Thread: Have you done any geneology work?

If you still have reliable family members alive talk to them and ask everything you can think of so you can follow up with this.
Have you done any work with this? successful?
Any tips?

Hubby got the Ancestry.com computer program which helps you do just that. It is amazing! It doesn't require that you sign up for Ancestry.com services...but that definitely helps. We plugged in information that we knew...and we were surprised at all the 'documentation' that immediately became available to us...i.e., census records, marriage and divorce records, death records, ship's manifold lists, etc. It is really weird to pull up this hand-written census sheets and see names of grandparents...and their parents...plus the addresses where they lived.

It was funny because I always knew my grandfather's name to be "Geoffrey Francis"...but when we did a search, we found a "Francis Geoffrey" that looked like it must be him. Then, in talking to my uncle...he said, "oh by the way...I think his real name was Francis Geoffrey but he changed it".

We've also found another distant cousin on Ancestry.com who is also doing the same thing and we have been able to 'link' records and fill in some of his blanks and he has been able to do the same.

The biggest hint I can give you is to talk to your older relatives and just ask them to tell you stories. Don't necessarily ask for facts, dates, etc. because they will insist that they don't remember anything. But, in talking with them, you would be amazed at what they do remember and what little facts you can get from them just by their story telling and reliving their youth.

BTW...hubby and I are both 60 so there is only my uncle and his father who are left to answer some of these questions. So...don't wait too long to ask the questions. Even if you don't actually start your family tree...get information now!!

I have a great grandmother named Luvena. I did searches for her and couldn't find her. Just another of those brick walls you run into when doing the family tree. But, I never give up. I continue to search for the person and eventually they pop up somewhere. I finally found her and saw why I didn't find her before, her name was actually Mexico Luvena. Who would have thought?