where can i find my out who my ancestors are?
Homer all those other ask jeeves and yahoo etc. don’t work for me. they don’t give me any straight answers and these people are actually answering my questions other than the search engines
Have you tried asking your parents? They usually know this kind of stuff.
Did you have an aunt or uncle who used to rattle on and on about your long dead relatives? Did you pay attention?
You should have.
Sublime, I will help you, but you have to promise to stop asking us these kinds of questions, OK? The purpose of the Straight Dope Message Board is not to be a sort of Information Central. We are all here because we enjoy talking about harder questions, like, “What makes people yawn?” or “Creation vs. evolution” or “What would happen if you crossed a chihuahua with a St. Bernard?” See? Kind of abstract discussion questions, not just stuff like, “Where can I find Offspring’s latest CD?”
Now, if the problem is that you just got your computer yesterday and you’ve actually never done this before, or else you live in some tremendously isolated place like the Alaskan bush or the Australian outback, and really don’t have anybody around to give you advice on how to surf the Internet, well, then I guess we’ll go ahead and help, because we want you to be enjoy the Web. But we would recommend that you get some kind of book, like one of the Internet for Dummies or Idiot’s Guide to the Internet. They have them at the public library, also at WaldenBooks or B.Dalton, even sometimes at Wal-Mart and K-mart.
We really like the web, and we’re glad you like it, too, but we’re not really here to give Internet tutorials, OK?
Now, go back to Jeeves and put in some of these words;
[ul][li]genealogy[/li][li]family tree[/li][li]ancestry[/li][li]heredity[/ul][/li]
OK? Now the next time you come back, we expect you to have a sensible question.
First, I have to disagree with Notthemama about the purpose of the SDMD. There are different boards (MPSIMS, BBQ Pit, GQ, About this Message Baord,Great Debates). GQ is for all kinds of questions. I think if you check out the topics, you’ll find there are many more questions besides “abstract” ones. I think Sublime’s question is a good one – although he/she doesn’t give us much info. Nott is right about entering those key words into a search engine. And as Bob said, talk to your folks and other relatives. Write the stuff down: names, birthdates, death dates, places, marriage dates – even if they’re just guesstimates. There are many sources out there. Good luck.
Yeah, there is a question we need helping with, it’s about words ending with the letters -gry. Do you know of two, or maybe three?
Exactly.
Once, out of idle curiosity, I sought to find the exact outfit in which my great-great grandfather fought in the Civil War/War Between the States. Ultimately my search led to where many such searches seem to lead:“Ask the Mormons.”
Your deep sea diving suit is ready, me brave lad.
I understand they’re a font of geneological data, but I have issues with anybody who wants to baptize me retroactively. Oh well.
Feh, I been to the Mormons and they ain’t got what the National Archives got. At least as far as my ancestors living on U.S. soil were concerned. My eyeballs were spinning by the time I got through with the census records but the price was worth it, going back those two or three generations nobody was sure about. That and the state archives combined to give me the best picture I ever had about the branches of my family that hadn’t been fully researched yet.
All I wanna do is to thank you, even though I don’t know who you are…
Through your parents, work your way back as far as you can (grandparents, g-grandparents, etc), then when you’re stuck, try searching the 12 million names at GenDex:
http://www.gendex.com/gendex/
Best of luck.
more
If you want to access the LDS database from the web, go to http://www.familysearch.org/
I’ve had good luck with www.familysearch.org and I’ve had good luck just using search engines and putting in combinations of names (like www.excite.com - go to the advanced search and put in the surnames of three connected relatives. Recently, I did that, put in the names Brandt Bone and Zimmerman, and actually dug up a new cousin). I’ve also had good luck putting up a web page of my own and waiting for relatives to find me. And I’ve had good luck posting queries on state and county boards at http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/usaindex.html and surname boards at http://genforum.genealogy.com/ . I’ve found Civil War info at http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/military/main.htm and joined genealogy mailing lists at http://members.aol.com/gfsjohnf/gen_mail.html .
And I’ve even had good luck talking to my parents and aunts and uncles, and digging through old newspaper clippings, family letters, photos, Bibles, and so on.
Good luck and happy digging
“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy
Unlike some, I find this stuff interesting. In addition to sites already mentioned, try www.familytreemaker.com and definately the local Mormon Church, they’re record keeping is quite impressive.
My Mom’s done genealogical research on our family lines and got nowhere fast for about 10 years until she joined a local genealogy club. Within a couple of years she was able to go back some 6 generations and has info dating back to the 1700’s on our family.
Eventually, she put it all together, collected family recipes from far and wide and printed a family history/cookbook. An instant heirloom. Good luck, it’s a worthwhile endeavor.
I’m finished having kids. The next diaper I want in my life is to be my own!