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Question:My last name is Parris, but everywhere I look it says my name is from France or Belgium. I am neither, it would be Jewish, Scottish, or Irish.

I don't have much to go by, except my Grandpa's first name, which is Herschel. My father is in prison and I'm not very close to his family.

Good places to start that don't cost a lot, or that are free? Any help at all is appreciated.


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: My last name is Parris, but everywhere I look it says my name is from France or Belgium. I am neither, it would be Jewish, Scottish, or Irish.

I don't have much to go by, except my Grandpa's first name, which is Herschel. My father is in prison and I'm not very close to his family.

Good places to start that don't cost a lot, or that are free? Any help at all is appreciated.

Parris? Remember the story about Helen of Troy? The guy's name was Paris.
Anyway, start by asking all your living relatives. Write everything down and keep notes on your sources. Then go to the library.
Here is a list of sites:
http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

Assuming they emigrated from Europe, start with Ellis Island and the Battery Conservancy sites:
http://www.ellisisland.org
http://www.castlegarden.org

For Scotland, check:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

For ship’s passenger lists, try:
http://www.immigrantships.net/
www.cyndislist.com/ships.htm
www.geocities.com/Heartland/5978/Emigr...
www.immigrantstips.net/
www.searchforancestors.com/passengerli...
www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration...

For native American ancestry, try:
http://www.tribalpages.com/
http://www.cherokee-nc.com/geneology.php...
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/herita...

Netherlanders: http://www.genlias.nl

For a fee, try a DNA test:
When you really want to know where your ancestors came from, try such sites as: www.familytreedna.com, dnatribes.com, dnaancestryproject.com, and, of course, the National Geographics Genotype program, https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/geno...
For Jewish ancestry, try:
www.israelgenealogy.com

For people from India, try:
http://www.fibis.org/

Have a look at these sites these are South African ones,
http://genealogy.about.com/od/south_afri...
http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/page2.html....
http://www.jewishgen.org/safrica/website...
http://southafricanfamilyhistory.wordpre...

Meaning of names:
http://www.winslowtree.com/surname-meani...

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/f...

Here are some general sites with lists of African names:
http://www.swagga.com/fname.htm
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/afr.php
http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/ba...

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/...

Military:
www.military.com
http://www.familymilitaryrecords.com/

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/militar...

http://websearch.about.com/od/peoplesear...

http://genealogy.about.com/b/2007/05/24/...

http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ww1/draft/sea...

Finding live people:
Two good places I use are www.zabasearch.com and www.peoplefinder.com

Don't forget, use your local library. Ours (a small one, yet) has www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com, as well as periodicals, books and guidance from an experienced genealogist.

Keep good notes on where you find what: sources are very important.

good luck about that!

just ask them they will probaly answer

Hey sis I just finished a book report on family geneology, but if you really want to know bad, you may need to spend some money, like on Ancestary.com, it tracks all the way back to like the 1700s or earlier, my oldest was from 1457, my great great great great great grandfather. See ya sis

Check out your local library. Free, and there are people there who know whats up. Sometimes they offer free classes for searching. Also check with adult or community ed programs with local schools to see if they offer classes.
Start with your grandpa. Find out all you can about him. Check with the library, people he may have known, old newspapers (microfilm at the library, they will show you how to work it.) The next step is hall of records.
Good luck!

Try Ancestors.com or Family tree, They both charge but unless you pay for ther service, you'll have to do do all your own legwork.

here, these are all free and helpful...ive messed around with zabba sometimes...

well if you were looking for family trees you could go to family tree.com

my favorite
www.cyndislist.com (look for the beginner section).
Sorry about dad.. keep in mind that research is normally about the ancestry, usually the dead ones. You need to identify his parents/ grandparents. Info about living persons is restricted, but once you get past that, historical records open up.
One tip- trace persons, not surnames. Your heritage is where the person comes from, which you establish by finding reliable records.
It would be nice to think (especially this time of year) that you have worthwhile relatives in your dad's family. It is part of your heritage, and may provide some healing.
Best of luck..

I would suggest looking in the U.S.Census for information on your family. You can access this information for free at your public library.

I found the following regarding your Grandfather in the US Census:

Herschel Parris b. Abt. 1905 in North Carolina
Father's name Isaac D. Parris born about 1856 in N.C.
Mather's name Sarah born about 1868 in North Carolina
Other Children: Andrew J. Parris, born about 1908

Isaac D. Parris' parents were: Andrew J. Parris b. 1831 NC
and Margaret born about 1833 NC

Good place to start would be your dad's birth certificate. Should give his father's full name. Maybe someone you know has it, if not you can get it from your state's vital records office. Take your grandfathers name and see if you can find some online census records for where he lived when your father was born. Some years the census just shows head of household and number of other family members. Other years will show each family member, thier relation to the head of house, and thier age at the time of the census. Depending on the place, these records might already be available free online somewhere complete with photocopies of the original census record.