Has anyone researched their family history?

[Connie]

Thanks Michael! We might have to make you our "England" researcher! haha

[jan]

I wonder if Michael can be my Scotland researcher?

[Heavenly ♥]

I started researching my family history last yr.
I can trace (on my moms side) back to my great x4 grandfather.

Here is one link on him;
www.ca-missions.org/harleyagua.html

His name was Lorenzo.
The adobe my grandfather was born in is still standing.
Its a historical landmark, so it the cementry Lorenzo founded.

I found my great grandmothers grave there.
Lorenzos grave was marked only w/ a wooden cross,
which was washed away.

[Connie]

Wow.. to be able to see the adobe is awesome! How special. you have gotten quite a ways on your research. Keep us updated. I love hearing the stories and they keep me motivated.

[lostanderfan]

Bill & I started researching our families back when we lived in DC. We had just gotten married (1989) and no children. We would go to the National Archives on Friday nights. (How pathetic is that?) Genealogy is SO addictive! We do it off and on now, mostly because we don't have the time. We started out with the Federal Records then moved to State Records and local records. If you know what area your family is from, contact or go online for the county library. They may have a room with all their genealogy stuff. They can also refer you to any societies or bigger library collections. Before the internet, I had a researcher copy and practically do my research for free. She only charged for the copies. As long as I supplied the necessary info and gave her the facts and she would look it up. She has since moved but I'm sure there are others out there.

If anyone has family from the Southeast I would be glad to offer anything that I have found helpful. I have a book that there are very few copies of: 'Facets Fannin County Georgia' that I would be happy to look in. It is family submitted articles and pictures.

Another resource here in GA is the US Newspaper Program. The Univ of GA library has microfilmed a whole bunch of old newspapers. I have gotten several obituaries from here. It's really cool to go back in time and read what it was like during your ancestors lifetime (ie grocery prices, news, who's visiting who) Here's the Natl link:

www.neh.gov/projects/usnp.html scroll down to your state and there's a website link.

Another resource is genealogy.com's forums. They do have fees but the forums are free and very easy to use.
genforum.genealogy.com/

Also a note about the libraries. You can do an ILL (Inter Library Loan) and actually borrow a book from another state. I thought that was so cool. It doesn't cost anything either.

Another resource is the church or cemetery in the town. Some have surveys (or listings) of all the people (members or buried). We actually did a cemetery survey and submitted it to a library. This website had a picture of a tombstone of one of my family members. We had never been able to find it but they had it online! They welcome you to submit photos of tombstones. That is our greatest way to save them now because they are slowing fading away. www.cemeterysurveysinc.com/ It's free too!

I can't think of anymore resources right now. Just talking about genealogy gets the little bug going. It really is addictive!

Kim

[kaylinda]

I have a funny story about geneaogy...I've never gotten into it, but some of my siblings have. One of my brothers called me one day to say he was looking at the SS Death Registry and found MY NAME there!!! I thought he was just pranking me, but sure enough, I checked it and it had me there...DEAD! It took me about 6 trips to the SS office before they believed that I was alive and kicking! The date of death they had for me was very close to my father's, so I'm thinking they mixed something up when they started issuing me SS survivor benefits (I was 16 at the time).
So, even if you aren't interested in genealogy, you should probably check that site out just to make sure you aren't there!!

[Connie]

Wow Kim! What a phenomenal amount of information! Thank you so much for taking the time to share it all.

Kaylinda.. that is kind of funny even though Im sure it was a nightmare at the time! Do you have a link for where to check?

[lostanderfan]

I believe this is the site we always used. I'm not sure if it's available on any other website.

ssdi.rootsweb.com/

I had to check my name to see if I was there! Same name, different birthdate. Whew!

[kaylinda]

I think that's the link I used...it was about 15 years ago, so I'm not really sure what I used. Yes, it was a nightmare, but it all worked out. I was mostly concerned about my SS work credits not counting during that time that I was "dead", but they gave me printouts verifying that they are being counted. I'm just happy to be alive!!

[Connie]

kaylinda said:

I'm just happy to be alive!!

haha! Im glad you are too...

I think Im going to be spending too much time at that link.. it's just kind of fun and really useful!

[lostanderfan]

I just received an email from a post I made a YEAR ago on genforum. Luckily, my email was still good. This person is in the same lineage as me and pointed to records that dates our family back to 1588. Don't give up hope! Make sure your email address is up to date on your postings!

[jan]

Ancestry.Com is free to access till May 7th for anyone interested.

[Jim Barrus]

There are many free sites. Family Search.org is the LDS site.
Google the name and state you are looking in or want to see if any are still there. I have found many "cousins" that way. Or just google the name - there are many personal web sites.
If you get BYU TV they have a few programs about genealogy. One about where to look and what to use.
If you don't check byutv.com (it might be org) they have the programs which aired.