How can I trace back my family?

Question: How can I trace back my family!?

What are some ways of finding this out!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

There are over 400,000 free genealogy sites!. I have links to some huge ones, below, but you'll have to wade through some advice and warnings first!.

If you didn't mention a country, we can't tell if you are in the USA, UK, Canada or Australia!. I'm in the USA and my links are for it!.

If you are in the USA,
AND most of your ancestors were in the USA,
AND you can get to a library or FHC with census access,
AND you are white
Then you can get most of your ancestors who were alive in 1850 with 100 - 300 hours of research!. You can only get to 1870 if you are black, sadly!. Many young people stop reading here and pick another hobby!.

No web site is going to tell you how your great grandparents decorated the Christmas tree with ornaments cut from tin foil during the depression, how Great Uncle Elmer wooed his wife with a banjo, or how Uncle John paid his way through college in the 1960's by smuggling herbs!. Talk to your living relatives before it is too late!.

You won't find living people on genealogy sites!. You'll have to get back to people living in 1930 or so by talking to relatives, looking up obituaries and so forth!.

Finally, not everything you read on the internet is true!. You have to be cautious and look at people's sources!. Cross-check and verify!.

So much for the warnings!. Here is the link!.

http://www!.tedpack!.org/yagenlinks!.html

It has links, plus tips and hints for each of these sites:

http://www!.cyndislist!.com
http://www!.familysearch!.org/Eng/Search/f!.!.!.
http://worldconnect!.genealogy!.rootsweb!.c!.!.!.
http://www!.rootsweb!.com/
http://www!.usgenweb!.net
http://www!.ancestry!.com/learn/facts/defa!.!.!.
http://ssdi!.genealogy!.rootsweb!.com/cgi-b!.!.!.
http://find!.person!.superpages!.com/
http://vitals!.rootsweb!.ancestry!.com/ca/d!.!.!.
http://www!.tedpack!.org/goodpost!.html
http://www!.genforum!.com
http://boards!.ancestry!.com/
http://searches!.rootsweb!.com/cgi-bin/lis!.!.!.

I used to put short tips in the stock answer!. Now Y!A limits the size of an answer!. You'll need the hints!. Use the link!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Find your grandparent's full names and then google them!. i just did alot of this recently, there are some good sites that can assist but its best to start out googling their names (use google because it has less stipulations on searches it pulls up, whereas yahoo will ignore private info)to find their birth place, social security #, their parent's names, Etc!. The more info you have at the beginning, the easier it will be, then go to sites like rootsweb, myheritage!.com, footnote!.com, etc!. also, once you find their birthplace, look up usgenweb!.org (could be !.com, not sure) and you can look them up by state!.

Edit: ancestry!.com is a rip off!. You can find all the same (and better) info for absolutely free!. There are tons of free sites to help, and most town libraries have volunteers you can email and they will help you for a simple thank you :)Www@QuestionHome@Com

there are ellis island cites that can give you info if you have names or know where your family came from or around when if they came to amercia through ellis island!. look it up!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Genes reunitedWww@QuestionHome@Com

go to www!.ancestry!.comWww@QuestionHome@Com

ask ur parentsWww@QuestionHome@Com