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How To Find Ancestors – Genealogy / Ancestry Research Tips

Using Free Genealogy Websites to Find Ancestors

Free genealogy websites are great, but can also be full of incorrect information. Still, it is worth the time to get familiar with what kind of information you can find online for no cost if you are getting started doing genealogy.

A couple of free places that have helped me are the message boards at Rootsweb (.com) and Genealogy (.com)

First Steps to Find Ancestors

You can start your search with the surname message boards, but those can be difficult to use if you have a more common surname.

A better way to search is to search the message board for the county your relative lived in or was born in. If you know the city and state, but don’t know what county that your ancestor was born in or lived in, on the main page at Rootsweb there is a town/county tool – put in the city or town and the state and the tool will tell you what county that city or town is in.

Another useful place to search are the archives of the email lists – which can take quite a while, but typically the people who use these email lists are more experienced and their information is more detailed.

Next Steps

Once you know a bit more, say you know the names, places and dates of birth for ancestors you can search the world trees. These family trees show more details and have several ways you can search them. You can look at the pedigree – which shows couples and their children. Or you can search the surname lists for the trees.

If you want to save time, you can use Ancestry.com. They have a free trial, and after that is over the site charges a monthly subscription. It is not dirt cheap, but they have some of the best information and databases for you to search through. And you can connect with other users and share family history information with them.

So if you want to turbo boost your genealogy search, use a reputable paid service such as Ancestry.com. And don’t forget that the free searches can provide you with many good “finds” too!

Disclosure: I am not paid by any person or company to post this information. I try to give my opinions with the utmost integrity and honesty to those who might be interested in the topics and/or products I may write about. If  a reader uses one of my links to another website to purchase something, I may be compensated with a small commission.

Technorati Tags: Ancestry Research, ancestry.com, family history, family trees, find ancestors, genealogy, geneology, Rootsweb

Ancestry in 2011 – Who Do You Think You Are?

I’ve been watching the show Who Do You Think You Are? on NBC. It is now in its second season and each celebrity they feature ends up taking a unique journey to find their ancestors. This show just gets better and better.  There have been some amazing stories full of history (with celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Brook Shields, Vanessa Williams, Tim McGraw, Rosie O’Donnell, Matthew Broderick, Emmett Smith and Lisa Kudrow). Each of the family stories has been diverse and fascinating.

I’ve loved genealogy for years, and this show is probably helping many others find the intrigue of learning about the people who’s DNA you carry and the lives they lived.  I have been using the Internet to research my family’s roots for as long as I have been able to to connect to the Web.  I used to be totally opposed to the website that you had to pay to use. Things have changed dramatically now, though. Many of the sites that had free information are gone. Often with the free sites, the people that administrate them are very busy, and unpaid for their hard work. This means that their information is not always updated. I have to admit that keeping my freely-shared online genealogy  information up-to-date is challenging for me. It really is difficult to have time (people are just so busy, myself included).

So, I have to say that for those that are either new at doing family history research, or for those that have exhausted the free information that is available, using a paid site can be worthwhile. Not all the paid sites are good, though – some are downright rip-offs!. The show, Who Do You Think You Are? has many advertisements for one site, ancestry.com and for once, the ads don’t offend me in the least. That is because I have used the site and it really does allow you to find multiple good sources and files about the ancestors you are trying to learn more about. (Sources include newspapers, census information, immigration information, other people’s family trees and many more). My cousin and I collaborate and have been able to add many photos and documents to our family tree.

Consider this an endorsement from an ancestry research junkie, but don’t forget that there are some really valuable free genealogy and ancestry websites that can help you in your search, too.

Disclosure: I am not paid by any person or company to post this information. I try to give my opinions with the utmost integrity and honesty to those who might be interested in the topics and/or products I may write about. If  a reader uses one of my links to another website to purchase something, I may be compensated with a small commission.

Technorati Tags: ancestry, celebrities, genealogy, history, NBC TV show, research, Who Do You Think You Are

McCarty Family Genealogy

Transcribed pages from Bradley-Gibson-Jenkins and Allied Families

Generation 1: -  James McCarty from Virginia who married Nancy Bosley (Bozeley) ca. 1754. Some of this is not complete. My direct line is more accurate than some of the branches.

Generation 2: Cornelius McCarty b. 1766 in Virginia. A Marriage license was issued to him in Fauquier Co., Virginia on 12-12-1787 to marry “Sukey” Susannah Hardwick, b. ca. 1767 in Virginia.

Generation 3: William T. McCarty married Sophia Bentley in Meade Co., Kentucky on July 13, 1824.

Generation 4: Sarah “Sally” Sophia McCarty was born in Harrison Co., Indian on July 4, 1842. She married Benjamin F. Reader . After his death, her 2nd marriage was to George Taylor Jenkins on Aug. 30, 1866.

Photos: Photos of William T. McCarty, his daughter Sarah and his sons, Levi, John, and Jasper Newton.

More Photos: Photos of  McCarty, Jenkins, Jeffries, and Riddle family members at “the cot on the hill” in Crawford County, Indiana.

Note: These pages are the old traditional HTML pages – if you can remember to, come back here to comment!

Technorati Tags: ancestors, Bradley-Gibson-Jenkins book, D. C. Williams, descendents, family, genealogy, James McCarty, McCarty Family, Ruby Williams, Virginia