Genealogy Research

[Lisa]

How are those who are doing genealogy research fairing? I went to SLC in December and spent soooo much time at the library that patrons were starting to ask me if I worked there.

The volunteers and employees were very helpful, and it is amaaazing the info on file there.

I found a marriage certificate right away that led me to some new information but that was about it. I really expected to get so much more done but the Irish roots are proving to be elusive. I am beginning to think I either need to go back or hire someone to search that branch of the tree.

How is everyone else doing on their research?

 

[hopemax]

I put together a book for my Grandma for her birthday. She was flabbergasted and speechless. I sent for her parents' marriage certificate and her mother's birth certificate.

From the marriage certificate I found out where her father was born, his parents names and the year of his birth. Then I found out that the vital records from his town in Italy are on microfilm at the Family History Center. DH is a soccer fan, and the Colorado Rapids are his team. Their rivals are the team from SLC, so he goes for a game once a year. So next year, I figured I'd tag along and go to the FHC.

The birth certificate was less helpful, although we found out that her mom had a middle name. My Grandma didn't even know SHE had a middle name until she had to get her birth certificate several years ago.

So I have good feelings for her paternal side. Her mother's side is going to be difficult. None of the records I have say where in Italy they came from, other than they left from Naples. And to make it worse, I'm looking for a Giuseppe Carbone. Imagine looking for someone named "John Smith" here.

 

[piratesmate]

Back in Nov/Dec I tried to tie up some loose ends on DH's side because I wanted to finally, once & for all, give his siblings what I had. They've been asking & I've never been able to separate his tree from mine before...and they don't ever intertwine - unlike my side. LOL I'm related to myself more ways that I can count!

Some day I'll have to send off for his great-grandmother's death certificate & hope that it will give me some more info to go on. Unfortunately I still don't have even a year for her death - although he thinks she died the year before his grandfather & FIL has no clue. She's one of those people who was never known by the same last name as her son. And her maiden name is different too...it's just that no one knows if she was ever married even.

So for now, I've given up on doing more on that line.

My year's subscription to Ancestry runs out soon, so I've been trying to use it to find where my grandmother was before she got married. She'd told us she was raised by one of her uncles, but she never appears in any of the census records. I've been looking at some of the WAY extended families to see if she's there. This family had a real habit of sending their kids off to their great-uncle's daughter's husband's family in their teens. LOL It's convoluted beyond belief!!

It would be oh so much easier if the people who transcribed the records for Ancestry could read the handwriting. *sigh* For the past several days I was looking for a MacMullen family (of course the given name was James & there were zillions of those) that I couldn't find the last several times I looked. It turns out that it was transcribed as Mc Miller - even though it's clearly Mac Mullen.

I'm hoping to get DH to take me into Philly some day soon to look for some records on my grandmother - enticing him with all the info he could find out about HIS grandparents. LOL

 

[PrincessNancy96]

I need to get back started on this.. Just received a call from my Dad and Aunt who were questions some dates in regards to Grandpa/ma's families and of course I have our genealogy books within reach..and found out some info from my Aunt that I was unaware of. I think I will contact my Aunt in a few months and try to pick her brain for some additional info or families stories that may lead us some where.

I really need to get back downtown soon to grab some more newspaper clippings on several of the branches..and there is a book about one of my Grandpa's that says he wasn't a very good assessor and I want to ride that book... I stumbled across it on accident and it was time to go... DD was dragging me out kickin' and screamin' because she was ready..

 

[Faerie]

I've put myself on hold until I go to Boston next month. Papa told me he's found a bunch of stuff for me and it's all in a box in the living room waiting for my arrival

 

[Lisa]

HopeMax, definitely tag along if you can. A good place to stay is the Marriott or the Hilton. Right near the genealogy library, (Marriott is closer) and the Sports/Civic center.

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Ok guess what after I got that call I decided to do some snooping on ancestry.com.. found a family tree for my family.. no dates but a notation on my Great-Grandpa... well, did some seaching for the county in NY that he lived in.. ran across a post for online search of death certs.. I find my Great-grandparents dates of death... OMG!!! Than it dawned on my last night...off that branch of the family.. I'm only the third generation to be born in the US.. weird!!!

Than today, I got an email from my cousins wife in the service.. he isn't doing well with the news...and on top of this.. he found out on his birthday.. so now my heart hurts even worse.. I feel awful... but what could I do??

 

[Lisa]

That is the thing with genealogy research, you think you've gone as far as you can go, put it down for awhile, when you start fresh again you often pick up a smidgeon of new information. Good finds everyone!

I know it's tedious work but we are slowly chipping away at climbing the old family trees. Keep it up!!

Nanc

 

[RadioNate]

I want to start putting together this info for my children. I do have a bit of info, basically names and some birth/death dates up to my great grandparents.

Where is a good place to start?

 

[piratesmate]

I want to start putting together this info for my children. I do have a bit of info, basically names and some birth/death dates up to my great grandparents.

Where is a good place to start?

The first thing I'd do is to start by asking your older relatives if they have old photos. Sit & go through the photos with them trying to get them to tell you stories about the people in them. Even if you don't get dates for everyone, knowing who the people were & how they were related, if possible, will go a long way in helping you to figure out which "John Smith" family in Podunk Idaho is yours. Be sure to write down what they tell you - or better yet, if they're comfortable with it, use a tape records to make sure you get it all & can just sit & listen.

I didn't ask enough questions of my grandparents when they were still with us.

It works best with photos - at least for me - because it gives them some sort of frame of reference instead of just "tell me what you know". My FIL told me he knew nothing about his paternal grandmother beyond her name...and that didn't match! She went by Sadie Schultz but he had no idea why. Periodically I'd try to sneak another question into conversation & he was really starting to get annoyed with me. Until one day DH & I were looking at some snapshots of the wedding (MIL/FIL) and he reached over & pointed to a woman and said "That's Sadie." And yet, 2 months earlier he had no clue when she'd died - not even in relation to life events, because we'd asked that way.

About a year ago now we were talking about having been to the cemetery where his father was buried & FIL suddenly remembered that Sadie had died about a year earlier than his father. Not only that, but she'd lived with FIL's parents for a number of years right up to her death! At which point, DH said "Is that who that scary old lady was? That was Sadie? My great-grandmother?!?" He'd had no idea. He said she was always very stern & cranky & he was afraid to be in the room with her.

 

[hopemax]

Yes, I second having to ask the right way. A few years ago, I asked my Grandma if she remembered her Grandparent's names and she said, "It was so long ago, why is it important."

Then after I told her about the info I found about her husband's family lineage, she mentioned her Grandma Bridget and Grandpa Joe. And she was a lot more interested in revisiting her past, so I talked to her many times in a 2 week period. Each time a few more names and dates would trickle out. I wish I was back in IL, so I could ask things in person, and with visual aids. Or even better have her and her sister together, in Brooklyn to ask. But that isn't going to happen.

I didn't need it for my Dad's side, because my Aunt has been working on our genealogy on that side since the 80s, but my family is Catholic, and so in one of my Grandma's drawers was a whole mess of prayer cards, with names and dates.

I signed up for a free trial on Ancestry.com to search their records, and I saved the census records on my computer so I could look at them, after the free trial ran out. And I would just Google the names. I found bios for a couple people, that someone else had found in a local history book and transcribed.

 

[PrincessNancy96]

I love to google names...
I helped reconnect my line to a line that has been reseached in great length on my Dad's Dad's side... and than while we were emailing with that man.. he pointed out to the fact that my mothers maternal side was actually married into my father's paternal side way back in the beginning...so our branches had meet...and than meet again... Anyway, I was able to help this man find and prove that my line was his branch that he was missing!!!!!! Boy did he have a wealth of info to share...

rootsweb is another good site to plug in names.. sometimes if you look at the message boards under the counties someone might have posted inquring about the same line....

 

[hopemax]

So I wonder if any of us are related to each other?

I'm guessing not for me, just because all of my grandparent's parents or grandparents immigrated between 1886-1910. EXCEPT my maternal Grandfather's maternal line. There it does go back to the early communities in Pennsylvania, so there is a chance. Several people came on the ship the "Francis & Elizabeth" in 1742.

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Hope.. my Grandpa Corkey & Moran lines came over in the 1880 period.. I'll check my records tomorrow...

 

[rlovew]

Wow, I can't imagine the work in researching all of that. I feel so lucky. Our family Bible with all the names and important dates came over when the family first came over in the 1600s. Since the family founded 4 towns in Connecticut our family history is actually in one of the libraries up there. We actually have names and dates going back to the 900s I believe. On my dad's side we have things going back to the 1700s as well. My husbands family doesn't have as much information as ours but I can't imagine what you would have to do to research it all. I love reading through the pieces of it I have here at the house and I think my sister in law (who majored in history) wants to do a bit more research on my dad's side of the family if the copies of the family histories that we have aren't enough for here. My mom told me she has a couple more than I have when she was down over Christmas. They came to her with one of the family pieces of furniture. When she asked for it, they sent it with everything inside and the family geniologies were kept inside of it so she got them.

Rebecca

 

[piratesmate]

Rebecca, you are so fortunate that you have a family Bible that goes so far back!! I got access to one on my mother's side a couple years ago & scanned everything. I was extremely excited because I knew nothing about that family back past my grandfather. It only goes back to 1800 and oddly enough, when I found someone else researching a line that met this one, they've never been able to get back past my GGGgrandfather who was born in 1800. He just kind of "shows up". LOL

I can't tell you how bummed I was tonight when I got an email from Ancestry. My subscription is due to run out at the end of the month. Last year I got in on a sale & was able to get the World Deluxe subscription for $149. I thought that was bad enough. This year, they want $300!?!?!?! There's no way I'm paying that!

I was looking for one of those deals someone got back in the fall from Amazon for Family Tree Maker with the year's subscription, but can't find anything that will give me the year of the world info.

I especially object to their price because I always seem to come across a document that is reference wrong...almost every time I try to use it. Two or three years ago (during a free weekend) I sent them a notice about a bad link and it STILL hasn't been corrected! What do they do with all that money they collect??

 

[tinkryansmom]

OK I will jump in here too! Just joining new threads like crazy today.

I "inherited" my grandmothers geneaology "boxes" when she died several years ago. I have taken it up. Sorta. I got Family Tree Maker software for Christmas. YAY! There is a huge website dedicated to the family tree of my GG Grandmother that goes back to the 1400 - so that was kinda easy. Not sure how Grandma did research without the internet!! But wow. OK - so kinda diddle-ing around with the other branches.

So my main question is this: how to I validate the info I have? And to what end? I am feeling overwhelmed by it. Do I need to request and pay for any and all birth/death/marriage certificates I can - assuming no originals are going to pop up? Then I just keep them?

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Hey! I'm sorry ran off to watch Reba for a while and get the kids' homework started...

I validate until I can't validate any more.. Be sure to get Death Certs, birth certs, marriage applications, newspaper clippings... obituaries, census records.
Yes, you will have to pay for copies of everything. some things you can find online, like censuses and some obits but you just have to hunt an find..

My DD and I started genealogy 5 years ago or more...she is now researching 8generations of both sides... We have validated a lot. She is a pro at searching microfiche at the libraries! WE can drop 10.00 in just a few hours just making copies. DD validates with death/birth/marriage/newspaper clippings, photos, notes or letters from individuals. We just found out that DH's great-grandpa (or g-g grandpa) served in the Germany Army before he immigrated. His father was also a very well-know member of the German Congress... don't know his name yet but we will find it...

Ask away, several of us can point you in the right direction to find info.

 

[tinkryansmom]

Thank you. I love the DIS.

I need to reorganize the files and find out if any of the certificates exist. My grandmothers family is mostly from NJ, NY and PA. My uncle, (moms brother) is the only one who lives back in NY still so I will grill him when he comes out in February. Although that could be a battle since my moms cousins wife wants the box of info I have. We have been battling over it for 2 or so years. I won't give it up. But that's another story.

OK as I go I may just take you up on the questions offer. I need to learn to use the Family TreeMaker internet search functions. I have been pulling and keeping the census records I have found to my computer. Definitely seems as though I will need to familiarize myself with England searches.

I hope to make friends at my local genealogical society also. Maybe they can help me also. Will be interesting.

 

[Lisa]

Just when I thought I was at a dead end, we found out more info on my Mom's father. (She was a baby when her parents divorced, knew little to nothing of her father) When I found out through her parent's marriage certificate that he was a widower, we confirmed that he had three children from a previous marriage. I wrote last week to the "boy" that was attached to grandfather's census record. His daughter emailed me back today, I had info she didn't have; his middle name, new of my mother's existence, and she had info I didn't have; another marriage and two more half siblings.

She is going to contact her relative that is the family history keeper and see what info she can get for me. Now we are writing to SSA to get a copy of his social security application, and I have to start searching for his naturalization papers.

Tinkryansmom, take your time doing your research. It can be overwhelming, and just when you think you can't go further, sometimes it pays to put it down for awhile then go back to it. Since you have your grandmother's boxes, go thru them, get familiar with your relatives. Get the boxes organized in a manner that is comfortable for you, though you may find Grandma's set up works well. The internet makes it so much easier for research. If you have a specific questions, just ask. We represent quite a few nationalities, countries, and states, someone will sure to have an answer.