Just starting - Suggestions please
Moderator: MOD_nyhetsgrupper
-
Tedd
Just starting - Suggestions please
Hello everyone,
I'm just starting to trace my family history as project #1 and will follow
with my wife's a little later. I'm using Family Tree maker 2005 to record
findings. Are there suggestions as where to start with immigrants from the
UK. I'd appreciate sites that are free as I',I'm not employed and charges
can really climb I suspect. Can you imagine having to start with Smith?
Many thanks for any assistance that you can provide.
Tedd
I'm just starting to trace my family history as project #1 and will follow
with my wife's a little later. I'm using Family Tree maker 2005 to record
findings. Are there suggestions as where to start with immigrants from the
UK. I'd appreciate sites that are free as I',I'm not employed and charges
can really climb I suspect. Can you imagine having to start with Smith?
Many thanks for any assistance that you can provide.
Tedd
-
Lesley Robertson
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
"Tedd" <tvidler@mts.net> schreef in bericht
news:PHTFd.12108$Ka6.82998@news1.mts.net...
Canada? Oz? Your best (and cheapest) source of data is probably the LDS -
find out where your nearest Family History Centre is, and pay it a visit.
Try Google on Cyndis List - another excellent place to start.
Lesley Robertson
news:PHTFd.12108$Ka6.82998@news1.mts.net...
Hello everyone,
I'm just starting to trace my family history as project #1 and will follow
with my wife's a little later. I'm using Family Tree maker 2005 to record
findings. Are there suggestions as where to start with immigrants from
the UK. I'd appreciate sites that are free as I',I'm not employed and
charges can really climb I suspect. Can you imagine having to start with
Smith?
Many thanks for any assistance that you can provide.
It would help if you told us where you are - obviously not the UK, but
Canada? Oz? Your best (and cheapest) source of data is probably the LDS -
find out where your nearest Family History Centre is, and pay it a visit.
Try Google on Cyndis List - another excellent place to start.
Lesley Robertson
-
Dennis Lee
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
Tedd:
I'd start out with what you know - not with what someone told you.
Go find birth certificates and marriage licenses and such. Work
backwards, filling in known information. Use anecdotal information only
as a direction for your research (a lot of it is usually wrong, or at
least partially so. Grandma may have said that her grandfather's middle
name was Edward when it was really Edmund, etc. And, every family in
the South has a legend about being related to Robert E. Lee - most
aren't. I imagine that Yankees have the same problem with descendants
of the Mayflower, or kin of Benjamin Franklin. Don't trust those
anecdotes until you prove them.)
Then, go to your local public library. Chances are that they have
CD's with a lot of genealogy information. Useful stuff for 20th century
research includes: the Social Security Number Death Indexes (tells when
and where someone died, as well as their SSN), the Census Indexes, and
then the anecdotal family trees. Some also have reference books
converted to CDs. These can be useful. Also, many libraries have
subscriptions to web-based genealogy (for pay) services like
ancestry.com. You can go do a lot of work there that would otherwise
cost hundreds of dollars to do at home.
Go to http://www.familysearch.com. This is the LDS website. Most of the
info here is anecdotal and is subject to a lot of error - but it is a
good place to start.
Do a google search using Boolean logic. Google allows phrases and
assumes an AND function for all terms. That means if Grandma was named
Lilly and Grampa was named John Jacobs, do a search on ___ "John Jacobs"
Lilly___. Maybe someone else has done some of your work for you. This
is often useful in finding marriage records, deeds, and census
transcriptions that someone has posted.
Go onto the web at http://www.genforum.com. Find your surname. Go to that
website. Query for related terms like County names, children's names,
spouse names, etc. For instance, if you're looking for John Jacobs as
per above, go to the Jacobs forum. Do a query on Lilly. Perhaps
someone is hunting for the same info you are. Maybe you can
collaborate; maybe you can piggyback off of their work. You can also go
to your specific state and county sites. Maybe your family will be
mentioned in conjunction with others.
Go to the best genealogy library in your area. State Archives are
good - even in states other than those you're targeting. For instance,
here in Texas, the Texas State Archives in Austin has a pretty good
genealogy section. The Mormon Temple library in Salt Lake City is
supposed to be amazing. Sometimes, even branch libraries have excellent
genealogy sections: example, the Bluebonnet Branch of the East Baton
Rouge Parish Library in Louisiana.
Learn to interpret census indexes and records. Many of these are
online at http://www.censuslinks.com. Go to the USGenWeb sites for your
specific state and county. Sometimes, relevant information is posted
there, e.g. census and tax rolls, wills, deeds, marriage and death
records, etc.
Document, document, document. If you get a scrap of information, be
sure to mark down where it came from. It'll save you a lot of grief
later and also prevent you from considering an anecdote as fact. In
time, you'll learn to separate the two.
If you know where your relatives were from, and can get to that
county, go to the County Clerk's office and look in the records room.
There are generally racks and racks of old records of deeds, wills,
lawsuits, divorces, marriages, etc. where you can find the original
documentation for your family. Usually, you're on your own here - but
sometimes you can get help from the staff. And, there's nothing like
looking at a document from the 1700's or 1800's that was signed by one
of your forefathers...
These are just a few tips I've learned. I hope they're useful for you.
Dennis
Lesley Robertson wrote:
I'd start out with what you know - not with what someone told you.
Go find birth certificates and marriage licenses and such. Work
backwards, filling in known information. Use anecdotal information only
as a direction for your research (a lot of it is usually wrong, or at
least partially so. Grandma may have said that her grandfather's middle
name was Edward when it was really Edmund, etc. And, every family in
the South has a legend about being related to Robert E. Lee - most
aren't. I imagine that Yankees have the same problem with descendants
of the Mayflower, or kin of Benjamin Franklin. Don't trust those
anecdotes until you prove them.)
Then, go to your local public library. Chances are that they have
CD's with a lot of genealogy information. Useful stuff for 20th century
research includes: the Social Security Number Death Indexes (tells when
and where someone died, as well as their SSN), the Census Indexes, and
then the anecdotal family trees. Some also have reference books
converted to CDs. These can be useful. Also, many libraries have
subscriptions to web-based genealogy (for pay) services like
ancestry.com. You can go do a lot of work there that would otherwise
cost hundreds of dollars to do at home.
Go to http://www.familysearch.com. This is the LDS website. Most of the
info here is anecdotal and is subject to a lot of error - but it is a
good place to start.
Do a google search using Boolean logic. Google allows phrases and
assumes an AND function for all terms. That means if Grandma was named
Lilly and Grampa was named John Jacobs, do a search on ___ "John Jacobs"
Lilly___. Maybe someone else has done some of your work for you. This
is often useful in finding marriage records, deeds, and census
transcriptions that someone has posted.
Go onto the web at http://www.genforum.com. Find your surname. Go to that
website. Query for related terms like County names, children's names,
spouse names, etc. For instance, if you're looking for John Jacobs as
per above, go to the Jacobs forum. Do a query on Lilly. Perhaps
someone is hunting for the same info you are. Maybe you can
collaborate; maybe you can piggyback off of their work. You can also go
to your specific state and county sites. Maybe your family will be
mentioned in conjunction with others.
Go to the best genealogy library in your area. State Archives are
good - even in states other than those you're targeting. For instance,
here in Texas, the Texas State Archives in Austin has a pretty good
genealogy section. The Mormon Temple library in Salt Lake City is
supposed to be amazing. Sometimes, even branch libraries have excellent
genealogy sections: example, the Bluebonnet Branch of the East Baton
Rouge Parish Library in Louisiana.
Learn to interpret census indexes and records. Many of these are
online at http://www.censuslinks.com. Go to the USGenWeb sites for your
specific state and county. Sometimes, relevant information is posted
there, e.g. census and tax rolls, wills, deeds, marriage and death
records, etc.
Document, document, document. If you get a scrap of information, be
sure to mark down where it came from. It'll save you a lot of grief
later and also prevent you from considering an anecdote as fact. In
time, you'll learn to separate the two.
If you know where your relatives were from, and can get to that
county, go to the County Clerk's office and look in the records room.
There are generally racks and racks of old records of deeds, wills,
lawsuits, divorces, marriages, etc. where you can find the original
documentation for your family. Usually, you're on your own here - but
sometimes you can get help from the staff. And, there's nothing like
looking at a document from the 1700's or 1800's that was signed by one
of your forefathers...
These are just a few tips I've learned. I hope they're useful for you.
Dennis
Lesley Robertson wrote:
"Tedd" <tvidler@mts.net> schreef in bericht
news:PHTFd.12108$Ka6.82998@news1.mts.net...
Hello everyone,
I'm just starting to trace my family history as project #1 and will follow
with my wife's a little later. I'm using Family Tree maker 2005 to record
findings. Are there suggestions as where to start with immigrants from
the UK. I'd appreciate sites that are free as I',I'm not employed and
charges can really climb I suspect. Can you imagine having to start with
Smith?
Many thanks for any assistance that you can provide.
It would help if you told us where you are - obviously not the UK, but
Canada? Oz? Your best (and cheapest) source of data is probably the LDS -
find out where your nearest Family History Centre is, and pay it a visit.
Try Google on Cyndis List - another excellent place to start.
Lesley Robertson
-
Ron Martell
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
"Tedd" <tvidler@mts.net> wrote:
Start by gathering up as much information as you possibly can about
your family history. Quiz your siblings, parents, aunts & uncles, and
grandparents especially as to dates and places. And make notes.
Sometimes a bit of information from one person combined with bits that
you get from another is enough to give you a major clue for further
research.
For the online part of your research start with
http://www.cyndislist.com/beginner.htm
Perhaps the largest amount of free information is available from the
LDS (Mormon) web site at http://www.familysearch.org
Immigrant record searches depend on when they immigrated and where
they arrived at. Records from Ellis Island, New York, for 1892 to
1924 can be found online at http://www.ellisisland.org/default.asp
There are a vast number of other free online sources,including the
many surname and regional message boards at
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=main&r=rw
That should get you started. Have fun and good luck
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
Hello everyone,
I'm just starting to trace my family history as project #1 and will follow
with my wife's a little later. I'm using Family Tree maker 2005 to record
findings. Are there suggestions as where to start with immigrants from the
UK. I'd appreciate sites that are free as I',I'm not employed and charges
can really climb I suspect. Can you imagine having to start with Smith?
Many thanks for any assistance that you can provide.
Tedd
Start by gathering up as much information as you possibly can about
your family history. Quiz your siblings, parents, aunts & uncles, and
grandparents especially as to dates and places. And make notes.
Sometimes a bit of information from one person combined with bits that
you get from another is enough to give you a major clue for further
research.
For the online part of your research start with
http://www.cyndislist.com/beginner.htm
Perhaps the largest amount of free information is available from the
LDS (Mormon) web site at http://www.familysearch.org
Immigrant record searches depend on when they immigrated and where
they arrived at. Records from Ellis Island, New York, for 1892 to
1924 can be found online at http://www.ellisisland.org/default.asp
There are a vast number of other free online sources,including the
many surname and regional message boards at
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=main&r=rw
That should get you started. Have fun and good luck
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
-
Bob Melson
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 11:54:47 -0600, Tedd wrote:
Among all the answers thus far, the one I haven't seen is probably the
wisest: Start with yourself.
Get copies of all the vital records that relate to you: birth, baptism,
marriage certificates. Do your wife and any kids at the same time. With
this information, begin a Family Group Record collection. Work outward
from your personal/immediate family information, adding a layer at a time:
parents, grandparents, etc.
Oral family history is important, too, and it's never too early to begin
collecting it. I bitterly regret that my parents passed before I became
interested in genealogy and that I never thought to ask them to tell me or
to write down what they knew or thought they knew. In my case, there are
no surviving members of my parents' generation to whom I can turn for this
vital information and I'm left, if not empty handed, greatly handicapped
by the lack.
Go to RootsWeb and Genealogy.com and explore their surname and locale fora
(forums). Pick the ones important to you and add them to your favorites
and have their daily "transactions" emailed to you.
It's everybody's tendency to apply a shotgun approach to this business --
I know I do/did -- but keep in mind that bad habits are hard to break. If
you start out in an organized fashion, you'll be way ahead of the game.
HTH
Bob Melson
--
Robert G. Melson | Nothing is more terrible than
Rio Grande MicroSolutions | ignorance in action.
El Paso, Texas | Goethe
melsonr(at)earthlink(dot)net
Hello everyone,
I'm just starting to trace my family history as project #1 and will follow
with my wife's a little later. I'm using Family Tree maker 2005 to record
findings. Are there suggestions as where to start with immigrants from
the UK. I'd appreciate sites that are free as I',I'm not employed and
charges can really climb I suspect. Can you imagine having to start with
Smith?
Many thanks for any assistance that you can provide.
Tedd
Among all the answers thus far, the one I haven't seen is probably the
wisest: Start with yourself.
Get copies of all the vital records that relate to you: birth, baptism,
marriage certificates. Do your wife and any kids at the same time. With
this information, begin a Family Group Record collection. Work outward
from your personal/immediate family information, adding a layer at a time:
parents, grandparents, etc.
Oral family history is important, too, and it's never too early to begin
collecting it. I bitterly regret that my parents passed before I became
interested in genealogy and that I never thought to ask them to tell me or
to write down what they knew or thought they knew. In my case, there are
no surviving members of my parents' generation to whom I can turn for this
vital information and I'm left, if not empty handed, greatly handicapped
by the lack.
Go to RootsWeb and Genealogy.com and explore their surname and locale fora
(forums). Pick the ones important to you and add them to your favorites
and have their daily "transactions" emailed to you.
It's everybody's tendency to apply a shotgun approach to this business --
I know I do/did -- but keep in mind that bad habits are hard to break. If
you start out in an organized fashion, you'll be way ahead of the game.
HTH
Bob Melson
--
Robert G. Melson | Nothing is more terrible than
Rio Grande MicroSolutions | ignorance in action.
El Paso, Texas | Goethe
melsonr(at)earthlink(dot)net
-
mickg
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
Tedd wrote:
MickG
Hello everyone,
I'm just starting to trace my family history as project #1 and will follow
with my wife's a little later. I'm using Family Tree maker 2005 to record
findings. Are there suggestions as where to start with immigrants from the
UK. I'd appreciate sites that are free as I',I'm not employed and charges
can really climb I suspect. Can you imagine having to start with Smith?
Many thanks for any assistance that you can provide.
Tedd
Look up the proliferation of advice on GenUKI (Google it)
MickG
-
Charani
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 04:38:45 GMT, Bob Melson wrote:
I agree whole heartedly with this.
Although I'd been interested in genealogy for many years before my
grandmother passed on, I didn't find out about a connection with a
NOTLEY family until after. I remembered her talking about "the
NOTLEYS" when I was a child, but could remember anything more than the
name. My father had also died by then and my (now late) mother
claimed not to know anything about them and couldn't remember then
name ever being mentioned; but that was most likely more to do with
the fact that she despised her mother in law as being beneath her.
Now there is no one left of either my parents or grandparents
generations.
I would also add that whilst oral family history is important, it's
equally important to verify the information given and not take it as
fact. All too often tales of being related to some well known/famous
person/family is more fantasy than fact unfortunately.
Oral family history is important, too, and it's never too early to begin
collecting it. I bitterly regret that my parents passed before I became
interested in genealogy and that I never thought to ask them to tell me or
to write down what they knew or thought they knew. In my case, there are
no surviving members of my parents' generation to whom I can turn for this
vital information and I'm left, if not empty handed, greatly handicapped
by the lack.
I agree whole heartedly with this.
Although I'd been interested in genealogy for many years before my
grandmother passed on, I didn't find out about a connection with a
NOTLEY family until after. I remembered her talking about "the
NOTLEYS" when I was a child, but could remember anything more than the
name. My father had also died by then and my (now late) mother
claimed not to know anything about them and couldn't remember then
name ever being mentioned; but that was most likely more to do with
the fact that she despised her mother in law as being beneath her.
Now there is no one left of either my parents or grandparents
generations.
I would also add that whilst oral family history is important, it's
equally important to verify the information given and not take it as
fact. All too often tales of being related to some well known/famous
person/family is more fantasy than fact unfortunately.
-
myron(nospam)wms
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
Tedd:
SMITH? That's a great name to research. Think of all the ancestors you
can choose from!
I held back on my mother's ALLENs thinking they'd be hard to track. Not
so. Just concentrate a bit more on WHERE than WHO.
Myron E. Williams
Crossville, TN
Tedd wrote:
SMITH? That's a great name to research. Think of all the ancestors you
can choose from!
I held back on my mother's ALLENs thinking they'd be hard to track. Not
so. Just concentrate a bit more on WHERE than WHO.
Myron E. Williams
Crossville, TN
Tedd wrote:
Hello everyone,
I'm just starting to trace my family history as project #1 and will follow
with my wife's a little later. I'm using Family Tree maker 2005 to record
findings. Are there suggestions as where to start with immigrants from the
UK. I'd appreciate sites that are free as I',I'm not employed and charges
can really climb I suspect. Can you imagine having to start with Smith?
Many thanks for any assistance that you can provide.
Tedd
-
kat >^.
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
"myron(nospam)wms" <"myron(nospam)wms"@charter.net> wrote in message
news:41E9C30F.7010306@charter.net...
Heh.
My middle name is Allen for my maternal grandmother. So when I started
tracing my father's line, the first person I found on-line who was chasing
the same people had the same middle name and maiden name, only flip-flopped
(I'm an Allen Dugger, she is a Dugger Allen)! Which was really cool. We
found Smith in there, too, but right now it's more of a marker, as it is
only found as a middle name yet. I know that it's a last name when we go
back far enough.
Good luck with your Smiths, Tedd . Don't believe everything you read on the
net, though. Get proof!
kat >^.^<
Kathleen Allen Dugger Tromp
news:41E9C30F.7010306@charter.net...
Tedd:
SMITH? That's a great name to research. Think of all the ancestors you
can choose from!
I held back on my mother's ALLENs thinking they'd be hard to track. Not
so. Just concentrate a bit more on WHERE than WHO.
Myron E. Williams
Crossville, TN
Heh.
My middle name is Allen for my maternal grandmother. So when I started
tracing my father's line, the first person I found on-line who was chasing
the same people had the same middle name and maiden name, only flip-flopped
(I'm an Allen Dugger, she is a Dugger Allen)! Which was really cool. We
found Smith in there, too, but right now it's more of a marker, as it is
only found as a middle name yet. I know that it's a last name when we go
back far enough.
Good luck with your Smiths, Tedd . Don't believe everything you read on the
net, though. Get proof!
kat >^.^<
Kathleen Allen Dugger Tromp
-
Donna
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
You've gotten so much good advice here. I can't add much to it, except to
say then when you are looking at census images, be sure to note who the
neighbors are. Very often I find married daughters living next door. Also
the proximity of families can tell you that they are possibly kin
(especially if it's a farming community) , and that gives you a bit of
information to follow.
Best of luck with this ---- you will find it a fascinating and worthwhile
pursuit.
Donna in Texas
say then when you are looking at census images, be sure to note who the
neighbors are. Very often I find married daughters living next door. Also
the proximity of families can tell you that they are possibly kin
(especially if it's a farming community) , and that gives you a bit of
information to follow.
Best of luck with this ---- you will find it a fascinating and worthwhile
pursuit.
Donna in Texas
-
D. Stussy
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005, Tedd wrote:
One other thing that hasn't yet been said: See if anyone in your family knows
if anyone else has already done any part of the work. If so, it may be easier
to get a copy and verify it (to the best of your ability) than to start from
scratch. [That means it needs to be documented with SOURCES.]
Remember that this should apply to each family that marries in. I know of
several cases in my own research where I've encountered other researchers who
are of my cousins' spouses' families. [Obviously, if you're doing only your
ancestors and not going to cover the other branches, you could skip this - but
sometimes, these "other sides" may have turned up information in your own line
that you haven't discovered yet.]
I'm just starting to trace my family history ...
One other thing that hasn't yet been said: See if anyone in your family knows
if anyone else has already done any part of the work. If so, it may be easier
to get a copy and verify it (to the best of your ability) than to start from
scratch. [That means it needs to be documented with SOURCES.]
Remember that this should apply to each family that marries in. I know of
several cases in my own research where I've encountered other researchers who
are of my cousins' spouses' families. [Obviously, if you're doing only your
ancestors and not going to cover the other branches, you could skip this - but
sometimes, these "other sides" may have turned up information in your own line
that you haven't discovered yet.]
-
Ron Martell
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
"D. Stussy" <kd6lvw@bde-arc.ampr.org> wrote:
I agree, and would go even further. Collaborative research can save a
lot of time and provide much better results.
When I started researching my father's family I kept encountering a
number of people in various mailing lists, newsgroups and forums. We
started exchanging emails and turned out that we were all distantly
related - 3rd, 4th and 5th cousins. We each had a bit of the overall
family history but there were differences and gaps in the information.
What we ended up doing was setting up a combined genealogy file and a
private mailing list to discuss our facts and findings. We
identified our common ancestor(s) and agreed to focus on documenting
the descendants of one ancestor who was born in 1733. After 3 years
we have almost completed the file, as best we can, with respect to the
first 5 generations of these descendants.
It has been a very worthwhile project and because of it and the web
site we have created from this information we have discovered much
additional information that none of us previously had, solved some
mysteries, and disproved some long-standing family legends.
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005, Tedd wrote:
I'm just starting to trace my family history ...
One other thing that hasn't yet been said: See if anyone in your family knows
if anyone else has already done any part of the work. If so, it may be easier
to get a copy and verify it (to the best of your ability) than to start from
scratch. [That means it needs to be documented with SOURCES.]
Remember that this should apply to each family that marries in. I know of
several cases in my own research where I've encountered other researchers who
are of my cousins' spouses' families. [Obviously, if you're doing only your
ancestors and not going to cover the other branches, you could skip this - but
sometimes, these "other sides" may have turned up information in your own line
that you haven't discovered yet.]
I agree, and would go even further. Collaborative research can save a
lot of time and provide much better results.
When I started researching my father's family I kept encountering a
number of people in various mailing lists, newsgroups and forums. We
started exchanging emails and turned out that we were all distantly
related - 3rd, 4th and 5th cousins. We each had a bit of the overall
family history but there were differences and gaps in the information.
What we ended up doing was setting up a combined genealogy file and a
private mailing list to discuss our facts and findings. We
identified our common ancestor(s) and agreed to focus on documenting
the descendants of one ancestor who was born in 1733. After 3 years
we have almost completed the file, as best we can, with respect to the
first 5 generations of these descendants.
It has been a very worthwhile project and because of it and the web
site we have created from this information we have discovered much
additional information that none of us previously had, solved some
mysteries, and disproved some long-standing family legends.
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
-
Tedd
Re: Just starting - Suggestions please
I've definitely received some very good suggestions. Thanks everyone. I can
see that this is going to be a lengthy project, but it'll be educational and
rewarding also. I'll try to keep in mind your suggestions and comments.
Tedd
"Ron Martell" <ron.martell@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:i533v0lg3b48n2ji8aukhubgum1pnak9hm@4ax.com...
see that this is going to be a lengthy project, but it'll be educational and
rewarding also. I'll try to keep in mind your suggestions and comments.
Tedd
"Ron Martell" <ron.martell@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:i533v0lg3b48n2ji8aukhubgum1pnak9hm@4ax.com...
"D. Stussy" <kd6lvw@bde-arc.ampr.org> wrote:
On Fri, 14 Jan 2005, Tedd wrote:
I'm just starting to trace my family history ...
One other thing that hasn't yet been said: See if anyone in your family
knows
if anyone else has already done any part of the work. If so, it may be
easier
to get a copy and verify it (to the best of your ability) than to start
from
scratch. [That means it needs to be documented with SOURCES.]
Remember that this should apply to each family that marries in. I know of
several cases in my own research where I've encountered other researchers
who
are of my cousins' spouses' families. [Obviously, if you're doing only
your
ancestors and not going to cover the other branches, you could skip this -
but
sometimes, these "other sides" may have turned up information in your own
line
that you haven't discovered yet.]
I agree, and would go even further. Collaborative research can save a
lot of time and provide much better results.
When I started researching my father's family I kept encountering a
number of people in various mailing lists, newsgroups and forums. We
started exchanging emails and turned out that we were all distantly
related - 3rd, 4th and 5th cousins. We each had a bit of the overall
family history but there were differences and gaps in the information.
What we ended up doing was setting up a combined genealogy file and a
private mailing list to discuss our facts and findings. We
identified our common ancestor(s) and agreed to focus on documenting
the descendants of one ancestor who was born in 1733. After 3 years
we have almost completed the file, as best we can, with respect to the
first 5 generations of these descendants.
It has been a very worthwhile project and because of it and the web
site we have created from this information we have discovered much
additional information that none of us previously had, solved some
mysteries, and disproved some long-standing family legends.
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."