Starting to research my family tree HELP!

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I am starting to research my family tree and have very little to get started on .How do I find out about birth cert .and death cert online ? I have my great grandmother dob and the state .

-- Patty (fodfarms@slic.com), November 14, 2000

Answers

If you know the county she was born in contact the county clerk's office. It should be online and listed. There should be a list of births etc. Look over the list. If no luck, e- mail them and maybe they will look it up for you. You might also contact the Morman Church's geneology web site. It's supposed to be the best at looking up ancestors, even if you aren't Morman. My cousin and I looked up one side of my family and went back to the year 1052 in Merry ol' England. I'm starting on the other side of the family now. It's a lot of work but fun.

-- Shooter (jcole@apha.com), November 14, 2000.

try these http://www.reversedirectory.net/bizname.htm , http://www.reversedirectory.net/netdet2000/netdet2000.htm

-- STAN (sopal@net-port.com), November 14, 2000.

Patty when my kin folks started they got a lot of info from.www.myfamily.com Bob in s.e.ks.

-- Bobco (bobco@hit.net), November 14, 2000.

In Indiana the county health office has the birth and death records, not the clerk

-- grant (organicgrange@yahoo.com), November 14, 2000.

My God Patty don't do it!!!! I did the research and found out I don't exist!!!!.....Kirk

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), November 14, 2000.


When you get all your info together,this would be by the way a wonderful xmas present for family members. My brother in law did that side of the family and gave an inpressive folder to each of his siblings.He used a computer program to make up the charts.Family Tree maker, I think???

-- sharon wt (wildflower@ekyol.com), November 15, 2000.

Xmas present would be a great idea except I am an only child and I donot speak to my father .So it just little [i am too !] young not old me .I have grannies dob and ss # but i am not sure exactly where she was born in pa .The whole process is very confusing , seems like everyone elses family is listed except mine .Thanks for the help

-- Patty (fodfarms@slic.com), November 15, 2000.

Patty, I was adopted as a newborn and when I was 25, I petitoned, researched,and pushed my way into changing a Michigan law (concerning "identifying information" for adoptees in Michigan) getting my records opened, and finding my birth family. I know that most local libraries have birth and death obit. files from the local papers; that is how I found my relatives. My birthmom passed on when she was 32 and I was 15 (wahhhh!) and her death obit. had the names and cities of her survivng siblings. I called my newly-found Aunt Carol and said, "Uh...did you know that your sister Elaine had given up a little girl for adoption?" She said, "Which ONE are you?!!!" Seven months later, thru the grace of God and a little tenacity, I found my birth sister too who had been born and relenquished 18 mo. after me!

-- Beth Weber (talmidim88@hotmail.com), November 15, 2000.

The historical society in my county does a lot of geneology research for people no longer residing here. If there is a fee it's a small one. The state historical society for the state where I was born has extensive records but unfortunately, none of it is on line.

Before she died, my grandmother off the top of her head told me the names and birth/death dates of her family back to her great grandparents. My mother in law wrote it out for me on both her family and my father in law's. The long term memory of these two blew me away!

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), November 15, 2000.


Patty,

Here's the address for the Rootweb home page. Save it to Favorites. You'll be going back there a lot. It's a gold mine of information (and links to more information. The very first Title is "Getting Started" So click on that first.

Since you know so much about your grandma you have a good start. Go to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) There's a link on the page I just told you about. When you find her on there you can download a ready made letter to send for a copy of her original SSN application. It costs $7.

On this application your Gran had to state her address and mother's maiden name. It will get you on track for further research.

Drop me a line if you have trouble and I'll try to help you out.

Good luck,

Pauline In NC

-- Pauline (tworooster_farm@altavista.com), November 15, 2000.



Ooooops! Forgot to give you the address:

http://www.rootsweb.com/

Pauline

-- Paulin (tworoosters_farm@altavista.com), November 15, 2000.


http://www.familysearch.org/ This is the address for the Latter Day Saints online genealogy library.They have extensive records on most families!

-- nobrabbit (conlane@prodigy.net), November 15, 2000.

I have used both the rootsweb site and the LDS one and have found them VERY helpful. I actually contacted a cousin because I asked if anyone out there was related to my great grandfather's brother and gave their names and their birthdates and who their parents were. I was pleasantly surprised to have someone answer me and we have now met along with my father and his mother and we are both filling in information about the family that the other one didn't know. It has been a truly wonderful experience. Good luck and no matter how frustrated you get, keep digging. It is amazing what is out there. I am still having some trouble on my father's side because his father was "adopted". Nothing was officially done so there are no existing records. It is very frustrating. Our next step is to get a genetic test done on myself and my cousin to see if we are actually related. Either way it will help us solve some of the puzzle. The LDS are currently doing a research project that involves genetically testing people throughout the country to determine their genetic links and the test is free because they want to add this aspect to the vast geneology database they already have. I am going to take advantage of it this weekend. I hope this will help to prove who my ancestors are. The website for this project is molecular-genealogy.byu.edu. Do not put the www in front of it. Check it out.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), November 16, 2000.

I am doing genealogy research on my father's family line. Initially hired a genealogy firm in Salt Lake City (there are about a dozen) who researched the records at the Mormon Genealogy Library. From there I have hired a genealogy service in Budapest, Hungary to research records in Suhopolje, Croatia, which is where the family immigrated from. I don't like the family tree structure as it becomes too massive to handle. If you would like a copy of what I have accumulated to date as an example, e-mail me for a copy.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 20, 2000.

Patty, there are several sights to look at. WWW.familysearch.org, www.ancestry.com, www.genealogylibrary.com, www.worldgenweb.org, www.cyndislist.com, www.genealogy.com. Hope these help. Have a Happy Thanksgiving. Jean in Mt.

-- Jean Reudter (msnauvoorm@mcn.net), November 21, 2000.


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