Family tree stuff

Postby **Pastor Gary** » March 27th, 2010, 12:51 am

Before his death my father started trying to trace our family tree when he realized how little we knew. He did it old-school: microfiche reader at the public library!

I took what he had entered by pencil on xeroxed pedigree charts and expanded it a little bit at a time by interviewing older relatives on lucid days. Eventually I purchased MacFamily Tree software to get it all organized in a digital, easily transferrable format.

This week I enrolled in a 14-day free trial of ancestry.com, and have found more in 2 days than in the past decade! Once you upload your file (what is already known/collected) the ancestry database starts connecting public records, the research of others that overlaps your own, and makes it very easy to compare data and merge it into your tree.

I discovered that my maternal Great-great-grandfather fought for the Confederacy and died in a Union POW camp in Chicago in 1862... and I found documentation of that. Very interesting.

Anyone else here have experience tracing your family tree? Anyone else used ancestry.com?

deb · Postby **deb** » March 27th, 2010, 1:15 am

I have played with it a little - didn't learn a whole lot from ancestry.com that I didn't already know.
I think I found out more about my family (current) from FB...Met a lot of relatives that I've never met before!

Postby **Pastor Gary** » March 27th, 2010, 2:09 am

deb wrote:I have played with it a little - didn't learn a whole lot from ancestry.com that I didn't already know.
I think I found out more about my family (current) from FB...Met a lot of relatives that I've never met before!

Did you upload your gedcom file to ancestry.com? That's how I am discovering so much... it is matching what I had with public records and the research of others.

Martha · Postby **Martha** » March 27th, 2010, 2:42 am

I enrolled yesterday. Played a little and found many of my ancestors. I found that I could trace the female side of the family but the men not so much. I'm having fun with it.

deb · Postby **deb** » March 27th, 2010, 3:32 am

Did you upload your gedcom file to ancestry.com? That's how I am discovering so much... it is matching what I had with public records and the research of others.

No, I didn't. Will have to try that when I get time to do so.

dolfan · Postby **dolfan** » March 28th, 2010, 5:55 pm

About 10 years ago, a client of mine -- who was married to my grandfather's cousin -- gave me a copy of a genealogy that extended back into the 1600's for one line of our ancestry. It was highly interesting. I've been on ancestry . com and found that line further back into the 1400's in Switzerland and Austria. I also discovered that I'm related to Kevin Costner (sixth cousin, twice removed) and former Solicitor General and law clerk to former SCOTUS Assoc. Justice Hugo Black, Walter Dellinger, whom I actually met when I was in law school.

scooter · Postby **scooter** » March 29th, 2010, 3:06 am

My brother did a great job of finding our forefathers.

He actually found the grave of my GGG grandfather in Tn. off 52 near Red Boiling Springs and Lafeyette.

His stone was among some turned up creek stones by a pond in a cow field. It had a cross and a crown on it. That was a blessing. His name was Jordan.

My GG was named Isaac and his stone had a hand pointing up.

I knew my G Grandfather and was able to go to church with him in the early 70's.

SBW · Postby **SBW** » March 29th, 2010, 3:09 am

I got heavily into family history about 12 years ago, and worked on it about 3 years. Some research was done the old fashioned way, court house records, spending time at surrounding libriaries. But i did most of it online. Ancestry.com was not helpful to me, but like I said that was years ago and it is probably better now. More people have uploaded info to it.

I hit the mother load when I posted on Genforum.com. I went to the surname that I wanted to know info about, and asked a few questions. An unknown distant relative in Oklahoma saw my post. We connected, and he had 30 years worth of family research that he passed on to me. Connected all the dots.

I also had a lot of success on familysearch.org. It is a website hosted by the LDS church. The site has a wealth of information. It is part of their religion to research family history...not just their own, but everybody. All thier information is free. I connected a lot of dots there also.

Let me say that reseraching your family history is time consuming but very rewarding and satisfying when you are successful.

TonyT · Postby **TonyT** » March 30th, 2010, 11:49 am

i have done quite a bit of research using Ancestry.com, both the web-based app and integrated with family Tree Maker. You have to take some of the matches presented to you with a grain of salt, but some of the information is very valuable, if you dig a little.

I also use Genforum and Rootsweb web sites, as well as the LDS online database and others made available through my local library. I subscribed to Footnote for a while so I could download a copy of my ggg-grandmother's application for my ggg-grandfather's Rev war pension.

One thing to look for is the project underway to document cemetary records - look on usgenweb.org under the state of interest.

Tony

Postby **Pastor Gary** » March 30th, 2010, 2:40 pm

TonyT wrote:...as well as the LDS online database and others made available through my local library...

A guy I went to high school with (played drums with me in the band) is now some kind of LDS official in Salt Lake. He has offered to help me with the harder stuff, like the Japanese heritage.

Full Quiver · Postby **Full Quiver** » March 31st, 2010, 2:17 am

Since reading this I have downloaded some software and began constructing my tree. It can be time consuming. When I get some basic stuff finished I will upload it to ancestry.com Very interesting. My dad and granddad have already traced our lineage to England but finding specifics would be cool.

MacUser · Postby **MacUser** » March 31st, 2010, 8:53 am

Just researched my namesake lineage and this guy jumped out..

Obadiah A. #175 born. about 1838, Mississippi, died. Dec 25 1864, Giles Co., TN. Obadiah who was a private in Co. B., 28th Mississippi Cavalry, CSA who is buried in Chestnut Grove Cemetery on top of Anthony Hill, Giles Co., TN. This is the same CSA unit in which his brother Theodore served - and survived, but his horse died on Dec. 25, 1864.

It is thought that Obadiah was killed, along with 42 other Confederate soldiers in the battle on Anthony Hill on Christmas day in 1864. Anthony Hill is about four miles south of Pulaski.

A tough fight that day no doubt.

Pastor Bill · Postby **Pastor Bill** » March 31st, 2010, 10:52 am

I played a little bit years ago , before ancestry.com and found some, on my Dad's side, Mom's side (Fenton) has always been known due to the glass factory and it's history.

I keep saying "one of these days" I'll get back to it, but haven't yet.

Jude 2