How can I find out my family's history and ancestors?

Question:The best way I know for you to learn about your roots is to:

Build your family tree on line.
You can use a paid site like:
http://www.ancestry.com/

OR You can do this for free on:

http://www.tribalpages.com/

Start with yourself, and then attach living family members.
Find out all you can about you family from living members, then attach it to your tree.
Now it is time to look for historical records and attach the info to your tree:

It is ALL about census records, and other historical records!

You might get lucky and others may have done some work on your family tree. Google family members names i.e. "Mary Smith" + "family tree"

Free 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/

http://www.findagrave.com/

Genealogy message board:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/messageboards/newgu...

http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx...

http://boards.ancestry.com/

http://www.gensource.com/common/search.c...

http://messages.yahoo.com/yahoo/Family__...

http://genforum.genealogy.com/

http://www.genealogyforum.com/messages/

http://www.progenealogists.com/messagebo...

http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/b...

http://boards.rootsweb.com/

ECT.
The time may come when you want more information than you can find for free. When this happens you can back up your "tribalpage" tree to your computer on a "GEDCOM" file
you can then go to (I think it is the best subscription site)

http://www.ancestry.com/

Upload your "GEDCOM" file
and start to work!
You might need to make a few adjustments to your tree to make it look better.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: The best way I know for you to learn about your roots is to:

Build your family tree on line.
You can use a paid site like:
http://www.ancestry.com/

OR You can do this for free on:

http://www.tribalpages.com/

Start with yourself, and then attach living family members.
Find out all you can about you family from living members, then attach it to your tree.
Now it is time to look for historical records and attach the info to your tree:

It is ALL about census records, and other historical records!

You might get lucky and others may have done some work on your family tree. Google family members names i.e. "Mary Smith" + "family tree"

Free 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/

http://www.findagrave.com/

Genealogy message board:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/messageboards/newgu...

http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx...

http://boards.ancestry.com/

http://www.gensource.com/common/search.c...

http://messages.yahoo.com/yahoo/Family__...

http://genforum.genealogy.com/

http://www.genealogyforum.com/messages/

http://www.progenealogists.com/messagebo...

http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/b...

http://boards.rootsweb.com/

ECT.
The time may come when you want more information than you can find for free. When this happens you can back up your "tribalpage" tree to your computer on a "GEDCOM" file
you can then go to (I think it is the best subscription site)

http://www.ancestry.com/

Upload your "GEDCOM" file
and start to work!
You might need to make a few adjustments to your tree to make it look better.

You have to research it... and the good sites ARE NOT FREE... you actually have to PAY for their services.

There are various sites. If you do a google search you should be able to find them. They might cost you. Also, they say that the Mormon church in Utah has the most extensive ancestory history.

Good luck

Ancestry.com offers a limited free research. Myheritage.com offers free research, but not as good as ancestry. However, they offer a free genealogy program you can download. You might also try familysearch.org which is run by the LDS, or Ellisisland.org if your ancestors came between 1880 and early 1900's

I'd start at your local library as most have some really good books on genealogy. It's a difficult process and requires a lot of work. There are companies on line that while help put it cost a fortune, be careful and good luck.

You start with you and you work your way back. Then your parents. Then grandparents. You make a Genealogical tree. (you can download these for free at www.ancestry.com). Then keep going back as far as you have people alive. When the stops, start asking them about the names and information of those before them. Most people are willing to talk about their past. They want to educate us.

I suggest writing it all down, since you will never ever remember it all. It will also make it easier when you are stuck in the future, which will happen. Middle names are also a major plus.

Depending upon how many generations you have you can then use the federal census records to look people up. This is free to do. Another thing you will want is to get copies of peoples birth, death, and marriage licenses. This is called proof. (proving that your dates are what they say they are). This however is not free, and depending upon the state or country can be quite expensive.

Be prepared that not everything you are told is correct. Many people forget, lie, or side step 'unpleasant' family histories. Today an illegitamate birth is common, 50 years ago it was totally unacceptable, and a major issue, and you NEVER talked about it. Just how much and how far you can go will depend alot about where and when your family came from.

LDS resources are not always correct. I have found that many times it is volenteers 'helping' and they often join 2 unrelated familes because of simular names. Also the web database names are not always correct either. There is no short cut to doing the old fashion way!!!

First ask around your family, there usually is an aunt or uncle that may have much of the information that you want.

Are you interested in doing it yourself or do you want help? Assuming you'd like to get this information on-line versus actually traveling to the city/state/county/country start with www.familysearch.org, but you have to do your homework first. Find out as much as you can from living relatives, family documents, etc. Names, dates, places, every detail you can get will help you sort through all the families. A couple of notes: If the person(s) are still living, privacy laws will prevent you from getting details. As you get back into the 1800's be prepared to look for some strange spellings and poor penmanship. Finally, if you're not bashful about sharing your family history, there's lots of folks out there that will help. This website for example. Just post what you know, we will ask for more and then the hunt is on....

There are several ways to get your family geneology.

One way is put in the full name of your grandfather.
That's how I found out about geneology.com.
Their service was free, when I looked up.

BUT that is only if some of the information is already on the internet somewhere.

For example, if you know the county where your grandfather (or someone in your family) was born, you may also search for birth records by going to the local county website. Some county libraries may also have information.

I believe when my aunt did geneology on my family, she traveled to the actual county sometimes, going through their public birth records. But that was because she did it during a time she did not have access to the internet.

Oh yes, and sometimes old newspapers that are kept in archives would have death announcements, etc. Most of those, however, on the internet, are not for free. Unless you know the actual name of the newspaper that might carry that information.

I hope this information helps at least a little bit!
Good luck and God bless.

DNA testing

Begin by talking with older family members to get information. You can go to your local library to use ancestry.com and other search genealogy search engines for free. (at least it is in my town) you can also search at your local register of deads. You search for marriage, birth, death certificate. You can get uncertified copies of these documents for a small fee.

There is a good free site run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints it is located at familyhistory.org They also have family history centers located throughout the country where you can access information free of charge. There is more then likely one not far from you.

ancestry.com is awesome. My grandmother was a famous singer and they were able to link her to other family members that we didn't know about. It costs money but it's a really great service and you get a virtual family tree and it will connect you to others who are using the service if you're related to them in some way.