by Priscilla (wishing I was in Costa Rica) ~.
Member since:
January 10, 2006

Genealogy Online for Beginners 101 - Lesson 1

January 11, 2009 09:51 AM EST (Updated: January 14, 2009 11:22 AM EST)
views: 125 | comments: 27

Genealogy Online for Beginners 101 - Lesson 1

Since I am deep into Genealogy right now, I thought I might start a series on how to look up information and find records online.

Your first step should happen before you even start to look-up information online.

Start with yourself. Make a sketch of information about you. Who knows you better than you do? So do a biographical sketch. Enter your birth date, marriage date, childrens birthdates.

Also in your sketch, write down the schools you have gone to, all the jobs you have held & all of the places (homes, apartments, etc.) that you have lived in. Military records and other significant events in your life.

To take this a step further, write down the questions & leave room for the answers and send the questionaire to your relatives. It will help to round out the information you have about them. It will also place them in certain cities at certain dates that may help later on.

So far I have done this for my husband as he didn't want to type it out himself, so I interviewed him & wrote down his answers, then I typed it up. I plan on sending the questionair to his siblings, and then I may send it out to older relatives in both of our families.

link to this page
Bookmark this post:
Facebook
Twitter
Delicious
Buzz
More

Comments: 27

lena k. Jan 11, 2009, 9:56am EST
i started one also
lena k. Jan 11, 2009, 9:57am EST
i will keep my eye on your post
M. Bradley McCauley McCauley Jan 11, 2009, 10:04am EST
I was fascinated when I started to check about my maternal Grandfather, who my mother told me was German. My research found he was actually born in Hungary in 1877. I found the church records where he was baptised, they went back to 1753, and I found the ship he came to the US on, his signature on the manifest, Naturalization papers. etc. It was a thrill. Unfortunately, I can't find the data on my Grandmother, even though I think she came fromt he same area. They married here in the states.

I think people will enjoy and benefit from your help.
Mary Ann S. Jan 11, 2009, 10:17am EST
Wonderful advice. Even if you are not doing a genealogy. This is a way of letting your kids know about you. They may not start to ask questions until after you are gone.
Heather ~of the Whippets~ M. Jan 11, 2009, 10:30am EST
For some of the relatives, you may end up needing to sit down with them to collect their information. Relatives or not, people often are bad about filling out questionnaires.
Rebecca [Future Teacher] Jan 11, 2009, 10:34am EST
Thanks for the advice. Sometime I really do want to make a geneology
David Salyer Jan 11, 2009, 10:40am EST
You should check out ancestry.com. It is a really great site for finding information on your ancestors. Are you using any software to store your information?
Ashley B. Jan 11, 2009, 10:42am EST
I started looking into doing this, and have actually gotten pretty far on one side of the family, the other side, not so much. Along the way, I've also learned family secrets, and that is where I stopped.
If it wasn't for a child out of wedlock in the 1800's and taking the last name of the mother, I wouldn't have the last name I do.
R B Jan 11, 2009, 10:45am EST
Your selection of groups is unusual. There are several genie groups on gather, with articles and links to on-line searching. I joined one, but it is not very active(?) I had some ideas to try without duplicating their effort, just haven't made the effort. There seem to be interested people here, but participation seems lacking. Saying your found your great-grandfather is great, but not a helpful tip. How and where the data was found is a tip that may help others. I think a different approach may spark activity in a group. Maybe you should start one?
.* Sandi * Jan 11, 2009, 10:56am EST
interesting isnt it!
Marianne R. Jan 11, 2009, 11:04am EST
Thanks for the info.
tammie p. Jan 11, 2009, 11:08am EST
i think all this is just very fascinating. thank you for sharing this
Katrina Hall Jan 11, 2009, 12:06pm EST
Wish I had more time to work on the family genealogy, Priscilla - we have some significant gaps that five of us haven't been able to get information on, so I just stopped there. Keep me posted on your progress, and maybe I'll pick it up again.
Nana to Seven Cutiepies Jan 11, 2009, 12:21pm EST
Thanks, I may look into this just for fun.
Kim M. Jan 11, 2009, 1:40pm EST
Priscilla-have you checked out Geni.com? It's a good way for family members to work it out together and add people to the tree. It's free too. I sent the info to my uncles and one of them just replied that I should haev my grandfather's name as Clarence instead of his nickname. I only ever knew him by his nickname and he passed away when I was a toddler.
Kim, I use ancestry.com where you can also invite other people to the tree & they can make changes as well.
Ishbel R. Jan 11, 2009, 5:46pm EST
I'm lucky - as a Scot, I am able to trace my family to only a few hundred miles away from my home. I've managed to trace back to the late 1500s - but have now hit a blank wall...

Our records are quite good, with many available online via the GRO site in Edinburgh. Those with Irish relatives can also trace via the Northern Ireland GRO.
Janet "Jax" B. Jan 11, 2009, 6:44pm EST
My grandmother has all of the information on all of us...it's quite scary.
Jax, that could be scary!

Ishbel, that is really cool that you can go back so far!
Beth - Doing God's work Daily J. Jan 11, 2009, 9:48pm EST
Thanks for the information.
Tammy E. Jan 11, 2009, 11:09pm EST
Just joined...I'm a genealogy student studying to be certified. Have my fathers family back to the vikings, all documented. Have a site you might like: http://genealogysf.blogspot.com
Janell R. Jan 12, 2009, 12:42am EST
Good start.
Selene N. Jan 18, 2009, 6:05am EST
Have fun!
queen.susan . Feb 12, 2009, 9:02pm EST
that's a great idea.
Krystal Harwell Mar 30, 2009, 2:53am EDT
its always great to lean more :)
Patricia Carson Jun 25, 2009, 2:17pm EDT

I think this is fantastic to help others learn about genealogy nice lesson too will be watching for more Carson Pat

Join the Conversation
Chime in! Become a Gather member to comment.
Already a member? Sign in
top
 
Gather | Friends | Groups | Share
About Gather | Engagement Marketing | Make New Friends | Gather Points | Advertise on Gather | Gather Press | Privacy | Terms of Service | Community Guidelines
Books | Celebs | Entertainment | Family | Food | Health | Moms | Money | News | Politics | Spirituality | Sports | Travel | Writing
Version 16961, "Pacino"; Copyright © 2009 Gather Inc. All rights reserved.