How can I find out my family history in Italy?

Question:

How can I find out my family history in Italy?

I live in the U.S. and my grandfather was an Italian immigrant in the early 1900's. I don't have anyone to ask about my family history and would like to find out some info. What would be the easiest way to research it without going to italy.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: You obviously know who your immigrant ancestor is. You might want to research the family in America first. For example, did he have brothers and sisters that also immigrated to America? Sometimes in researching brothers and sisters you learn more not only about when they immigrated, but the reasons behind the immigrations. My ancestors came from the Netherlands and let me tell you, they are very clanish. When one family came over, you could bet that the rest of the family was not far behind. Did your grandfather become a US citizen? If he did you might want to get his Natuaralization papers. I've got some on my gr gr grandfather, it told not only the muncipality that he immigrated from, but what Vessel he came over on amongst other information.

First, ancestry.com does have a 14 day free trial-BUT you must cancel before the end of 14 days or they will charge your credit card. Also, don't be suprised if they ask you to put your cancellation in writing and fax it to them. I have had friends tell me that they had to do it this way to cancel.

Here is a list of some of the free genealogy websites.

www.rootsweb.com -This is a good one that is free. It is run by Ancestry.com but shouldn't be confused with Ancestry.com- the pay site.

www.cyndislist.com

www.familysearch.org website for the Church of the Later Day Saints.

www.genforum.com This is a site that is full of individual message boards. You can search and post by last name, state, country, or county. There is a separate one for Italy. This is a great one. Simply post your question on the respective board, and when people answer you will get a notification on your E-mail. I have had a LOT of success on GenForum.

I must say, however, that a good genealogy query, doesn't just say. " I need information on John Smith" Try to provide as many dates, places, and details as possible. One little thing can make the difference as to the answer you get.

a good query has

1) the persons name
2) all of the biographical information you know to date and
3) asks a specific question

The reason it is so specific is because people won't waste your time and theirs telling you what you already know. Also, by providing ALL of your known information (for example, the childrens names) it gives people alternate people to research to help arrive at your answer.

http://www.usgenweb.org/ -When you get to the main page, you can get to the state and individual locality pages by clicking on the appropriate links. Keep in mind that some towns are going to have more information than some smaller obscure towns. It all depends on what kinds of volunteers contribute information to their sites. Genealogy is very much a hobby that depends on people.

Check your LOCAL LIBRARY. Many libraries have subscriptions to Ancestry.com or hertiage quest that you can Access from home with your library card number. Heritage Quest is geared mostly toward the US records.

www.interment.net or www.findagrave.com These are cemetery sites that have grown by leaps and bounds.

http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-b...

This is the link to the Social Security Death index. This is a very helpful resource to finding death dates of people who died in recent years (since about the 60's)

If your family immigrated to the US in the last 100-125 years you can try
www.ellisisland.org
This one is cool because you can actually have a look at the ships manifests!! If your grandfather came over in the early 1900's then chances are good that he came through Ellis Island. Keep in mind though that you might have to try different variations on the spelling of the name. Ellis Island is notorious for not getting the spelling of names quite right. There were thousands of immigrants to process with so many thick accents from so many different countries- I can't say that I would have spelled all the names right if I worked there! ha! ha!

If you start your search for your ancestry, it will probably turn into an obsession. It is very addicting and it is like a big puzzle with so many benefits. You learn where your family came from, where they've been, often you can learn about family medical history. There just isn't a down side. Remember the old addage, "If you want something done right, you often have to do it your self." You are not going to just find your entire genealogy in one search. It is an ongoing puzzle. I tell people, if you can find one thing every time you are searching, you are doing GREAT. If you find any more than that at any given time you are LUCKY!! Blessings and I hope you are able to find more with this information.