Family Tree Me!

It was only about four and a half years ago I discovered lots of cousins I never knew I had. I had posted my maiden name on a message board and even as late as last summer; Ancestry.com was helping me find more. As I emailed and phoned several of these new found relatives, I became more and more engrossed in my newly discovered family background. It is definitely not hard to become addicted to genealogy. Genealogy is one of the biggest subjects on the Internet listing thousands of sites to visit. There are several really great sites on genealogy search. They provide a continuous amount of information on a daily basis. From surname searches to limitless records and online family trees, it is an unlimited source of genealogy facts. Everyday you can find a new searchable record of some kind. Instead of having to cross the country spending money on motels, gas and food, digging through musty courthouse and city records, you can discover your ancestors right from your home computer. Let some of my listed sites provide you with your searchable databases for a very reasonable cost and some are even free.

There are people in most towns and cities that will go to a cemetery and take a photo of your family member's tombstone or perhaps do some research for you. They don't charge for their service but I usually send money for gas and for any photo services (film and processing). With digital cameras there is not processing fees but they have taken time to go and locate something for you and might appreciate a little re-embursement even though they won't ask. They are found under: Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness.

I have gotten two great Genealogy computer programs called Family Tree Maker and Mac Family Tree (my laptop is a Mac so had to get another program) and have entered all my facts and pictures in that. I back it up periodically and copy it to disc. I saved all my Family Tree Maker as GEDCOM files, burned a cd and ran the CD on my mac and it went right into the new program. I do recommend you make a copy of your files on a CD once in awhile and put it in a safe place so you will have them in case something happens. I have a ton of old family pictures that I want to keep so I have gotten lots of photo albums and I must admit it took me years to finally sit down and put them in the albums. I am glad you can always find photo albums at garage sales for $1 or so!!

You need to check with your local LDS (Mormons) church as they almost always have a Genealogy library with their church and they can help you find family records there. They are the worlds leading source of family records.

Over these last few years I have been able to put together a book on the family of my father. As my grandchildren grow up I hope to be able to continue to add to that tree and provide them with a story of where their ancestors came from and what they were like. I can think of no more important gift to leave for them than information on their heritage.

I have found that CyndisList.com is the greatest site for EVERYTHING genealogy. You can never go through all her information in a lifetime.

Caring for Old Photos
Keep your precious photos safe and intact
http://www.suite101.com/content/oldphotos-a1487

Photographs & Memories
Cyndi's List of Genealogy sites on the internet
http://www.cyndislist.com/photos.htm

Try to find a relative who knows the names of people in vintage photos. So many were never marked or annotated as to who they were.

Among the things I found was a description of our coat of arms (even though my ancestors were so poor I hardly think they had a coat of arms) and my son took that description and drew this from what it said. There are a lot of people who will offer you your family coat of arms for money but unless you are sure they had one you probably don't want to spend money.

Tell the stories you hear about these people and add to the family tree. Old stories are priceless.

Make notes on hair styles, dresses or other things going on in the photos

Try to get photos of graves and stones. Make a note of the location, cemetery address and town and annotate in tree. There are always people who do Random Acts of Kindness and will take pictures for you.