Is anyone here interested in Genealogy research?

**jinx** · 08-19-2007, 10:42 AM

I have been doing genealogy research on my family. I have researching my family coming from Sicily. So far I have found the ship passenger lists, names and the pictures of the ships that my Grandfather and Grandmother came over on with their families. I find it very interesting. I was wondering if there were others out there like me?

**redhead68** · 08-19-2007, 11:10 AM

Me, too. Right now, I'm tracing a German line, but I'm a total northern European mutt (a little Scottish, English, Irish, Swiss, French, etc.) My Dad and I work together, and it keeps us connected even though we live half-a-country apart.

**DixieJ** · 08-19-2007, 11:36 AM

I would like to get started on this, but I don't really know where to start. Both my parents are gone as well as their brothers and sisters-so there's really no one for me to ask questions. Can you give me any pointers as to where to start researching at on the net?

Dixie Jean

**amecoy75002** · 08-19-2007, 04:47 PM

I have been working on my paternal side for a few years. That side is easier because I have a famous relative - John Brown of Harper's Ferry fame is my Great great great grand father. Harder to find info on maternal side, but I have some. Hope to start dh family research soon

**Mom23boys** · 08-19-2007, 07:56 PM

I did a lot of research on DH's family a while back. We were able to trace his family line to the 1820's. That's as far as I could get. It was really neat.

I have tried to do a little research on my family, but haven't been as lucky.

**jinx** · 08-19-2007, 11:42 PM

I started to research my fathers family a while ago. without much hard information. Most of what I had was approximations. With a little persistence I found my entire Father's family. Much of info I had was based on stories and family legend. Some was right and some was wrong. My father is deceased, but I did have a couple of his brothers and sisters to ask questions. A big help was all the cousins. They had their own stories that their parents told them. My first piece of advice when begining is to ask questions, not only of the older relatives, but everyone. Send letters to the cousins and other relatives, my cousin did that as she began her research of the family. Her grandmother and my grandfather were siblings, so together we filled in the gaps in our information. Also search through records, such as birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, military records for things such as maiden names, address, year of naturalization.
Here are my tips.

Getting started in Genealogy.

To keep it simple pick one side of your family to research, then narrow it down to one person, like your grandfather or great grandfather on your fathers side. This way there isnt maiden names to deal with.

Basic information to have when starting to search for ships passenger manifests.
Country where your relatives came from. The city or town is also extemely useful.
Approximate year or decade of arrival.
Name of person. This includes any ethinic names. My grandfather's given name was really Ignazio not John, it was changed to John after he arrived.
Names of brothers and sisters they would have travelled with.
Port of arrival. Ellis Island, Philadelphia etc.
Where they went after they arrived. They may have arrived in N.Y., but where did they go afterward? Destination is listed on ship manifests.
Age when they came over. The age of each person is listed on a ship manifest.
This is the basic information to begin a search.

I can recomend the following sites.
The ellis island site I think it is Ellisisland.com. is a free site that has access to almost all coming to ellis island during the great migration, with passenger manifests of the ships.
Ancestry.com is also another site I recomend. Although it is not free, there is a free 2 week trial you can sign up for. This site can search not only ship manifests, but U.S. Census up to 1930, Social Securtiy death index, Marriage index, World War 1 draft cards, as well as so much more. It is one of the best sites around.
Italiangenealogy.com is also a great site. They dont just do Italian genealogy. It doesnt offer access to manifests, but They have a great message board, and there are expert moderators who can help you.
Local State archives are also a great resource, Access to them is usually free. there may be a charge for copies of documents.
Church records are also great. Catholic church records can be pretty detailed.
Call your local library, with genealogy becoming a big hobby, many libraries and archives are offering classes usually free.

**Laurie in Bradenton** · 08-20-2007, 08:21 AM

I'm the family historian and keep the family records. I've researched both mine and my husbands families back to Europe. I made up notebooks for each family name and have contacted new members all over the country. From evey one I talk to I ask for copies of pictures. You'd be surprised what you'll find stashed away a some distance cousins. Asking is the big thing.

Laurie in Bradenton

**GMA21** · 08-20-2007, 01:11 PM

I done my dads side of the family & went back as far as the 1400's on our family tree. A lot of very interesting articles were published about my different ancestors.
My 8th Great grandfathers family were Quakers from England who were persecuted & he was put in prison for his beliefs. Shortly after his release they came to America & I have an article that tells of their journey & what they brought with them & how life was for them when they first arrived here. Very interesting!

**karone** · 08-21-2007, 02:37 AM

i will probbably start on this when we move in with jason since he did it for his family. i will start with my mom's side first since i have a few uncles i can talk to. with my dad's side i will have to talk to my aunt cathy since my dad doesnt talk about his family. if i was on better terms with zack then i would do his family for merrick.