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nissag
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| Posted: Dec 04 2006 at 9:38am | IP Logged
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This past year, we've used genealogy as a basis for history. It's been a fascinating trip! It started with putting a personal perspective on historical context (where were our ancestors when XX happened?). It lead to some amazing discoveries as well. For instance, my husband's great-grandmother died in the 1918 flu epidemic along with her infant child. In light of the recent bird flu fears, this is quite interesting.
I found out that a good portion of my family were Irish - a fact none of my family knew apparently. And finally, I discovered that one branch of my tree is actually an "old" family - here from the 1630s AND that three of my ancestors were tried as witches in Salem, two were hanged. They were probably the best known among the 'witches' and I never knew anything about them, much less that I am related.
Have any of you done this? Made any discoveries? How do you organize your research?
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Nissa
Deacon's wife, mother of eleven, farmer, teacher, creator, cook.
At Home With the Gadbois Family
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Mare
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| Posted: Dec 04 2006 at 10:44am | IP Logged
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Hi Nissa,
It sure is fun, isn't it? I've been doing my family history for the last ten years. It is a hobby that I share with my mother-in-law as well as a couple of cousins. It is so much fun to get together and share our finds and our brick walls with others.
I've been able to trace family in England and Ireland back to the mid 1800's. I've also been able to trace a branch back to the early 1600's here in America.
I input information into a computer program called Family Tree Maker. I also make copies of all the orginal documents that I can get a hold of - birth records, baptismal records, marriage records and death records. I also have census reports following each family as well as city directories following each family.
I keep all these documents in color coded binders labeled with last names. In each binder are dividers for the specific family information that I have. For instance, Howard and Mary Jones would have there own divider. All information pertaining to them would be kept there. Each of there children would have their own divider too with the pertinent census, city directory listings, birth record, marriage record, etc.
Actually, over the weekend, I just received a copy of information that I sent away for regarding information on a baptismal certificate and a marriage certificate. I was hoping it would chip away a brick wall that I've hit. Instead, this has given me more things to ponder. 
Enjoy the journey!
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lapazfarm
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I was thinking about doing this as a complement to our US history studies. I thought I would start with just my father's side of the family to keep it simpler,but I am clueless as to where to start. I only know info for a couple of generations back, and my grandparents have all passed away already. My Dad doesn't know much about his family's history at all. Where do you get the info? Where would I start? I have tried looking on the web but there are so many sites, most of which you have to pay for, that I am a bit lost.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Dec 04 2006 at 1:32pm | IP Logged
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One of the best of the free sites is www.rootsweb.com. The best of the pay sites is www.ancestry.com...sometimes public libraries have subscriptions to genealogy websites you can use for free. Ours has Heritage Quest.
Cyndi's List (www.cyndislist.com) has a huge list of sites...for states, countries, "how-to" sites, etc. It's great but overwhelming.
If your family has recent emigrant ancestors, the Ellis Island website is very good. Earlier emigration info can often be found at www.castlegarden.org.
One of my history teachers in high school won an award from the L. A. Archdiocese for integrating genealogy into Social Studies classrooms...it really works and helps bring history to life.
Anyone who's interested can PM me for more info...or we can keep the list of websites going here...!!
My ancestors came from Alsace and Germany to Wisconsin, and from Hungary, Scotland and Ireland to Minnesota. One was from Luxembourg. We're trying to trace my husband's (probably Italian) ancestors now...it's hard, as the name is very rare.
Can you tell I love this stuff!? 
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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vmalott
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There are a couple of websites that can help get you started.
Ancestry.com's Public Family Trees
This is a nice search thingamabob, where you can view other family trees which might share the same info on your family's ancestors. I've had tremendous success researching both lines of my husband's family (going back 10 generations), but not much luck w/my Irish Catholic ancestors (we go back about 5 generations). 
Another is Genealogy.com which is connected w/the Family Tree Maker software. I think you can begin a family tree online for free without needing the software. The software is helpful once you get hooked (and believe me, it is addictive), so you can upload and share the information you have on your family.
I think you can also give it a go with a free trial on some of these sites, or purchase certain subscriptions. I did that for some things like the US Census...it was kind of cool to find my great-grandfather's family living in the Bronx and that they had some Irish fellow boarding with them who wasn't related.
Hope this helps,
Valerie
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Valerie
Mom to Julia ('94), John ('96), Lizzy ('98), Connor ('01), Drew ('02), Cate ('04), Aidan ('08) and three saints in heaven
Seven Times the Fun
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guitarnan
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| Posted: Dec 04 2006 at 7:08pm | IP Logged
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Theresa,
One thing I forgot to mention...I have a subscription to Ancestry.com; I could do limited lookups for you if you have a name, place and date range. My subscription includes US Census records. It's very likely I could find your grandparents if you know where they lived in 1920 or 1930.
I don't have time to do unlimited lookups for everyone, but as a way to get you started...let me know!
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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lapazfarm
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That is very sweet of you, Nancy! I will see what I can find out and get back with you via PM! Thanks!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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nissag
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Hi Mare,
How do you like "Family Tree Maker"? I love software with neato features, but it has to be easy to use. I also want the finished product to be pretty, too. I'm so shallow! 
We had an older program for making a family tree for our old computer, but we never really used it. It was difficult to figure out, but was supposed to have lots of great features, like scanning old photos into the appropriate section...
Wouldn't it be fun to find that some of us are related? Could lead to some very interesting field trips!
Blessings,
Nissa
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Nissa
Deacon's wife, mother of eleven, farmer, teacher, creator, cook.
At Home With the Gadbois Family
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nissag
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Ordering records... Has that been easy for any of you who have tried it? I'm eligible for membership in a hereditary group, but need to document. I'm not sure how much I have to document... Does anyone have experience with that?
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Nissa
Deacon's wife, mother of eleven, farmer, teacher, creator, cook.
At Home With the Gadbois Family
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nissag
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Canadian records... There was a huge fire in St. John's NB (which destroyed records) in the 19th century. Does anyone know of alternate sources of documentation?
Then of course, there's my husband's family who are Quebecois... I wonder if we'll have to sift through mountains of records in French? LOL! Leading us down another path to learning a language!
Have any of you learned a language as a result of your family tree search?
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Nissa
Deacon's wife, mother of eleven, farmer, teacher, creator, cook.
At Home With the Gadbois Family
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guitarnan
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I've ordered records from California. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. However, if you're trying to document citizenship or ancestry (like, for the D. A. R.), you need to get your hands on all documents that show marriages and births. The group should have guidelines for you to follow. It's always problematic when records have burned, unfortunately. (One of my friends has this problem with the D. A. R.)
We're trying to prove my dh's Italian ancestry so he can claim citizenship. It's turning out to be difficult.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Mare
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| Posted: Dec 11 2006 at 8:02am | IP Logged
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nissag wrote:
How do you like "Family Tree Maker"? I love software with neato features, but it has to be easy to use. I also want the finished product to be pretty, too. I'm so shallow!
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My version has a scrapbooking feature to it. However, I haven't used it. I strictly use it for storing all the data I have on paper.
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vmalott
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Merciful heavens, this thread got me started on my genealogy obsession again!!!
The nice part is, I've discovered a lot more since the last time I delved into things. This time, it's on MY side of the family. Hooray!
Valerie
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Valerie
Mom to Julia ('94), John ('96), Lizzy ('98), Connor ('01), Drew ('02), Cate ('04), Aidan ('08) and three saints in heaven
Seven Times the Fun
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Genealogy as History
