Genealogy

I have been wanting to do it for years, but I can't really figure out how to go about it (ancestry.com is kind of a waste of money). I recently signed up for free Beginner classes with a local group. So I hope those help me. We meet once-a-month. We have only had one class so far, and that was more an introduction into genealogical research than anything else.

I do have some "general" knowledge about my family (my father is the hard one - too long to go on about now). So I think I may have a little bit of success beyond my great-great grandparents on my mother's side (both her mother's and father's parents) with the help of these classes. At least I hope I have a little success with it!


So, has anyone here ever attempted it? Has anyone ever tried to search for their ancestors? Did you have much luck?

Yes MissOleson i have try to search for my Ancestors i still am searching i have found Lots of Information already but not enough, I found some info at the Library I am a Mennonite so i found some Books at the Library with Mennonite Church Records and and there were some of my Ancestors in those books. You could try Looking for Church Records (maybe you know what church they went to)
and i think it depends on how hard it is on weather if your Ancestors moved to a Diffrent Country.
Good Luck Don't give up

I Would love to know some tips as well Savannah

That would be Great

JW wrote:

Yes MissOleson i have try to search for my Ancestors i still am searching i have found Lots of Information already but not enough, I found some info at the Library I am a Mennonite so i found some Books at the Library with Mennonite Church Records and and there were some of my Ancestors in those books. You could try Looking for Church Records (maybe you know what church they went to)
and i think it depends on how hard it is on weather if your Ancestors moved to a Diffrent Country.
Good Luck Don't give up

Did you ever use anything like ancestry.com? In that first class, they pretty much recommended to not use that. In fact, they said it should be used more like a guide and nothing else. I found some members of my family on there, but, other than "stealing" their pictures that they posted - yes, I felt I could - they are my family, too! , I didn't take too much away from there. There is so much info on there that is wrong. And the people creating their trees don't pay too much attention to what information they are gathering. The woman who is supposedly my great-great-great-aunt is supposedly buried in a cemetery not too far from my house (according to this man that contacted my mother about the family when he was researching - I've yet to go and try to find it). And she is buried with her husband. Also, there is this woman who supposedly lived in Washington state and was married to a different name. That isn't true. You see, there are two women on there with the same name but are clearly not the same person. The people on the site just add her to their trees because it is the same name. They ignore all of the other facts that separate them.

Well, I know that one of the churches here (there are 2 but I don't know the name of the other one) was founded by my great-great grandfather, I believe. I know that at the first class they said to try church records. I believe she said something about the Lutheran church collecting all of the records if a church closes. So, being Lutheran, that would help me. Yet, she had to bring up the fact that there are different branches of the church. So, I will have to see if they collect ALL the records.

You want to know what I really want to find out? Records of the Freemasons. I wonder if that is possible. I believe it is my great-great-grandfather (I don't think it was my great-grandfather) that was a 32nd degree mason. I just want proof that he was that. I don't know how willing they are to give out information, but quite honestly, I couldn't care less about anyone else that was a member. I just want proof that he was one and that that was the level I always heard he was. Also, he was one in another state. So I don't know how easy it would be to obtain that info. I was told where I could go here where they might help, but I really don't think I will have luck with that.

Also, different countries are my big problem. My father isn't American. So that is the start of everything with him (besides the fact that he supposedly doesn't know the name of even ONE of his grandparents - yet, he mananged to list my grandmother's parents on the death certificate this year - he gave me that and that was it - I don't know why he is being somewhat difficult about this - I will HAVE to have a serious talk with him about it! ). As for my mother's side, most of them aren't American. They haven't been in this country since the Revolution, or anything dramatic like that. So, the foreign research is really important to me.

Savannah wrote:

My aunt is completely obsessed with genealogy. She's unemployed right now, and it has really been a great outlet for her. She can spend hours a day doing genealogical research. I'll ask her for some tips for you. She knows the ins and outs of it like the back of her hand.

Great! Thanks! Anything you can give would be great!!


Actually, JW, since you, too, are interested in this, I guess I could give any pointers from the classes that I am taking, too.

Two things that they discussed in that first one was to make sure to gather YOUR story first. They said to record all of your info first. As with yourself, they said to try to get as much info as possible about others. That not only includes family, jobs, et.c., but also characteristics, personality, et.c., of the different members of the family.

The other thing is to get your family skeletons out right away. She said that if you discover something about an ancestor that isn't necessarily pleasant, record it and save it. Then decide later whether or not you care to use it later. I forget what her story was, but there was something involving jail time for someone, I think. Anyway, I am going to be honest. I am all for the scandal in the family. After all, it makes it a lot more interesting than just having them all be good little peasants.

That would be Great MissOleson if you would be willing to share what they say at your Class What Countrys did some of your Ancestors come from? My Ancestors are Russians then they moved to Canada then to Mexico so it is very hard to find gravesites and other records.
And i to enjoy reading something about my family that they were trying to hide lol

and No i have never used ancestry.com i think it is a waste of time and money i am not gonna pay for any websites I did browse the Message forum on genealogy.com you can choose your last name there then browse the forum about your last name. i found some people had posted some info about my Ancestors
Since i started Looking for my family i have found some info that my dad did not really like lol i found out that my dads parents had been related and my parents are also related

OK. I will tell you all I can. Only I don't know how much there will be next time only because it will be about pedigree charts. Unless you would like info on that, too?

JW wrote:

What Countrys did some of your Ancestors come from? My Ancestors are Russians then they moved to Canada then to Mexico so it is very hard to find gravesites and other records.

Well, my father is German. But there was always this thing about them passing through Poland/coming from Poland. I don't know what that is exactly. They could've lived in Poland and still be of German descent, anyway. So, it may not really matter that much. But there is this rumor that my grandmother may be of Russian descent (I always thought she had a look that somewhere down the line she had something like Mongolian in her). That is all I know about them. As for my mother, for sure there is German (Pommeranian to be exact), Danish, English and a great big part of the family is from Luxembourg. There has always been the rumor of Cherokee Indian floating around, but I will have to see if I can find that out at all. Also, I have a feeling - and I could be wrong (this is based on some info I found out over the summer) - there is some Italian and French in the mix, too.

Well, maybe with the info I will be getting in those classes you will be able to have more luck with it. One class is solely about Foreign Research and another will be focused on Church and Cemetery Records. So, maybe some of that will help you with the Mexican records.

JW wrote:

and No i have never used ancestry.com i think it is a waste of time and money i am not gonna pay for any websites I did browse the Message forum on genealogy.com you can choose your last name there then browse the forum about your last name. i found some people had posted some info about my Ancestors

Thanks. I think I will give genealogy.com a try.

There is someone online that created their own website based on all the different branches of their family. I discovered this website a long time ago. I found it the other day again and it is much more updated, but I still have a problem with it. You see, they listed my great-grandfather as his son (my great-uncle) and his son as him. Am I making sense? Basically, they both have the same first name but different middle names. And they mixed that up. I think it is hilarious. BUT IT IS WRONG!!! What I am amazed with is that they have the correct birth/death info, but they don't have the names right. Then I see that this couple (clearly some distant relative of mine because of their last name) are the ones that gave this guy the information. But it is WRONG! I am a direct descendant of these people. I know what is right. Part of me wants to correct it, but then again, I don't really care because I know what the facts are. And it just goes to show that they didn't do too well on their research.

JW wrote:

Since i started Looking for my family i have found some info that my dad did not really like lol i found out that my dads parents had been related and my parents are also related

That is interesting! That is the kind of info that I would think was so interesting to find!

I wondered for years about my great-great-grandparents. My great-great-grandmother laughed about the fact that she and my great-great-grandfather were from the same town but didn't know each other. Yet, they had the same last name (and their first names are different by only one letter!). She would joke about it. So I always wondered if they were somehow related and didn't know it. Then I "discovered" something later. Of course, I am creating scandal, I suppose, but I think it is intriguing nonetheless. The man that contacted my mother about the family said something about my G-G-grandmother. On her birth certificate only a man is listed and it is a completely different last name than she always said she had. For some reason her mother isn't listed. But he did mention her mother's name. So we know who she is. She has the same last name as this man that is on the certificate. Why the father is listed and not the mother, I have no idea. Well, this man also supposedly brought my G-G-grandmother here when she was 2. OK. I am intrigued by this. This is what the guy doing the research is claiming. He thinks that the man on the certificate is her father and the FIRST husband of her mother. And he leaves it at that. Clearly he doesn't want any skeletons out, I think! Here is my conclusion of it. I may be wrong, but it makes a lot more sense. Everything that I have seen has a mother's MAIDEN name. Even if she had been married once before (we do have some baptism records/birth and marriage certificates of relatives from the past). Why would she then have the same last name as the man on the birth certificate? It would have to be different. Obviously it is not. Also, WHY is she NOT listed on the birth certificate? Why is this other man listed? And why did he take my G-G-grandmother to America with him and not her mother, too? So, you know what I think? I think she was born out-of-wedlock and the man took full responsibility of her. And that is why he is the one listed on the certificate and why he had her when he came to America. I think it makes a lot more sense than saying that this man was that one's first husband. Don't you? But the one doing the research clearly doesn't want anything like that to get out!

F.Y.I. Her mother did eventually come here and she married a man with the SAME last name as my G-G-grandfather. That is how they ended up with the same names!

Ancestry.com did have one thing that helped, though. I found someone who had her on their tree and they had those 2 listed (her mother and the supposedly second husband) as her parents along with a list of brothers and sisters. And I know exactly what county in this state they suppposedly lived in. There is no doubt that these are the same people (except that they were off by birth years by a year or two). So I now know where to search for them here.

The other thing is that I think there is a chance that the "second" husband could really be my G-G-grandmother's father (which could still give the chance that she is related to my G-G-grandfather then). But if that is the case, I still think she was born out-of-wedlock. Because that other man just makes no sense otherwise. Still, they could get married pretty young then. If he would be the father, why wouldn't they have gotten married? I think the father is unknown. And judging by the way the man is that is doing the research, he wouldn't want something like that to get out. Of course, why would he care? Technically, they are MORE MY relations than his! But I do know that my great-grandmother on my mother's father's side was born without a father. And this man doing the research wrote that in a very condescending way. That bothered me because, again, why should he care? She is more MY relation than his! In fact, she is NOTHING to him!


Geez, looking back at this I see how much I rambled on!! SORRY!!!

Hey MissOleson i sent you a PM

Very interesting, MissOleson. Thanks for sharing that.

JW wrote:

Hey MissOleson i sent you a PM

OK! I will go check it out now.

Rob wrote:

Very interesting, MissOleson. Thanks for sharing that.

Thanks! I tend to have a bad habit of rambling on, though!

I got most of my info by following someone else's family tree that was related to me, and didn't cost me a dime. Just had to type in the right names and dates after a lot of trial and error. Found out my relatives came over on the Mayflower, and my great-great, etc. grandfather was the first governor of the New World. His first wife died on the voyage (rumored suicide..jumped overboard), and remarried not long upon arrival. Became friends with the Algonquin Indians. All were Quakers, now called the Amish or Mennonites.

Didn't cost me a dime to find that out.

I myself am not Amish. Brother Ezekial couldn't pedal the bicycle fast enough to power the pc enough for DSL.

flatbroke wrote:

I got most of my info by following someone else's family tree that was related to me, and didn't cost me a dime. Just had to type in the right names and dates after a lot of trial and error. Found out my relatives came over on the Mayflower, and my great-great, etc. grandfather was the first governor of the New World. His first wife died on the voyage (rumored suicide..jumped overboard), and remarried not long upon arrival. Became friends with the Algonquin Indians. All were Quakers, now called the Amish or Mennonites.

Didn't cost me a dime to find that out.

That is so interesting. That is the kind of information I would love to find out, but I am just not that lucky. And I know there isn't going to be anything like that in my family history, anyway.

I would also like the luck of being able to find out all this information for free, but there are so many mix-ups with the information that people have put online (I know some facts that others don't seem to - so the info they give is wrong) that it is just better for me to try to do it all on my own. And if I have to pay a penny here and there for the info (if I have the money to spare at the time), then I will do it. I just want all of the correct information.

flatbroke wrote:

I myself am not Amish. Brother Ezekial couldn't pedal the bicycle fast enough to power the pc enough for DSL.

Hey, JW, I will PM you sometime this weekend with the "cousin" info sheet and about this Saturday's class.

Thanks Sounds Good MissOleson