven was slain by Indians in a raid on Brookfield in 1710.

Children of Stephen and Hannah, all except Captivity born in Hatfield:

i. CAPTIVITY2 JENNINGS, b. 14 March 1678; m. ca. 1700 ABIJAH BARTLETT who was killed by Indians 1708. Before that marriage, " on the last day of the year 1695" there was a judgement in the Brrokfield court. "Whereas William Barnes was sentenced at the quarter session of July last to pay two shillings two pence per week for the maintenance of the child for which he is accused to be the father of by Captivity Jennings; Stephen Jennings, the father of said Captivity Jennings and the said Will Barnes personally appearing in this same session and declaring that they had come to an agreement about the maintenance of the said child." Fifteen pounds was paid and William freed of further obligation. (Eiher, History of Brookfield)

ii. STEPHEN JENNINGS, b. 16 June 1680; killed by Indians 1710.

iii. JOSEPH JENNINGS, b. 23 Aug. 1682; still living in 1751; m. 1) widow MARY RICH, (2) SARAH WEBB; had five children with each. The History of North Brookfield (I haven't checked this) says Joseph was a deacon, called esquire, and had an estate amounting to 1350 acres. In 1733 he laid claim to some property in Newport, RI, saying that he was nearest of kin to the estate of a Gabriel Jennings who had died intestate, he, Joseph, being the son of Stephen who was the son of Gabriel (Newport Court Files, by Jane Fiske). Actually, Gabriel (a pirate) had left a will with no mention of Stephen or any heirs other than a step-son; also it can be shown that Gabriel and Stephen were both born about the same year.

I am hoping to find more proof that Gabriel "the pirate" Jennings, of Portsmouth, RI, was the brother of Stephen Jennings, because, Gabriel's mother, Anne Talby was the daughter of DOROTHY (RAWLINSON) TALBY, hung as a "witch" in Salem, MA, in 1638, for killing her daughter, named "Difficulty":
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/...ges/p2-52.html
<center><img src="http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/Perley/vol2/jpgs/p2-52.jpg" height=600 width=500></center>
....and this document [340] indicates that Stephen's son, Joseph may have not been entirely correct in his court claim on the estate of Gabriel, the "pirate". This document shows that Gabriel, and probably Stephen, were the sons of Thomas Jennings, and Anne Talby, daughter of the executed Salem witch:
<center><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~qvc/dvimage1.jpg" height=600 width=475><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~qvc/dvimage.jpg" height=600 width=475></center>

ShaniFaye · 01-04-2007, 12:27 PM

Highthief and host...Im getting ready to leave work and need to run some errands before I get home....I will look into both your requests as soon as I get home.

I looked at that link....blowing it up pixelizes it a bit...anyway you can email the original jpg of it to the email addy I mailed you from this morning?

Highthief, I didnt think I'd ever seen one that big but I double checked to make sure, and the largest I can find is 6 generations.

This may be a dumb question but have you considered making one yourself in word?

flstf · 01-04-2007, 03:14 PM

I suspect that many of us who fill out these family trees will wind up with male ancestors who we are not really related to. It is probably safer to trace back female ancestors but many adoptions went undocumented years ago. Now if we could just get DNA samples from everyone.

I am curious just how far back one can reasonably trace their genealogy before there are just no records. 500 years? 1000 years? How far do most people get?

Psycho Dad · 01-04-2007, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaniFaye

The first thing you need to do is buy a genealogy software program.

Or download this one for free. I use FTM too, but for free, you can't beat Personal Ancestral File. I've not used it for a while, but I see the latest release is 5.2.18.0, I think what I used was 3.somethingorother a few years ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flstf

I suspect that many of us who fill out these family trees will wind up with male ancestors who we are not really related to. It is probably safer to trace back female ancestors but many adoptions went undocumented years ago. Now if we could just get DNA samples from everyone.

I've found female ancestors the hardest to trace. Our society was not the best in regards to women being important enough to the family. Even some census records didn't take the wife's information into serious account.

And there are some DNA genealogy projects underway.

ShaniFaye · 01-04-2007, 03:57 PM

Ok this is what I've come up with for you Host

Thomas Bristol (is there twice on lines 2 and 3)
Samuel Lewis (first name end of line one, last name beginning of line 2)

There is another Lewis name in that that looks like it starts with M (in there twice) Im trying to make out what the first name is...

Martha....Martha Lewis and thats my final answer lol on lines 3 and 4

James Hayes on line 6

Witnesses

Mary Bronson
Virgil Parker
Caleb Cook

how does that compare with what you think?

Females are def the hardest to trace (keep in mind females were not enumerated on census records until 1850 unless they were the head of the household. Generally women didnt own land so most land deed grantors and grantees were mail and wills were usually left by men. Plus women didnt serve in the military so you cant trace them by service records for any of the wars.

Free works, but I've found its well worth the 32 bucks to buy FTM and have all the capabilities its provides

ok I downloaded PAF just to see what it looks like now and I still dont like it.

Its not as user friendly as FTM is

host · 01-04-2007, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaniFaye

Ok this is what I've come up with for you Host

Thomas Bristol (is there twice on lines 2 and 3)
Samuel Lewis (first name end of line one, last name beginning of line 2)
Lewis Westerly (line 6)

Witnesses

Mary Bronson
Virgil Parker
Caleb Cook

how does that compare with what you think?

Females are def the hardest to trace (keep in mind females were not enumerated on census records until 1850 unless they were the head of the household. Generally women couldnt own land so most land deed grantors and grantees were mail and wills were usually left by men. Plus women didnt serve in the military so you cant trace them by service records for any of the wars.

Free works, but I've found its well worth the 32 bucks to buy FTM and have all the capabilities its provides

Thank you, Shani....we're in agreement, I was hoping that Samuel's name. was Lewis, although it's yielded nothing but dead ends. I am interested in your opinion of the name at the end of the 3rd line....it's preceded by the word "this", and it looks like the last name is "Lewis".

That first name appears to be repeated at the end of line 5, it immediately precedes "Lewis Westerly" at the start of line 6, and it's the person who Thomas Bristol sold the land to.....

I'd also like to hear your opinion as to whether any of the signatures of my ancestors are written by them, or by the recorder of the deed....

I thought I had solved who Sarah Bristol, nee Sarah Hull, whose name apperas on the deed, is. I have a copy of my great grandmother's 1925 DAR application, and she wrote on it that her great grandmother was Sarah Hull, wife of Thomas Bristol Jr. It appeared from her entry for Sarah's birth year that my great grandmother was unceratin about it.

I though that she was the Sarah Hull who was the daughter of Jesse Hull and Hannah Preston:
http://www.sedgwick.org/na/families/...142.html#I0502

The compelling thing is that Hannah Preston's sister, Sarah Preston, was married to Thomas Bristol Jr,'s brother, Augustus, as is shown on the link above. There was some conflicting info as to whether Jesse Hull was married to Hannah or to her sister, Ruth, but I verified by examining an original document in the probate court records in Wallingford, that Hannah is the spouse of Jesse.

Quote:

Miss Ella I. Smith.
DAR ID Number: 7673
Born in Connecticut.
Descendant of Jesse Hull, of Connecticut.
Daughter of David Smith and Fidelia Augusta Parker, his wife.
Granddaughter of Daniel Parker and Ruth Hull, his wife.
Gr.-granddaughter of Jesse Hull and Ruth Preston, his wife.
Jesse Hull enlisted as a soldier and served six years. He was captured and confined on a prison ship in New York Harbor and died soon after his release.
Also No. 5967.

It seemes odd that this DAR member, Ella I. Smith, was wrong about Ruth Preston, in addition to the probate court record supporting that Jesse Hull was married to Hannah Preston, there is evidence that Ruth Preston died in 1762 at age 5.

Donald Lines Jacobus listed Jesse & Hannah's daughter, Sarah Hull, as married to a a Mark Smith about 1796, not to Thomas Bristol Jr. I can find no other record of a Mark Smith and Sarah Hull.

This is a good example for anyone who is new to this to view a sample of a "brick wall" situation. I've become an expert on the Jesse Hull/Hannah Preston family, and I'm probably not even related to them. That is why the development of the internet has had such a dramatic impact on the accessibility of genealogoical resources and information.

By the way, Shani, the census and genealogical references of Heritage Quest are available to you and I, free, via our library card #'s and pins and www.gwinnettpl.org

OKAY...on edit....I understand now, that you are still working on the first name that precedes "Lewis westerly".....I'm itching to tell you...but I'll just give you the hint that I think it is a woman's name, and that hasn't gotten me anywhere....

ShaniFaye · 01-04-2007, 05:08 PM

be sure to re read my PM and the post NOW (I put Martha in before you made your post hehehe but the stupid merge feature puts the time I posted about the PAF program), I think I've caught them all. I'd love to see it in person though to tell for sure. and yes, Im ALL over heritage quest hehehe

host · 01-04-2007, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaniFaye

be sure to re read my PM and the post NOW (I put Martha in before you made your post hehehe but the stupid merge feature puts the time I posted about the PAF program), I think I've caught them all. I'd love to see it in person though to tell for sure. and yes, Im ALL over heritage quest hehehe

Yup...you got it....but I keep second guessing that it's Martha. I'm assuming Lewis her maiden name...and I can't find one, living in Wallingford or Cheshire, in 1824, that "works"....

Here's a much higher "res" photo taken with my new 8.1 megapixel camera.
I won't display it because it's a 2mb file:
http://home.comcast.net/~qvc/deedhigh.jpg

Here's my great-grandmother's DAR app.....another 2mb file:
http://home.comcast.net/~qvc/darapp.jpg

(it looks like a "u", in hull, to me....when compared to the way she wrote the "a" in "Sally", and the way that "a" flows in the "L"....
some genealogists decided long ago that it's "Sarah Hall", not "Hull". It really surprised me that great-grandma, in 1925....she was born in 1869 when her grandfather, Orrin was only 69 years old, and her grandmother Sally, was 64.....did not know when Sally's mother was born, or died, and had the year of Orrin's death wrong on the "app". It's in huge numbers on his tombstone.....1881, not 1879. She did get this from the federal records, though:
<center><img src="http://home.comcast.net/~qvc/briswar1.jpg"> <img src="http://home.comcast.net/~qvc/bristwar.jpg"></center>

ShaniFaye · 01-04-2007, 06:33 PM

oh yeah, wish that was the one you posted orginally hehehe its def Martha

looks like Hull to me, and there is a Sarah Hull on the 1820 census in wallingford

Im never surprised at what people didnt know lol My grandfather gave the information for his mothers death cert in 1969 and put her mother (his grandmother) as unknown, when its on his own parents marriage license who the mother was lol

BadNick · 01-04-2007, 08:06 PM

I've also heard of many cases of name changes, usually at time of entry to a country. On my ex-in laws' side, in the early 1900's the U.S. immigration "official" said something like "you can't go by that name in this country" because the name had a silly association here, so they simply chose the mother's maiden name and entered under that, and it's been that way ever since. I'll check ancestry site to see if that's reflected, but I bet it's not. So that might lead to dead ends.

Psycho Dad · 01-05-2007, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaniFaye

Free works, but I've found its well worth the 32 bucks to buy FTM and have all the capabilities its provides

ok I downloaded PAF just to see what it looks like now and I still dont like it.

Its not as user friendly as FTM is

I agree, FTM has an edge, but for the price, PAF is an excellent option for someone wanting to get into genealogy. One can build quite the database with it and once they want to move to another genealogy program, they can easily export a gedcom into their new application.

BTW, I've not had the time for genealogy in a while, what version is FTM up to. I have FTM version 10 and I'm sure it is beyond that now.

ShaniFaye · 01-05-2007, 04:46 AM

They are on version 16 now. I guess Im just so used to it that PAF looks archaic and not user friendly, but yeah for someone that doesnt want to spend the money its workable

Psycho Dad · 01-05-2007, 05:03 AM

I guess I was mistaken. I have FTM 2005 (whatever that is in real version numbers) It has been so long since I've had the time to use it I couldn't recall.

Another nifty software I have is Pocket Genealogist. I found it handy for times when I stumbled across something as I almost always have my Pocket PC with me.

highthief · 01-05-2007, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaniFaye

Highthief, I didnt think I'd ever seen one that big but I double checked to make sure, and the largest I can find is 6 generations.

This may be a dumb question but have you considered making one yourself in word?

Me? Use software as it was designed to be used?

I'm not sure I've ever managed that before!

Actually, I had seen some cool looking fan charts for 9 generations, but they weren't fillable.

ShaniFaye · 01-05-2007, 05:32 AM

Psycho thats the one Im using.

One thing I like about FTM is that if you buy it new, it "usually" comes with a year free on ancestry.com

rhaevyn · 01-05-2007, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShaniFaye

One thing I like about FTM is that if you buy it new, it "usually" comes with a year free on ancestry.com

Does that include access to ALL the ancestry.com databases?

ShaniFaye · 01-05-2007, 11:34 AM

nope, when it does include it its for all the US databases only, not the ones outside the US (like the UK census records).

rhaevyn · 01-05-2007, 11:36 AM

That's what I thought it would be lol Still a good deal.

Thanks!

ShaniFaye · 01-05-2007, 12:21 PM

considering the "normal" price for the US deluxe is 155 bucks I say its a great deal

highthief · 01-05-2007, 12:47 PM

All this talk inspired me to do more research and with the help of the Mormons, who run a great website devoted to this, I may have just pushed my tree back 2 more generations on my paternal line!

host · 01-05-2007, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by highthief

All this talk inspired me to do more research and with the help of the Mormons, who run a great website devoted to this, I may have just pushed my tree back 2 more generations on my paternal line!

That's great to hear, highthief ! I am still new enough to the process of genealogical research to marvel at the contradiction that it seems easier to locate information about 17th and 18th century ancestors, than it is to find details of thier 19th and early 20th century descendants.

ShaniFaye · 01-05-2007, 01:25 PM

please remember to verify any information you find online. Just because its on there doesnt always mean its correct...I always run into errors with stuff people have entered from our family.

Finding someones shared family tree online is always a good place to start, just take it with a grain of salt until you have "proof"

ShaniFaye · 03-15-2007, 05:36 AM

I am bumping this with great news

(and this is with Halx's permission...just so the mod's know)

For anyone interested in learning more, posting research queries, sharing information etc related to family histories, I have started a new website, with a discussion forum for this.

Today marks the unveiling of http://www.ancestrallychallenged.com

You will find a link to the message board on the main page. This site will continue to grow and new things/ideas/help for research will be constantly added. I hope you'll take the time to come by and help the community grow for all of us interested in this

thanks

ShaniFaye · 05-24-2007, 09:49 AM

Just an FYI, for the next 2 weeks the entire military collection on Ancestry is free, I encourage anyone that doesnt have a subscription to Ancestry to take advantage of this.....some of these records are really great and contain information you might not find elsewhere as easily

Press release

Quote:

Ancestry.com is announcing it has launched the largest collection of U.S.
military records available and searchable online, featuring more than 90
million names that span more than four centuries of American history from
the 1600s through Vietnam.

This U.S. Military Collection includes exclusive record sets such as the
only complete collection of WWI draft registration cards and commemorative
military yearbooks and newspapers. Combined, the records bring to life the
stories and sacrifices of the millions of brave men and women who have
served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Inside the U.S. Military Collection

Ancestry.com’s U.S. Military Collection captures all major wars and
conflicts from American history, including the Revolutionary War, Civil War,
World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts as well as
the Spanish-American War and the War of 1812.

The eclectic volume of records features more than 700 databases and titles
and 37 million images of original and often personally autographed
documents including:

a.. World War I and World War II draft registration cards
b.. Prisoner of war records from the War of 1812, Civil War, World War
II, and Korea
c.. Muster rolls (unit rosters) for the Marine Corps 1893-1958 and WWII
U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Muster rolls, 1939-1949
d.. U.S. Military burial registers 1768-1921
e.. Service Records from Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War
f.. Civil War Pension Index
g.. Casualty listings from WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam
h.. WWI and WWII Stars and Stripes Newspapers
i.. Young American Patriots Military Yearbooks (post WWII)
Rare historical media such as the United Newsreel Motion Pictures (1942 –
1945) are another highlight of the collection, making Ancestry.com the only
online source for all 267 counter-propaganda films shown in U.S. theaters
and abroad during WWII. Produced by the Office of War Information and
financed by the U. S. government, the United Newsreels consisted of several
short stories concerning allied military operations and were reportedly
released in sixteen languages. Newsreels were also dropped behind enemy
lines in a German language version and distributed in friendly and neutral
countries.

Beginning now through June 6th (D-Day), Ancestry.com will make its entire
U.S. Military Collection free to the public. For more information on
Ancestry.com’s U.S. Military Collection, visit www.ancestry.com/military.

In order to see the new titles added to Ancestry for this military
release, go to www.ancestry.com/military and view titles by war/conflict.

jorgelito · 05-24-2007, 08:35 PM

Shani, thanks for sharing all your hard work and research.

Quick question: Do you have any methods or advice for researching foreign origin genealogy 9for us immigrant families).

ShaniFaye · 06-13-2008, 06:09 PM

(I'm going to assume since it was ok to post my other site I can post this new one too.....if it wasnt feel free to delete this)

http://www.ancestralspace.com

Made especially for those that cant get enough of myspace/facebook type sites (and yes I realize some of you will have NO interest in this at all)

Some of you may wonder...why a site like this. Well I will tell you. Last year I made a myspace page for my genealogy forum and found lots of friends that have genealogy as an interest. Wednesday, I was "interviewed" about my thoughts on myspace and genealogy....did it help?

I got to thinking, nope, I've not found one piece of information or person with which to share information on myspace other than "genealogy news"

Then I got to thinking....I had seen a "myspace" type site for another hobby I'm interested in but I didnt know of one for one of the most widespread hobbies in the world. Why not have a social sight for people that were not looking to "find a date or a mate".

People that know me, know I have a passion for research and for helping other people find things and for helping other people find living relatives that might help them break down their brickwalls.

Will this work? I don't know...I have high hopes for it.

This site will be a work in progress for many weeks to come I'm sure, and suggestions are always welcome even if I might not always do what you suggest.

This is gonna be fun....yeah its gonna be fun

Cynthetiq · 09-20-2008, 08:14 AM

thanks

I've been working on my tree again

I transferred everything to geni.com and invited a bunch of family members. it runs like Facebook, and much easier to weild than and other software I've tried for interaction with everyone else.

lotsofmagnets · 09-20-2008, 09:12 AM

interesting topic. i´ve always had an interest in my family history and for my brother´s b-day my mum compiled a basic family tree with everything she was able to get her hands on in a short space of time. basically it want back to my great great grandparents on my mum´s side and only my grandparents on my father´s side. when i came over to europe i decided i´d look further into it and to say i´ve had problems is an understatement. on my mum´s side both her parents came from the same vilage which *should* have made life easier but the historian for the area which includes my grandparents´ village (who just happened to drive me to school back when i lived there for 6 months in 1990) told me that it´s completely futile as almost everyone seems to share the same 3 surnames (he actually shared the same surname as my grandfather AND lives in the same village yet is NOT related to him - go figure) and he found when researching his own family tree that he found a time when there were 3 of the same guy and he had no way to find which one was the right one. add to that the region has been through a few too many wars and every time ownership of the area changed hands the records were burnt so the only evidence dated back to the mid 1800s anyway.

on my dad´s side one of his sisters inherited everything from their mother and she´s notorious for keeping it all hidden away and never talking about it and add to that she only speaks german and my german isn´t fantastic AND that i found all of this out AFTER i´d stayed with her for 3 weeks and i just had to put that part on hold. i did have a break with my dad´s dad´s side as my cousin said his dad seemed to remember a little about my grandfather and incredibly when asked he was happy to give us 6 generations off the top of his head, dates and all, and who they married and anything special about them (there is a street in maribor, slovenia named after my GGGG-grandfather called kosarjeva as he was the 1st bishop of maribor) mind you, he also told some things about my grandmother who he´s not even related to (my dad is the result of what appeared to be an extra-marrital affair) also my cousin told me that the records from that area are all still intact and next time i´m in the country we´ll have to wander down to where they´re kept and see what we can uncover. to be continued....
-----Added 20/9/2008 at 01 : 14 : 26-----
ps why do old ladies dye their hair blue/purple? this is one of life´s great mysteries to me.

Xerxys · 12-01-2008, 11:56 PM

Nice, I was reading something in the wedding thread and I saw something dlish said and I wanted to ask him but I'll go first.

Picture a family tree with man and woman at the top, those are my grand parents from mothers side. Now, from the two at the top, picture 11 brothers and sisters. That's my mom and her brothers and sisters. Now, from these 11, picture 36 cousins. Yep, thats me, my two sisters, and my 36 first cousins.

So dlish, how did you end up with 76 first cousins!!!!

3GPositive · 12-03-2008, 02:53 PM

My top tip is to talk to family members, the older ones in particular. Chances are they will remember things about your ancestors that later turn out to be very helpful. They might not remember who your distant cousin married but they might remember his occupation or some obscure detail like the town they once lived in. Later when faced with a database containing 100's of people with the same name that little bit of information might make all the difference and allow you to narrow the list down.

I'm having great fun doing my tree. So far I'm back to about 1815 and my search had turned up ancestors from all over the country.

ShaniFaye · 12-03-2008, 03:58 PM

3G make sure to join my new site (dont know if you saw if earlier in the thread) its a "myspace" just for genealogists

www.ancestralspace.com

01-04-2007, 05:55 AM	#1 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	Genealogy 101 Since I posted my new years weekend post in the Tilted Living section http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=112014 , several people have contacted me about this fascinating and addicting subject, plus the discussion going on in the graves thread.... so I thought I would start a thread about it (watch it totally die lol) A lot of people think this is "a hobby for blue haired old ladies and old men with walking sticks and nothing better to do". I am here to tell you thats just not so. I started researcing my family when I was 13 as a result of a school project, and I am now the one people contact from my own family, my ex husbands family and Dave's family when their kids have to do something similar (and I think Im as far from a blue haired old lady as a person can get lol) I will be the first to say its not for everyone, but if you are a person that loves to try to solve a mystery, or wants to find out about some story you heard when you were a kid or someone that loves never ending research then it just may be your "thing". Some people see it as an "overwhelming" but if you start right, its really not. The first thing you need to do is buy a genealogy software program. There are debates on which is best, personally I recommend Family Tree Maker. I have looked at them all over the years and FTM to me is the best, but everyone is different, I've been using it since it was first on the market. Once you have the program installed, you simply start by putting in all the information on yourself...then you proceed to your parents, entering everything you know about them...then progress to their parents etc. It lets you print out a report that you can look at and tell immediately what information you still need to get. Back when I started there was no internet (gasp yes it was that long ago....but remember my hair isnt blue yet so it WAS after the invention of the wheel and sliced bread) and you actually had to go to county courthouses and geneaological societys or state/national archives to view service records, census reports (these are made public after 72 years, so the latest one to be released is 1930....1940 wont be released until 2012) which are a wealth of information depending on the year, land deeds, bastardy bonds (which are really cool to look at if the county you are researching required them) birth, death, marriage records etc. NOW you can find a LOT of this stuff online at places like http://www.rootsweb.com and http://www.ancestry.com without ever having to leave your house. I still love visiting courthouses though because the smell of musty old court records excites me lol I can promise...you WILL run into what we researches call a brick wall....you will have a person that completely disappears for no apparent reason (death), you will have 1st cousins that married (yes, that USED to be legal), and everyone on both those sides named their kids the same thing or you will absolutely need to know where someone was in 1890 and cant find them because the census records burned in a fire in DC in the 20's and the only records you can find are a few here and there that the county happened to still have on file, or you will find you need to find the immigration of some Irish person that came here as a stowaway on a ship to America so there is no record. Its THESE things that make this so infuriatingly addicting. You could be like me when I was researching my ex's family for 10 years, searching in total vain for a bible I knew had been passed down thru the family because it was willed to a certain family member, only to find out that a branch of the family that you hadnt been researching yet had it, and it had been one mile from your house the ENTIRE 10 years you'd been looking for it, (can we imagine how elated and pissed off I was at the time? The pissed part didnt stay long when I held this 20 pounds bible in my hands and read the entries dating back to 1777) So many people dont care about "history" or what their ancestors where about, or give a crap about their tombstone etc....this isnt for you, so please dont waste the space here telling me you dont care....it neither here nor there to me, this is for the people that ARE interested and want to start but feel they dont exaclty know where to start. Im glad to answer any questions. I wont claim to know "everything" but I do have a good working knowledge of US research tactics. Im very adept in reading old documents. I worked with my county historical society for years transcribing things, such as the counties 1880 county census for book publication and old wills. If you have never seen a land grant or will from the 1800's it can be challenging trying to figure out the lingo that was used AND to read the handwriting, so Im glad to help with that if you run across something you cant read. If more people did this then our brick walls would be less and less in the coming years, because someone always has an aunt or uncle somebody who remembers that even though great great grandmother nancy doesnt have a readable tombstone, she's buried under the poplar tree in the SW corner of the High Shoals Baptist cemetery (actual fact from my family used as example lol) I hope this has inspired more people to look at their family histories and to understand this is not something you want to wait to do until you are old and cant leave the house, not being able to leave the house is a huge problem when doing research hehehe __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!* Last edited by ShaniFaye; 01-04-2007 at 06:37 AM..

01-04-2007, 06:51 AM	#3 (permalink)
little_tippler Leaning against the -Sun- Super Moderator Location: on the other side	I would love to do this for my family and have toyed with the idea for years. My aunt, who I'm very close to, has started a family tree of her own, on my uncle's side, so she has a small piece of the puzzle already. When some of my family members began to pass away (grandmother and father, 2 great-aunts) I felt sad to think that some stories were lost with their passing. I have very little time so I have never sat down and started this. Also in Portugal it's not as easy as we don't have that many resources, particularly online like you do in the US. But I agree that it's a fascinating little adventure to find out where you come from and who your relatives were. __________________ Whether we write or speak or do but look We are ever unapparent. What we are Cannot be transfused into word or book. Our soul from us is infinitely far. However much we give our thoughts the will To be our soul and gesture it abroad, Our hearts are incommunicable still. In what we show ourselves we are ignored. The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged By any skill of thought or trick of seeming. Unto our very selves we are abridged When we would utter to our thought our being. We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams, And each to each other dreams of others' dreams. Fernando Pessoa, 1918

01-04-2007, 08:14 AM	#4 (permalink)
warrrreagl pinche vato Location: backwater, Third World, land of cotton	Thanks for this thread, Shani. My family history is loaded with cartoon characters, and learning about them has helped me understand my own quirks quite a bit. Grancey's family is Southern royalty through and through and it also explains her, as well. She definitely married beneath her station, and thanks to genealogy, we now know this. __________________ Living is easy with eyes closed.

01-04-2007, 10:56 AM	#6 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	see thats what I mean....some people are under the impression that their "ancestry" had no bearing on who they are as people now. I have older people in my family tell me they have never met a person more like my great grandmother (who died the year after I was born, so I never knew her) than me, and that Im exactly like her even down to how I stand when Im pissed off hehehe. I remember them telling me that when I was little I was just like her in personality....I wish I was as pretty as she was though Unfortunately I cant post a picture of her because the few I have of her are when she is 16 with her oldest child who was 1 at the time in 1906 I think thats a really cool thing to know __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

01-04-2007, 12:14 PM	#7 (permalink)
highthief Junkie Location: Ontario, Canada	You know what I'm looking for? A fillable (preferably free!) document where I can insert about 7 to 9 generations of the family. Could be a tree, could be a chart or similar. I can only ever find ones that do about 5 or 6 generations before you run out of room. Know of any such animal, Shani? __________________ Si vis pacem parabellum.

01-04-2007, 06:30 AM	#2 (permalink)
BadNick Riding the Ocean Spray Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa	I hadn't done much in the past, but coincidentally I'm now slowing moving on a track like this myself. On and off for many years I've been thinking about doing this for our family. My one younger brother and I were born in Austria since my parents decided to escape from Hungary late in WWII after having endured the insanity of the Germans earlier and not wanting to find out what the Russians would do since they were now coming from the other direction. So they ended up in a camp in Austria, under the Western Allies, for people displaced from other areas of Eastern Europe. My brother and I were born there, then a few years later we all came to the U.S. Just a few weeks ago, I saw a small article in Newsweek which mentioned the ancestry.com site you also bring to our attention, saying that the site now has data from something like mid 1800's to late 1990's on almost everyone who immigrated to the U.S. from other countries. So that day I went to the site, put in my dad's name and some related data about arrival and up popped a list showing my dad, my mom, my younger brother and me, showing when we arrived, names, some other data. So I emailed it all to my siblings and a couple relatives and it started a nice little exchange of memories and further efforts to find more information. Last year my daughter was exploring Europe and went to Budapest and found the address where my dad lived when he was a young, up-and-coming artist already of some notariey; we found that address from postcards he had made up with his name and address imprinted and one of his paintings on the front. She knocked on the door and after some misunderstandings about whether her grandfather lived in the house or not, eventually communicated the facts and got a friendly welcome from the current residents. I'm still planning to follow further trails and go back further and further to see if my great great great .....great grandfather was maybe Attila the Hun the much maligned but great and honorable revered hero/leader from Hungarian history. One of my favorite traditional paintings of my dad's was his "Attila Temetese" which is Attila's Burial in the riverbed of the diverted Danube River, that painting was purchased by some political/post monarchial family, not the Hapsburgs but one of the other of those old world names from Austria-Hungary.

01-04-2007, 12:27 PM	#9 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	Highthief and host...Im getting ready to leave work and need to run some errands before I get home....I will look into both your requests as soon as I get home. I looked at that link....blowing it up pixelizes it a bit...anyway you can email the original jpg of it to the email addy I mailed you from this morning? Highthief, I didnt think I'd ever seen one that big but I double checked to make sure, and the largest I can find is 6 generations. This may be a dumb question but have you considered making one yourself in word? __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!* Last edited by ShaniFaye; 01-04-2007 at 02:42 PM.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

01-04-2007, 03:14 PM	#10 (permalink)
flstf Easy Rider Location: Moscow on the Ohio	I suspect that many of us who fill out these family trees will wind up with male ancestors who we are not really related to. It is probably safer to trace back female ancestors but many adoptions went undocumented years ago. Now if we could just get DNA samples from everyone. I am curious just how far back one can reasonably trace their genealogy before there are just no records. 500 years? 1000 years? How far do most people get?

01-04-2007, 03:57 PM	#12 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	Ok this is what I've come up with for you Host Thomas Bristol (is there twice on lines 2 and 3) Samuel Lewis (first name end of line one, last name beginning of line 2) There is another Lewis name in that that looks like it starts with M (in there twice) Im trying to make out what the first name is... Martha....Martha Lewis and thats my final answer lol on lines 3 and 4 James Hayes on line 6 Witnesses Mary Bronson Virgil Parker Caleb Cook how does that compare with what you think? Females are def the hardest to trace (keep in mind females were not enumerated on census records until 1850 unless they were the head of the household. Generally women didnt own land so most land deed grantors and grantees were mail and wills were usually left by men. Plus women didnt serve in the military so you cant trace them by service records for any of the wars. Free works, but I've found its well worth the 32 bucks to buy FTM and have all the capabilities its provides ok I downloaded PAF just to see what it looks like now and I still dont like it. Its not as user friendly as FTM is __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!* Last edited by ShaniFaye; 01-04-2007 at 05:00 PM.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

01-04-2007, 05:08 PM	#14 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	be sure to re read my PM and the post NOW (I put Martha in before you made your post hehehe but the stupid merge feature puts the time I posted about the PAF program), I think I've caught them all. I'd love to see it in person though to tell for sure. and yes, Im ALL over heritage quest hehehe __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

01-04-2007, 06:33 PM	#16 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	oh yeah, wish that was the one you posted orginally hehehe its def Martha looks like Hull to me, and there is a Sarah Hull on the 1820 census in wallingford Im never surprised at what people didnt know lol My grandfather gave the information for his mothers death cert in 1969 and put her mother (his grandmother) as unknown, when its on his own parents marriage license who the mother was lol __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!* Last edited by ShaniFaye; 01-04-2007 at 07:00 PM..

01-04-2007, 08:06 PM	#17 (permalink)
BadNick Riding the Ocean Spray Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa	I've also heard of many cases of name changes, usually at time of entry to a country. On my ex-in laws' side, in the early 1900's the U.S. immigration "official" said something like "you can't go by that name in this country" because the name had a silly association here, so they simply chose the mother's maiden name and entered under that, and it's been that way ever since. I'll check ancestry site to see if that's reflected, but I bet it's not. So that might lead to dead ends.

01-05-2007, 04:46 AM	#19 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	They are on version 16 now. I guess Im just so used to it that PAF looks archaic and not user friendly, but yeah for someone that doesnt want to spend the money its workable __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

01-05-2007, 05:03 AM	#20 (permalink)
Psycho Dad Mulletproof Location: Some nucking fut house.	I guess I was mistaken. I have FTM 2005 (whatever that is in real version numbers) It has been so long since I've had the time to use it I couldn't recall. Another nifty software I have is Pocket Genealogist. I found it handy for times when I stumbled across something as I almost always have my Pocket PC with me. __________________ Don't always trust the opinions of experts.

01-05-2007, 05:32 AM	#22 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	Psycho thats the one Im using. One thing I like about FTM is that if you buy it new, it "usually" comes with a year free on ancestry.com __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

01-05-2007, 11:34 AM	#24 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	nope, when it does include it its for all the US databases only, not the ones outside the US (like the UK census records). __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

01-05-2007, 11:36 AM	#25 (permalink)
rhaevyn Insane Location: Pittsburgh, PA	That's what I thought it would be lol Still a good deal. Thanks! __________________ ~Alex~ You've come far, and though you're far from the end, you don't mind where you are, 'cause you know where you've been.

01-05-2007, 12:21 PM	#26 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	considering the "normal" price for the US deluxe is 155 bucks I say its a great deal __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

01-05-2007, 12:47 PM	#27 (permalink)
highthief Junkie Location: Ontario, Canada	All this talk inspired me to do more research and with the help of the Mormons, who run a great website devoted to this, I may have just pushed my tree back 2 more generations on my paternal line! __________________ Si vis pacem parabellum.

01-05-2007, 01:25 PM	#29 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	please remember to verify any information you find online. Just because its on there doesnt always mean its correct...I always run into errors with stuff people have entered from our family. Finding someones shared family tree online is always a good place to start, just take it with a grain of salt until you have "proof" __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

03-15-2007, 05:36 AM	#30 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	I am bumping this with great news (and this is with Halx's permission...just so the mod's know) For anyone interested in learning more, posting research queries, sharing information etc related to family histories, I have started a new website, with a discussion forum for this. Today marks the unveiling of http://www.ancestrallychallenged.com You will find a link to the message board on the main page. This site will continue to grow and new things/ideas/help for research will be constantly added. I hope you'll take the time to come by and help the community grow for all of us interested in this thanks __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

05-24-2007, 08:35 PM	#32 (permalink)
jorgelito All important elusive independent swing voter... Location: People's Republic of KKKalifornia	Shani, thanks for sharing all your hard work and research. Quick question: Do you have any methods or advice for researching foreign origin genealogy 9for us immigrant families).

06-13-2008, 06:09 PM	#33 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	(I'm going to assume since it was ok to post my other site I can post this new one too.....if it wasnt feel free to delete this) http://www.ancestralspace.com Made especially for those that cant get enough of myspace/facebook type sites (and yes I realize some of you will have NO interest in this at all) Some of you may wonder...why a site like this. Well I will tell you. Last year I made a myspace page for my genealogy forum and found lots of friends that have genealogy as an interest. Wednesday, I was "interviewed" about my thoughts on myspace and genealogy....did it help? I got to thinking, nope, I've not found one piece of information or person with which to share information on myspace other than "genealogy news" Then I got to thinking....I had seen a "myspace" type site for another hobby I'm interested in but I didnt know of one for one of the most widespread hobbies in the world. Why not have a social sight for people that were not looking to "find a date or a mate". People that know me, know I have a passion for research and for helping other people find things and for helping other people find living relatives that might help them break down their brickwalls. Will this work? I don't know...I have high hopes for it. This site will be a work in progress for many weeks to come I'm sure, and suggestions are always welcome even if I might not always do what you suggest. This is gonna be fun....yeah its gonna be fun __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

09-20-2008, 08:14 AM	#34 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	thanks I've been working on my tree again I transferred everything to geni.com and invited a bunch of family members. it runs like Facebook, and much easier to weild than and other software I've tried for interaction with everyone else. __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION! Last edited by Cynthetiq; 09-20-2008 at 08:16 AM..

09-20-2008, 09:12 AM	#35 (permalink)
lotsofmagnets Upright Location: reykjavík, iceland	interesting topic. i´ve always had an interest in my family history and for my brother´s b-day my mum compiled a basic family tree with everything she was able to get her hands on in a short space of time. basically it want back to my great great grandparents on my mum´s side and only my grandparents on my father´s side. when i came over to europe i decided i´d look further into it and to say i´ve had problems is an understatement. on my mum´s side both her parents came from the same vilage which should have made life easier but the historian for the area which includes my grandparents´ village (who just happened to drive me to school back when i lived there for 6 months in 1990) told me that it´s completely futile as almost everyone seems to share the same 3 surnames (he actually shared the same surname as my grandfather AND lives in the same village yet is NOT related to him - go figure) and he found when researching his own family tree that he found a time when there were 3 of the same guy and he had no way to find which one was the right one. add to that the region has been through a few too many wars and every time ownership of the area changed hands the records were burnt so the only evidence dated back to the mid 1800s anyway. on my dad´s side one of his sisters inherited everything from their mother and she´s notorious for keeping it all hidden away and never talking about it and add to that she only speaks german and my german isn´t fantastic AND that i found all of this out AFTER i´d stayed with her for 3 weeks and i just had to put that part on hold. i did have a break with my dad´s dad´s side as my cousin said his dad seemed to remember a little about my grandfather and incredibly when asked he was happy to give us 6 generations off the top of his head, dates and all, and who they married and anything special about them (there is a street in maribor, slovenia named after my GGGG-grandfather called kosarjeva as he was the 1st bishop of maribor) mind you, he also told some things about my grandmother who he´s not even related to (my dad is the result of what appeared to be an extra-marrital affair) also my cousin told me that the records from that area are all still intact and next time i´m in the country we´ll have to wander down to where they´re kept and see what we can uncover. to be continued.... -----Added 20/9/2008 at 01 : 14 : 26----- ps why do old ladies dye their hair blue/purple? this is one of life´s great mysteries to me. __________________ mother nature made the aeroplane, and the submarine sandwich, with the steady hands and dead eye of a remarkable sculptor. she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron. physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable? Last edited by lotsofmagnets; 09-20-2008 at 09:14 AM.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

12-01-2008, 11:56 PM	#36 (permalink)
Xerxys Junkie Location: My head.	Nice, I was reading something in the wedding thread and I saw something dlish said and I wanted to ask him but I'll go first. Picture a family tree with man and woman at the top, those are my grand parents from mothers side. Now, from the two at the top, picture 11 brothers and sisters. That's my mom and her brothers and sisters. Now, from these 11, picture 36 cousins. Yep, thats me, my two sisters, and my 36 first cousins. So dlish, how did you end up with 76 first cousins!!!!

12-03-2008, 02:53 PM	#37 (permalink)
3GPositive Upright	My top tip is to talk to family members, the older ones in particular. Chances are they will remember things about your ancestors that later turn out to be very helpful. They might not remember who your distant cousin married but they might remember his occupation or some obscure detail like the town they once lived in. Later when faced with a database containing 100's of people with the same name that little bit of information might make all the difference and allow you to narrow the list down. I'm having great fun doing my tree. So far I'm back to about 1815 and my search had turned up ancestors from all over the country.

12-03-2008, 03:58 PM	#38 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	3G make sure to join my new site (dont know if you saw if earlier in the thread) its a "myspace" just for genealogists www.ancestralspace.com __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*