I have to admit that I am just starting this adventure. My cousins have done most of the work for me, but I am wanting to do it myself and get further than where they hit the road block. First of all, what are your favorite websites and genealogy softwares to work from. So far I have really liked these websites. Anxious to hear yours!
They charge for their services - but if you marshall your queries ahead of time, it doesn't work out too expensively per search
Another site which may be of interest is that of the Lord Lyon Court. The Lord Lyon oversees Scottish heraldry matters, and is part of the Scottish judiciary system. http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/lordlyon.htm
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I would add www.genealogy.com and www.ancestry.com. Much of the content is subscription-based, but there is also some free content. For some families, there are extensive websites not associated with any of the larger sites. For these, a google search using as precise of information as you have available is often helpful. A family Bible can be invaluable. When I started, I had little more than the names and dates of my grandparents, as recorded in my family Bible. If you have any ancestors who have kept old diaries, letters, or other documents, they can be be invaluable, as well. My wife recently discovered her gg-grandmother's diary, in which were recorded the details of her gg-grandfather's career as a Connecticut Yankee running the Union blockade for the CSA. Until the diary was discovered, her family was convinced that he had been a soldier with the 10th Texas Infantry (CSA), but denied that he had ever been a blockade runner.
Wow! Catriona! Thank you, thank you! I put all those sites in my favorites list and when the time comes, I will have the research at hand. I especially appreciate you adding the public records for England and Wales. I hit a road block at 1700 with my 6th grandfather having been born in Grindleton, York England.
Mailagnus! I talked with my mother this morning and there is no family Bible! My family were very poor at keeping records! Sheesh! My mother didn't even have a birth certificate for the longest time, can you believe that one? I was shocked! This was many years ago. She had never worked and was always a housewife, so I guess she never needed it back many years ago.
Do you find more information from the paid sites than the free sites, do you think?
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QUOTE (CelticRose @ Dec 8 2003, 06:00 PM)
Do you find more information from the paid sites than the free sites, do you think?
The main thing I've found on the paid sites are basic information: names, relationships, dates, which I then use for google searches to find the stories that go with the names.
Okay! Great information! Thanks for that. Did you also tell me that you use Family Tree software?
Also, do you input information on some of these sites? Like I want to input information about my Sutton family in rootsweb/Ancestry.com but can't figure out how that works! Boy! am I ever full of questions!
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I do use the Family Tree software. When I find a gedcom I consider reliable, I downlaod it, and convert it to a Family Tree file. You can do free searches on Ancestry.com by going to http://www.ancestry.com/search/default.aspx? and filling in as much information as you have, and see where it takes you. I usually run into a lot of dead-ends before finding anything useful, so it does require patience.
That's what is happening to me so far with the Sutton family on the ancestry.com. I can't figure it out. My cousin sent me this packet of information she did on the Sutton family all the way to 1800 and I can't find none of these people on the web! She went to libraries and public records office in Georgia, so she was able to get this information first hand.
So how far back have you gotten in your family? What are the surnames and ancestry?
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QUOTE (CelticRose @ Dec 8 2003, 09:52 PM)
So how far back have you gotten in your family? What are the surnames and ancestry?
I'm fairly sure of some lines back to the 5th century. Others fade into myth somewhere between the Norman Conquest and the 2nd Century. More recent family names include: McDonald, Morgan, Franklin, Abbott, Deppe, Ulmer, Campbell, Frazier, Strong, Livingston, McCulloch, Hog(g), Wolsey, Hopkins, Whaley, Gibson, and Joslin. Several of the families started compiling published genealogies as early as the 1600's. So once I tracked my more recent ancestor to the published genealogies, going farther back was fairly easy, particularly for the lines more closely associated with the English or Scottish crowns. The ones I have the most information on tend to come from low-leverl aristocracy fleeing from bad choices in the various English wars, or from losing their inheritance. Others, who seem to pop up out of nowhere in the late 18th or early 19th centuries, I suspect were farmers displaced by the Irish famine or the Scottish Clearances. By contrast, my wife's immigrant ancestors tend to be solidly middle class.
My gosh, Mailagnus! You have gone that far back? I bet you have a really interesting history. And I am assuming you are keeping stories about all these folks. You must have a huge notebook! The little I have done, I have a stack of papers already!
How long have you been doing all this. My cousin who did our Sutton side said it took her 20 years to get as far back as 1800!
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QUOTE (CelticRose @ Dec 8 2003, 10:57 PM)
How long have you been doing all this. My cousin who did our Sutton side said it took her 20 years to get as far back as 1800!
I've only been doing it for a few years, but am fortunate in that I have an aunt who has spent well over 20 years compiling the more recent data that get us to the published research done by earlier family members. She was able to travel to Scott County, VA, which was where many of our ancestors were from the 1600's until after the WBTS. For the most part, I've been pulling together published data from a variety of sources. I have far more data than I can really make sense of. Most of it is only in electronic form, but the printouts I have done are enough to fill a filing cabinet drawer. Lots of interesting strories. It's kind of fun to track immigration patterns and see where my ancestors fit into historical events. It's certainly brought history alive for my kids.
When I was a child, there were stiil little old ladies who called WBTS the late great unpleasantness. Of course at that point most of them had a father or g'father who fought in it!
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If age is a learning experience, I should be a genius by now...
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QUOTE (3Ravens @ Dec 9 2003, 12:12 PM)
When I was a child, there were stiil little old ladies who called WBTS the late great unpleasantness. Of course at that point most of them had a father or g'father who fought in it!
I know some folks in descendants's organizations who still call it the late unpleasantness.
My uncle who died many years ago had done all our family tree. However, he gave all the information to one of my cousins who died and consequently all the work he did was lost! I wish I had all that information as I remember him telling me he had gotten back pretty far. Oh well!