Quilting and Genealogy

Me, too! Both are addictions ME-Judy

What's the best way to get started doing a genealogy?

This link

) has a very good how-to-start guide. I'm a reformed genealogist, so if you have specific questions, feel free to e-mail me (remember to de-spam the addy).

Reformed.....did you need a 12 step program or just get burned out?

Nah, I just replaced it with another addiction - Wikipedia editing. All the fun of researching, but without the whining from the relatives. *big grin*

I still do a bit of genealogy now and then (I wouldn't turn down a free trip to Salt Lake City!), but they don't know me on a first-name basis at the genealogy library any more.

It seems like it would be very interesting. I'm not sure where I'd even start.

Start with what you know. You probably know when and where you were born. What do you know about your parents -- when and where they were born? Their siblings? What about grandparents?

Then pick something you'd like to know. To take an example from my early research, I wanted to know the date of my grandmother's second marriage. The getting started link I posted will give you suggestions for where to look, or you can ask at online forums, ask at genealogy libraries (there's one in Iowa City), or you can e-mail me for suggestions.

Once you find that first bit of information, write it down, then pick something else you'd like to know. Repeat until addicted. :)

Another approach is to work from a source, such as the 1930 US census, and find everything you can from that source. I usually recommend the first approach to beginners, because trying to find *all* information from a large source can be a bit overwhelming. (At one spot I had a 5 page single-spaced listing of names I was researching in the 1880 census. Aack!) But if you are working with things like census or land records, it's often worthwhile to look several pages before and after the record you want -- our ancestors tended to live near their family, and you often find pleasant surprises.

Did that answer the "where to start" question a bit?

Thanks Kathy! I think I need to keep this as a project for next year. Too much to do for the rest of this year. I just might be calling on your expertise then. I don't know anything about a genealogy library in Iowa City. Maybe that will be my first move. Thanks again!

And get the family stories from the older generations of your family now, while you still can. Those are precious memories that are gone forever if you don't grab them!

Anastasia

--whose family stories are more valuable than any of the research she's done in libraries

I would completely agree with this first approach. I am in the process of doing my family tree too, and am back to the 1600s. Not too hard as most of my father's side of the family lived in the same area for generations. (Except one who went to America in the 1700s and wrote the first history of South Carolina, but that's a whole other story).

Make sure you write everything down. Speak to parents or other relatives and ask what they know about their parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles. Year of birth, place of birth, what their parents names were, what their occupations were and so on.

There is a really good website called genesreunited.co.uk or ancestry.co.uk if you suspect you have British heritage along the way. They also offer free software so that you can build your own tree online.

Morag

Howdy!

She found everybody.

When she got to the end of the list (tree roots) it was time to stop.

I know, you never really hit a "stop" point, altho' sometimes there's just no info (Hiram Scholes-where'd he come from?) so we let it rest until another lead shows up (usually a distant relative contacts us for info sharing). And I said to quit worrying about my mom's great-grands 'cause I didn't really care much. ;-P But, oh, the mysteries we've discovered, and the details that unfold: well worth the digging. The generations of quilters go back at least 5 deep on both sides of my family. None of them taught me to quilt, but our stitches are very similar.

R/Sandy - handquilter, naturally ;-)

Kathy probably hit the proverbial "brick wall" - and got as far as she could. ME-Judy

Start with yourself (and your siblings)... Then move on to your parents (and Aunts & Uncles). Talk to all the older members of your family... write down all the dates/facts(?)/stories that they can tell you. (Not all family stories end up being 100% true, BTW.)

Also go to

They also have a lot of helpful suggestions - AND a lot of "charts" you can use to keep track of your info: Holler if you need help. . . Beware! it's an addictive as quilting! ME-Judy

Kathyl, the best place is to go to the library!

The Iowa City library will have the how-to-start-your-search books. (The Coralville library may, as well.) They also subscribe to the genealogy databases--Heritage Quest and Ancestry.com--depending on their subscriptions, they may be have to used onsite, or maybe you can log in from home. At our library the genealogical society is on hand every Wednesday evening to help people.

The online databases get better and better. I got an e-mail message on one of my library lists saying that a new indexed database has just been released. I tried it out and found out that my husband's grandfather had three siblings--I'd found one sibling in a previous search, but hadn't known about the two others.

I confess that my only searching has been U.S. sources. That's easy for my husband's family (both sides came to America in the 1600's so they are documented thoroughly and in English). I haven't dug deeply into my family. (One of my mother's lines has been done extensively, but my dad's father's German side hasn't been touched. Unless my weird cousin has done it, but I don't really want to reestablish a relationship with said weird cousin.)

Nann

P.S. The University library may have access to all this stuff but their reference section isn't set up to help with individual research the way the ICPL and CPL are--but of course you knew that!

The Coralville library just did a major renovation and addition. I haven't made it over to check it out yet. But I hear it's BEE YOU TI FULL! :-) I'm saving all this info in another folder so I can start playing in 2009. It seems to be addicting, so I just can't get involved this year. Thanks for your information and all the work you do for libraries.

All I can say is, Wow!!!

my cousin did ours on my dad's mom's side. i think she got as far as a town in Germany. she did uncover a couple Revolutionary War officers in the midst. i am also related to Chuck Yaeger. he's my dad's cousin on his mom's side. cool, eh?

amy in CNY

Talk to all of your relatives, oldest first. If they are like mine they may "embellish" which won't help your search very much. Find out where you are from, grandparents, great-grandparents etc. Where did they come from, live, work, go to church, etc. Most churches will help you, for a price, with baptism and marriage records.

Get a program for your computer, I use Family Tree Maker, you must document everything. Make separate files for various family groups, you can join them later if you want. It is easier to manage smaller files.

The Mormon Church has vast records that can be accessed from their local churches/temples. Ellis island records are searchable on line. There are many searchable on line databases, some cemeteries are on line, although they are sometimes done by private individuals.

Don't buy everything that Family Tree Maker wants to sell you. Start reading one of the genealogy groups, like you read this one, I've had help from folks in Belgium with part of my family. Social Security death records help.

Bonnie, in Middletown, VA