Genealogy, OMG, please stop me.

[Shared Acres]

So over the weekend my father gave me a one sheet history of our family. I took those 20 or so names and decided it was time to start looking up my family.

I went toFamily Tree BUilder's website (http://www.myheritage.com/family-tree-builder ) and downloaded their software. I immediately started getting matches. As I'm entering info the info is being sent to their website and compared with other people's family trees. One of them was a 2nd cousin I didn't know I have whose grandmother was a sister to my great grandfather.

She didn't even know that he had changed our family name. So we started comparing notes and adding on more people.

Within 24 hours I was up to nearly 200 people.

Today I joined the free 14 day membership of Ancestry.com and uploaded the GEDcom file I did with the first site to ancestry. In the last 3 hours I have gotten my site up to over 400 people! I'm back to the 1600s on some lines. And if I don't make myself stop I could probably go on all night.

I had to share. I'm addicted now.

I'm related to several famous people supposedly, including Abraham Lincoln. My father has heard that too, but doesn't know where. I'm thinking you keep branching out far enough you're related to EVERYONE!

 

[texasbartrambaby]

I am SO into geneology too - I find it very interesting and I obessed over it also until we moved. Good luck!

 

[Shared Acres]

Thanks.

Am I the only one who is a bit saddened by the info though?

Birth, death, maybe location and maybe marriage date is all you get in most cases. Each of us is so complex and it seems like so little info to sum up a life. What did they do for a living? Why did they move all the way from England to ....? And so forth.

You would hope that on the family tree your own life won't be relegated to such little information.

 

[Dancing]

See, the real genealogy begins once you have names to go off of. It involves getting the paper trails to prove you are indeed related to those names AND finding other info about that person besides just birth and death dates.

I have one branch of my family back to the Plantanets (british royalty). Once you hit them, it is a matter of public history from there on back (that branch is back into the 2nd century).

I found, and got the documentation for one of my gr...grandfathers who fought in the American Revolution. Complete with his picture! This paper work would allow me to join Daughters of the American Revolution (and my son to join Sons of..) One benefit to that would be they have college scholarships available!

It is addictive and can become obcessive. My aunt did genealogy for 30 years and spent days and days in the archives in Salt Lake City. I kinda took over for her when she passed.

 

[Shared Acres]

I'm up to about 950 people, a lot on my mother's side, since I found the link that made me related to Mary Todd Lincoln--Woot!

 

[Acre of Blessings]

Here is a site that I came across when I got hooked on Genealogy. I finally had to push myself away from the computer. hehehe

Try this one and see if you get any matches to what you already have.

www.ancestorhunt.com just click on the state that you are in or interested in and you'll be on your way

I wanted to use ancestry.com but I couldn't afford that.

 

[toredano]

I wish I could do that ..I allways wondered where my dad came from.All I ever knew that his mom( my grandma) got pregrant by a polititian in Jugoslavia and then fled for some reason into Germany. We still have alot of relatives in the former jugoslavia but no one will talk about it ..lol.. very odd indeed.
He has been dead for 41 years now tho and I never knew him. I was 2 when he died. Kinda sad and I wish I could find out more but everyone is pretty tight lipped like its some big huge secret..I hate that .

My husbands aunt does the genealogy hting on their side and she is really far abck allready.We found out that husbands family has alot of Lumbee indian in there.. rather interesting for sure

 

[Smoky73]

I find it very difficlut. I do not have much info to go on to start with on my fathers side and my mothers side, my grandfather was adopted so that is pretty much a dead end. I guess maybe I do not know where to start or what to look for. Most of my dads family came from Canada.

 

[NanaKat]

Quote:
Hope you are still involved in genealogy research.

To flesh out the family member, open the original document on the Census records. The census record give you the occupation, income and other tidbits about your family member.
Making a timeline for the family member also leads you to printed histories about the people living in the areas where your family embers lived. Often included there is religious or political affiliations. Tax records for your family member also give tips to their lives.

Interview older family members and write up their notes for each family member. Have them describe the older photos you have. Their memories are often humorous and informative.

Can you tell I'm an addict too? I'm working on four family trees. My grandfather was adopted but I had his birth name. I've been able to find a great deal of information on his birth family.

 

[lil'turkeymama]

I've been doing some research for a few years.I haven't got into anything so far except great grandparents on my side and my husbands side.I did get to a standstill when one gr grandfathers mother remarried.Can't figure out what his real dads name is.I am wanting to start adding pictures.I think its real interesting.