How do I research my family history?

Question:So I've been to different web sites and type in my father's grandfather's name .....our last name is Grundel......I can find lists of Grundels but then what do you do w/ that info? Am I sopposed to assume that every Grundel is related to me some where down the line? Or how about this, where's a good place on the web I can go to learn about researching family history???

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: So I've been to different web sites and type in my father's grandfather's name .....our last name is Grundel......I can find lists of Grundels but then what do you do w/ that info? Am I sopposed to assume that every Grundel is related to me some where down the line? Or how about this, where's a good place on the web I can go to learn about researching family history???

As others have said, start with your living family, particularly your senior members. Tape them if they will let you. What might seem to be insignificant story telling might be very significant. Find out if the have any old family bibles. Make copies of birth, marriage and death certificates. Also do the same with church records, baptisms, first communion, confirmaiton, marriage and death certificates for many faiths have parent information.

Your public library can be a valuable resource. They might have a subscription to Ancestry.Com you can use. Ancestry.Com has lots of records. They have all the U. S. censuses through 1930. The 1940 and later are not available to the public yet. They hae U. K. censuses also.

Just don't take as fact everything you see in family trees on any website, free or paid. The info is submitted by folks like you and me. Most of the info is not documented or poorly documented. Even when you see the same information repeatedly by many different subscribers, that is no guarantee it is correct. A lot of people copy without verifying.

A Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints(Mormon) Church has records on people all over the world, not just Mormons.
They are free to use but you need to find out when they are open for the general public. In Salt Lake City, they have the world's largest genealogical collection. Their Family History Centers can order microfilm for you to view at a nominal fee.

I have never had them to try and convert me or send their missionaries by to ring my doorbell. I haven't heard of them doing that to anyone else either.

While at your library and the Family History Center, you will probably have an oppotunity to talk with other researchers. Shnaring ideas and experiences is how most researchers learn.

FamilySearch.org and Rootsweb are two good free sites. They have instructions on the "how tos" of genealogy.

Good Luck!

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Use of Household Audio & Video Equipment
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Some basic information:

First, NO! Not all people of the same last name are related.

Second, you cannot get your father and probably not even your grandfather on any genealogy sites. Posting information on living people on those sites is unethical, and possibly illegal if it violates their privacy and puts them at risk of identity theft. If they are not living, and for all of your ancestors who are no longer living, you probably will not find anyone who was living in the last 50-100 years. Most ethical genealogists will not post anything on anyone who lived that recently in order to protect the identity of the living descendants.

Third, start by asking questions of your family members. Find out all the names, places, dates, places, etc., that you can get.

Fourth, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!!!!!!!

Hi: The first step is to find out everything that you can about the family from your family. Get a list of your grandparents' brothers and sisters, your parents' brothers and sisters, and their children (as much as possible). If you can find out where any of your family were living in 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930, those were census years, and there are a lot of things you can find out from censuses. I have done research by reading through census records at the library, reading every page in the city that my family lived in to try to find family members. Some censuses are indexed, but there is usually a charge for accessing these. Ancestry.com is great if you have the money to spend. http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/f... is a good website which is free, but you need to take careful notice of the source listed for each piece of information, as most is submitted by Mormon church members and is not checked prior to being posted. Though there are tremendous numbers of good Mormon researchers, there are some who are very shoddy in their research, and seem to be unconcerned about posting inaccurate information. I have seen the same person listed with 12 different birthdates, because the family knew the day and year of birth but were unsure of the month. Anything you get on the Mormon site that is not referenced directly to a historical document should be used to find a historical document that will back it up. If you are not sure where to start, it is the best site out there though.

Good luck with your research.

Norm

Ancestry.com is an excellent site but i have also found an experienced researcher who gives good advice and help www.goldenmemoriescharts.co.uk