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My Family Tree

This is my family tree chart of names and surnames: it shows the relationships of family ancestors, including dates and places of marriages, births, and deaths (burials). The records chart mothers, fathers, grand mothers, grand fathers, grand children, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. My tree includes ancestry of the John Pierpont Morgan family.

Home Page: Family Tree
John Pierpont Morgan Page: John Pierpont Morgan Genealogy

3 High and Low Tech Tools for Genealogy Research

3 High and Low Tech Tools for Genealogy Research
By Shari Hearn

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always been interested in my past. My way past, that is. That past that was even before I was born. Well, of course I’m talking about my ancestors. Those very people who had a part in making me who I am today.

It used to be the search for my heritage took me to the library where I had to spend countless hours combing through books seeking information about my ancestors. But, today, there are so many more resources available for genealogy research. Let’s take a look at three such resources you should consider, both high tech and low tech.

The Internet

The internet has certainly simplified genealogy research. You no longer have to take a trek to the library and sit next to someone with strong perfume or cologne to find information about your ancestors.

What kind of information can you find on the internet?

Surname Search

Birth Records

Death Records

Marriage Records

Census Records

Cemetery Records

Military Records

While searching on the internet you have the choice of using a paid service, or numerous free services, many specific to states or counties. For example, if you’re interest in Birth, Death and Marriage records for ancestors from West Virginia, you can go to http://www.wvculture.org/vrr and do a free search of their records. Many other states, counties and historical societies have similar websites.

Another way to utilize the internet is to visit genealogy communities or forums. Perhaps someone else is researching the same people, or knows someone who is. One such site is http://www.geocities.com/ohgenealogy/Index.html, where people have links to their personal genealogy pages, as well as a link to a genealogy forum. This site deals with ancestors from Ohio, but you can find similar pages for other states and countries by doing a basic internet search.

DNA Testing

Want to go even more high tech? Many people have turned to DNA tests to determine where their ancestors are from. A simple swab of the inside of one’s cheek (yep, just like they do on CSI) can yield DNA which will be compared with other’s DNA. Two types of DNA testing are Y chromosome testing (Y-DNA) and mitochondrial DNA testing. The Y –DNA tests look at paternal lineage while the mitochondrial DNA looks at maternal lineage.

Such tests can be used to determine such things as: which present-day African country you share your ancestry; which European maternal clan you share ancestry; percentage of Native American ancestry.

Oral History

From the extreme high tech to the extreme low tech. While it’s true some stories get distorted over many tellings, you still should talk to as many relatives as possible to get clues to your genealogy. Oral histories can give you information that no DNA test or records search will offer.

Oral histories, along with giving you information to then research through the internet, can also give you the family “color.” Oral histories make your heritage come alive and become more colorful. Maybe you have a horse thief in your family’s past. Now, nobody would want a car thief in their family now. But a horse thief in your family past who lived before the Civil War? Well, that’s just interesting.

Remember to organize all your information so that someday you can pass it down to future generations as well. You might want to purchase some genealogy software which can help organize and publish your information.

Remember, your past is a part of who you are today. Of course, your future is up to you.

Shari Hearn is creator of DNA Paternity Tests where you can learn about cheap DNA testing.

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Search Engine Genealogy - Review

Search Engine Genealogy - Review

SUMMARY:
This is a 282 page e-book that teaches people how and where to search for their ancestors on the internet. It teaches you where to find search engines, meta-search engines, and directories for genealogical searches as well as several links to top ancestry and family tree sites. There are genealogy search aids that help you organize, store, and retrieve your genealogy information. You can dramatically reduce the time you spend on the Internet searching for the best ancestry websites to use. All of the research has been done for you. This is an excellent e-book for those just starting out or if you've been doing it for some time and have hit a dead end.

PROS:
The writer of Search Engine Genealogy is the director of a Family History Center. The e-book contains numerous links to the best genealogy websites and resources on the net. Finding these family tree resources has already been done for you so you can focus on finding your own family history without wasting lots of precious time.

CONS:
This e-book is for windows users only.

PRICE: $29.95

WEBSITE: Search Engine Genealogy

Ancestry

Ancestry

I recently started looking for my ancestry and was able to trace some of my ancestry back before the 1600’s. I was also able to find out when my family first came to America. I did all of this for free by using search engines on the internet. There are many people that have posted websites on their genealogy. Using search engines, I was able to find a certain person I was looking for and used that website to trace their lineage as far as I could. When I hit a dead end, I would look up the new person’s name where it dead ended to see if I could find any information on them. I kept repeating this process until I was able to follow a complete ancestry line.

Sometimes I found some information or articles on a person’s history or the history of the family name. Using this information, I obtained many new avenues to search for the family tree.

This worked ok, but slow, for some of my more famous ancestors, but not so great for that non- famous ancestors. For these, the most frustrating part for me was figuring out where to find information. What do I search for, where do I search, etc. I spent a lot of extra time doing this. I had wished there was someone or somewhere I could go to that would tell me all the good places to find my ancestries. That’s when I finally found that there are such places. There are resources that you can use that provide this information. I wish I had known from the beginning. They usually charge a minimal fee for the information, but it is worth it for all the time saved. Plus, you get information that you may never have found on your own.

There are some good e-books that can help you in your family history search. One of the best books I’ve come across is “Search Engine Genealogy” which you can get by clicking here. With this e-book, you also get many additional free resources. There’s also a guarantee!

Finding you family tree is a rewarding hobby that you can pass down from generation to generation. Find a good e-book to help you start your family search. They can point you to the best websites that they spent months finding.

Ancestry

Ancestry Resources

Additional Ancestry Resources:

Free Genealogy
Learn where to find free genealogy tips and free genealogy tools.

Free Family Tree
Learn where to find free family tree tips and free family tree tools.

Genealogy
Learn where to find genealogy tips and genealogy tools.

Ancestry

Welcome to my ancestry blog. Here you will learn about ancestry research and tips on how to find your ancestry.