Roots

[stgulik]

I must have accidentally spoken aloud my wish for a new hobby, because the universe answered and a potential hobby has come to find me.

Is anyone here involved in genealogy? It looks fun. What are your experiences? Is it really possible to get all the way back to the Mayflower, as it were?

Comments

[darklotus1211.livejournal.com]

Genealogy can be fascinating, but also quite frustrating at times. A good start is to firstly get as much oral history of your family as you can - scrape your brain for stories told to you by grandparents and older generations, pick your parents' and any older relatives' brains and get as many personal stories as possible. If you're like me, you'll find these fascinating in themselves.

Not only are these the most fascinating, but they can also give you clues and strategies to find records of your ancestry while adding colour and a sense of real connection with your forebears.

I've done quite a bit over the years and I've often found that family tales will pop into my head and give me an idea of what I could try if I reach a dead end or a multiple possibility.

There are quite a few blanks or multiple possibilities in my searches, but much of that is because of my Aboriginal heritage.

I've found out some very interesting things about my family though - some expounding on anecdotes and some completely debunking others.

If you like researching and digging out info then you'll more than likely enjoy this as a hobby.

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

I think my mother will be keen to share stories and help fill in the blanks on older generations. That will give me my start. Thanks!

[darklotus1211.livejournal.com]

I forgot to wish you happy hunting!

I'm sure your mum will have some really good stories, I know my mum did! She should also be able to help you map out a rough family tree going back at least three generations, and hopefully more for starters. Make sure you get as many aunts, uncles and cousins in each generation down too - sometimes, when you hit a dead end, you can trace back through a more distant relative and get back on track. Scandals are always good to get down too - often it's the rascals in your family history that you enjoy the most!

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

I've used it to verify the family stories about certain ancestors. And my god I've dug up some dirt!

But the coolest one - well, let's put it this way. Brits only started settling here (mostly involuntarily to start with). So we traced my grandfather's family , and found that these two were buried less than 10km from where we were living at the time. The Royalls married in the UK in about 1830, and came to Australia about 1850 - only 80 years after the first British settlers.


These are my grandfather's great-grandparents.

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

That is amazing! To think, you would never have known if you hadn't researched it.

[darklotus1211.livejournal.com]

The dirt's the most interesting part of it, don't you think? My family tree is positively festooned with ne'er do wells and they're some of the most interesting characters! Funny how time changes many a shameful scandal or secret into a thrilling one that later generations find a perverse pride in. I think it's our ancestor's foibles that bring them the most to life for us.

[teddyradiator.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! My ancestors have been traced back to one John Woodson of Staffordshire, in 1620. It's fascinating. Good luck!

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

See, that's the kind of thing it would be fun to find. I've already found that my great-great grandfather came to Indiana from England. At some point I will have to figure out how to access UK records.

[sandlappershell.livejournal.com]

Genealogy is my favorite! I have traced my mom and dad's families, and now am working on my hubby's. It can be costly if you use the paid websites or need someone to do some footwork, I once made $250 for taking 6 pictures of a foot stone and verifying the lack of a will at the local Courthouse. It is so fascinating the things that you can discover about your family and how it was shaped. One side of my mom's family has been in the same county in SC since the end of the Revolution. James Webb was a drummer boy with a British Regiment and deserted after the Battle of Eutaw Springs near Charleston. He joined the Continental Army, finished the war, and settled in my home county. Let me know if you need any help and I will be glad to share hints that a professional genealogist (who turned out to be a cousin) gave me! I also have some printable forms for keeping records as you find them. I will see if I can scan them and send you if you would like! Hope all is well with you and yours!!

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

How fascinating! I can tell this is an addictive hobby. I am content to start my work through all the free sites, and then go from there. Maybe I'll find I need some deeper research and will pay to find it. And might have a trip to Indiana in my future. There are relatives there; they will believe I am there to visit them, when really I just want to copy their family bibles, muah ha ha haa.

I could use some tried-and-true printable forms for keeping records. Ancestry.com has some. What do you think of those? How do you store your forms? Do you keep binders? Do you number the forms for reference somehow? When I think of keeping track of all the cousins and their spouses, it makes me giddy and I have to lie down.

[sandlappershell.livejournal.com]

That is what I have done... all the free sites and whatever generosity has been shown! The main thing when you are on the free sites is that if you share your info, info will be shared. Basically, post a query with some of your info - such as "my 5 great grandpa was from XXX. He was born in XXX. Does anyone have any information". And from there... This is just one huge jigsaw puzzle!! I have only used ancestry.com on my sister-in-law's mother's account. It has always been too pricey for me to convince myself to do it. However, it IS a fabulous resource if you can. I do have a huge family tree on it. Another wonderful site for compiling your tree and keeping it straight is Tribalpages.com. It can be free or you can pay (very cheaply) for extras. That is where I work a lot - sort of my backup if something happens to my written records. You can keep your tree COMPLETELY private. Most people on their require a request and permission for their info to be viewed.

So, basically, I have several ways of keeping my stuff. My first foray into genealogy was with my dad in the 90s, and we did EVERYTHING on paper - I have 3 binders right now. One for my dad, one for my mom, and one for my hubby's dad. I have pedigree charts that start with one person and then follow them back. Each line is numbered and that corresponds with the page number. So each person gets a specific tree, but they are all connected. I also have some charts where you write the person at the top, then the spouse, then it has a list for all their children and spouses. I do direct line genealogy, but I use the charts to keep the peripherals. It makes much less swoon worthy!! :) I keep a DL on a Family Tree Maker disk... LOVE that program!! And I keep my pedigree on Tribal Pages. AND I write everything in pencil!!

[stgulik.livejournal.com]

See, I knew it would be complicated! LOL Thanks for the tip about Tribalpages - it looks like a good site. I'll use the templates I have now for pedigree charts and individual details. And I'll use pencil!