Genealogy Help...

[susieSA]

I have a few questions about genealogy...

I really need to get started on mine and hubby's..

I have taken the first step & installed the PAF programme on my laptop (that was quite a while back)

I have also got the completed genealogy on my father's side from him.. Well as far as what he has done..

This is where my problem comes in... I have been told that my uncle has the info I need for my mother's side of my family (and since my grandfather has passed away a few years ago) it is rather dificult to get it from him - or so it has been so far... I have tried to keep in contact with him via email but he doesn't seem to be very big in that at all..

So this is my question... How do I get the genealogy info from him that I need to add to my mother's side?

And where do I go from where I am with the info I have got from everyone else? I am feeling a little clueless at the moment

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated

[LT04]

"So this is my question... How do I get the genealogy info from him that I need to add to my mother's side?"

A: Do you both live in the same community? All of my father's family strongly appose the LDS church so I had to use local news papers to find records. Also google "Genweb" thats a government web site that has helped me a lot. Lastly, you could try going to you local family history center, they have a lot of local records and acess to other records you might not be aware of.

Try those let me know if you still need help there are a lot of other ways around dead ends.

[Brother Dorsey]

I have a few questions about genealogy...

I really need to get started on mine and hubby's..

I have taken the first step & installed the PAF programme on my laptop (that was quite a while back)

I have also got the completed genealogy on my father's side from him.. Well as far as what he has done..

This is where my problem comes in... I have been told that my uncle has the info I need for my mother's side of my family (and since my grandfather has passed away a few years ago) it is rather dificult to get it from him - or so it has been so far... I have tried to keep in contact with him via email but he doesn't seem to be very big in that at all..

So this is my question... How do I get the genealogy info from him that I need to add to my mother's side?

And where do I go from where I am with the info I have got from everyone else? I am feeling a little clueless at the moment

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated

The best answer to your dilema is to go to the nearest LDS Family History Center....they have access to Ancesrty.com as well as many other genealogy web sites etc.....get all the info you can and go...plan on spending hours there.....the people who have been called to work in these centers are inspired and will help you more than you can imagine! Good luck!

[susieSA]

"A: Do you both live in the same community? All of my father's family strongly appose the LDS church so I had to use local news papers to find records. Also google "Genweb" thats a government web site that has helped me a lot. Lastly, you could try going to you local family history center, they have a lot of local records and acess to other records you might not be aware of."

Unfortunitly we don't even live in the same country or even on the same continant

He doens't seem to be apposed to the LDS church.. I am guessing that he just doens't see the importance of genealogy

I will give "Genweb" a try.. Thank you LT04

"The best answer to your dilema is to go to the nearest LDS Family History Center....they have access to Ancesrty.com as well as many other genealogy web sites etc.....get all the info you can and go...plan on spending hours there.....the people who have been called to work in these centers are inspired and will help you more than you can imagine! Good luck! "

Would I be able to use these websites from home instead of at a Family History Centre? The reason for asking this is that I have a 2 month old & don't have hours to spend at the Family History Centre at the moment.. I don't want this to stop me so if there is anything that I can do from home it would be great..

Thank you Brother Dorsey

[Guest MrsS]

Would I be able to use these websites from home instead of at a Family History Centre? The reason for asking this is that I have a 2 month old & don't have hours to spend at the Family History Centre at the moment.. I don't want this to stop me so if there is anything that I can do from home it would be great..

Thank you Brother Dorsey

Ancestory.com is free through the FHC. You have to be there to use it. In most FHC they have Sisters watching the children for the mothers who want to do their genealogy. SO- call your nearest FHC and ASK.

Write your Uncle a snail mail letter - after praying about it of course - and offer to pay him for the postage and copying costs to mail copies of all the genealogy information that he has to you. You really don't need to go into the church aspect of it. Emphasize more the desires you have to learn of your ancestors.

When you receive what he sends, use it to help you verify that the data is indeed true. Keep in contact with him, and ask him questions to anything that doesn't make sense. Keep him updated on any new discoveries you make. It is his history too you know.

Here is an excellent web site for all "budding" geneaologists to read through. It is long, but it is well worth the time to read, and to go to the links provided and read all of them too. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~v...ogy/sources.htm

[susieSA]

Ancestory.com is free through the FHC. You have to be there to use it. In most FHC they have Sisters watching the children for the mothers who want to do their genealogy. SO- call your nearest FHC and ASK.

Write your Uncle a snail mail letter - after praying about it of course - and offer to pay him for the postage and copying costs to mail copies of all the genealogy information that he has to you. You really don't need to go into the church aspect of it. Emphasize more the desires you have to learn of your ancestors.

When you receive what he sends, use it to help you verify that the data is indeed true. Keep in contact with him, and ask him questions to anything that doesn't make sense. Keep him updated on any new discoveries you make. It is his history too you know.

Here is an excellent web site for all "budding" geneaologists to read through. It is long, but it is well worth the time to read, and to go to the links provided and read all of them too. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~v...ogy/sources.htm

The FHCs that are in my area don't have the sisters watching children... At the moment we attend a small branch.. Not sure about in Johannesburg though as I have never got the chance to go to the ones there & they are gar from where I was living

I will defenilty give the snail mail letter a try.. thank you for that suggestion Mrs S.

Thank you for the link you gave I will defenitly have a look at that :)

[LT04]

I work at a family history center in my area, I have found that the people looking for on line help are typical mothers with small children. Thats why I suggested Genweb first. familysearch.org isn't much help unless you have family already members of the church and then it still lacks basic information. For example my grandparents were married in the salt lake temple in 1956, they are no where to be found on the church web site. Genweb can be hard to use b/c its a county run site, so there is no uniform system to look through. Ancestry.com is awesome you can use it for free at the family history centers, and if you can't it will cost you a pretty penny. I would still recommend you give your local history center a try. We get kids in there all the time with parents thats why I keep candy in my office. I know it can be hard as a parent trying to focus and get some work done wile praying the kids don't burn down the building. When the children are a little older I set them down on the computer and show them how to play minesweeper and solitaire on the computer. Give going to the FHC a chance, thats where most of the information is at the present. Soon it will all be on computer, but until them you should make an effort to try. I get all kinds of forms at the FHC I can't find any where else.

[mom_of_jcchlsm]

Wow. In our last Stake, the FHC had a strict "no children" policy. I've only been to the FHC here 3 or 4 times, but I've never seen a child there. I always get a sitter or go when my husband is home witht he kids. I do take my older kids there, but only to work. Each of my teens has gone with me to reseach names for their first Temple trip.

[susieSA]

I work at a family history center in my area, I have found that the people looking for on line help are typical mothers with small children. Thats why I suggested Genweb first. familysearch.org isn't much help unless you have family already members of the church and then it still lacks basic information. For example my grandparents were married in the salt lake temple in 1956, they are no where to be found on the church web site. Genweb can be hard to use b/c its a county run site, so there is no uniform system to look through. Ancestry.com is awesome you can use it for free at the family history centers, and if you can't it will cost you a pretty penny. I would still recommend you give your local history center a try. We get kids in there all the time with parents thats why I keep candy in my office. I know it can be hard as a parent trying to focus and get some work done wile praying the kids don't burn down the building. When the children are a little older I set them down on the computer and show them how to play minesweeper and solitaire on the computer. Give going to the FHC a chance, thats where most of the information is at the present. Soon it will all be on computer, but until them you should make an effort to try. I get all kinds of forms at the FHC I can't find any where else.

Thanks LT04

I managed to find the Genweb that was better suited to me & where I am looking for... It looks great - havn't had the chance to have a proper look at it but the little that I did was excellent..

I will defenitly give my local FHC a try

Thanks again

[Alaskagain]

SusieSA

The very first thing you should do is to call your ward's Family History Consultant. That person has been called to help people just like you. As you have PAF already installed on your home computer, the consultant will probably make an appointment to come right to your house to get you started and provide advice and guidance. And should you have to go the library, your handy-dandy visiting teachers might be able to help with baby-tending.

Second item might be of interest to all of you, is that Ancestry.com is no longer being provided on the FHC library computers. Officially, as of April 1st, but in our library, access has already been restricted in some way, as we keep getting booted off. Previously, Ancestry was provided by its corporation at no cost to the church, but now Generations Network, the parent company, wants to charge the church a subscription fee. (Considering Ancestry has extracted a lot of databases from the church library system, seems a bit odd to me.) Some have said that this was because of "competition" from the church in the free databases that will be available after digitizing and indexing the records in Granite Mountain, through FamilySearch.org. But I think that is just the opposite - the church was inspired in starting that project because of the possibility of being asked to pay subscription fees. (Ancestry's library subscription fee is about $1700 per year. -- now how many Family History Center Libraries do we have? ) At our FHC, we are sorry to see Ancestry go. How many patrons have come in and used their search engine on site, and then gone home and ordered a subscription for their home use? I personally think it is a big mistake on the part of Generations Network. (Sorry to get off track with this editorializing!)

But there are other resources available at the FHC. There are a lot of places on the internet that a person can get free information - many state archives now have have searchhable on line databases for records of its citizens, for example Maryland State Archives has a searchable death index, and so does West Virginia. The USGenweb project is great - volunteers maintain websites on each county of the U.S. Some sites have bare minimum of information, while others have census transcriptions, marriage records, etc. Just depends on where you look. HeritageQuest can be accessed from your home computer if your local public library participates - you just need to call your librarian to get a password using your library card. And of course, you can always order a roll of microfilm if you need to - you can search the FHC library catalogue at FamilySearch.org and see what is available for the locality or surname you are searching. And the best resource is the staff members who are there to guide and brainstorm with you when you just don't know what to look for or where to go next.

Good luck in your ancestor hunting. I hope you are able to connect with your uncle, he will be your best source of information, I think, and be able to tell you family stories you won't find in the official records!

[LT04]

Thats true I forgot all about the consultants. I'm just a FHC spc.. A consultant will work around your schedule to help you. Like Alaskagain said they do go to people's houses. I have even seen them open the history center at 01:00 AM for people who have different work schedules. You should look into that also.

[lisajo]

<div class='quotemain'>

I have a few questions about genealogy...

I really need to get started on mine and hubby's..

I have taken the first step & installed the PAF programme on my laptop (that was quite a while back)

I have also got the completed genealogy on my father's side from him.. Well as far as what he has done..

This is where my problem comes in... I have been told that my uncle has the info I need for my mother's side of my family (and since my grandfather has passed away a few years ago) it is rather dificult to get it from him - or so it has been so far... I have tried to keep in contact with him via email but he doesn't seem to be very big in that at all..

So this is my question... How do I get the genealogy info from him that I need to add to my mother's side?

And where do I go from where I am with the info I have got from everyone else? I am feeling a little clueless at the moment

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated

The best answer to your dilema is to go to the nearest LDS Family History Center....they have access to Ancesrty.com as well as many other genealogy web sites etc.....get all the info you can and go...plan on spending hours there.....the people who have been called to work in these centers are inspired and will help you more than you can imagine! Good luck!

This is a very good site, i use it...also check and see if the person is listed on findagrave.com many historical socities have been listing everyone from local cemeterys i have alot of family members on there, i have also listed people in my local cemetery and i have even gotten e mails from people thanking me for helping them find family members cause i listed them ...one recent one from Australia from a guy lookng for family members here in the US and he found them cause i entered them

[LT04]

Here's a funny genealogy story for y'all.

My best friend and I met in the US Army. His parents are from Pakistan, and my mom's family is from England via several generations in Utah. Turns out his parents are very interested in genealogy, of course I am I work at a FHC. Last time I went to visit him in his home town his parents have this huge scroll connecting them to Abraham through his oldest son Ishmael. A day or two before I got a huge poster size family tree from the Genealogical Society of Utah, connecting me through the tribe of Levi son of Israel and Leah, who is the son of Isaac, who is the son of Abraham. We had known each other for years and it wasn't till late last year we found out we are "half-30th cousins 167 times removed." I thinks its crazy to think that after thousands of years and a few continents apart people today can still prove connections to other people half way around the world.