Question about genealogy...

[ravic]

Maxwell? My maternal side has some Kirklands which is sept to Clan Maxwell. I'll check this out.

[Amyj]

Cool!  Ye be family!  I believe the info is located on the Clan Maxwell USA site.

Back to the original post...the Latter Day Saints datbase is incredibly helpful.  My grandmother has done a LOT of work with my Mom's side (I can join D.A.R. about 10 different ways now!) and the LDS info has been a great starting point.  I say starting point because the "meat" of her work has involved small local county records offices and some information from individuals on the web.  Depending on how far back you want to go, it can be quite the undertaking (my Dad is starting this on his side for his "retirement").

On a fun note, all the work has helped me find out that I'm related to both Walter Cronkite and James and Cole Younger (of the Jesse James gang).  Go figure...Most trusted man in America and Train robbers both in my history... 

[captmarga]

I don't understand how any state can deny the public access to public records.

Keep in mind that census records are sealed for a number of years BEFORE they become public records.  I believe it is 70 years before they are released, therefore, records on some people's grand parents may not yet be available.  They are also filed by County of birth, so the search IS frustrating.  I've been researching with my mother since I was big enough to sit at a microfiche.

There is a book on my maiden-name family history that was published a few years ago - and 75% of it is purely made-up.  Most of it was disproven before it was published.  The author took three or four lines and mixed them up terrible.

If there are repeat names in your family tree, it can go downhill fast.  That's why b-dates are so important.

And as for spelling, standardized spelling didn't really even exist until in the early 1800's.  It was not uncommon for a person to spell his own name two or even three different ways in the same document.

Names of immigrants were put down as best they could. Many didn't read or write on their own, they certainly couldn't help the registrar with the spelling of European names.  (If they even gave the correct name.  I am sure that when some left the country, they DECIDED to be "Smith".)  My own maiden name comes from a line of Huguenot nobles.  We know the one man who brought the name to the USA, and the year.  He himself signed six documents in one day using six different spellings of his name.  But any records prior to his coming to America are long gone, as anything linked to Huguenots is long gone in Europe.

And then there are the odd ones like Bexar (Bexar County in TX).  The story *I* grew up hearing was that there was a document to be signed.  It was expected that Mr Bear did not know how to write and his X was made for him.  But knowing how, he wrote BE and AR on either side of the X.  Is it true? Probably can't be verified.  But things like that certainly COULD happen, where someone wrote in one bit, someone corrected around it.  I've looked at thousands of census pages were the handwriting was perfect copperplate, and others where you went cross-eyed trying to figure out even half a name....

[ravic]

Uh, no. Bexar County (pron. Behar) was named from San Antonio de Bexar which was in turn named from Bexar, a City in Spain.

[Welsh Wench]

Try sorting through a family where the eight daughters are all named Marie!
That is when middle names come in handy. 

[BLAKDUKE]

I don't understand how any state can deny the public access to public records.

Keep in mind that census records are sealed for a number of years BEFORE they become public records.  I believe it is 70 years before they are released, therefore, records on some people's grand parents may not yet be available.  They are also filed by County of birth, so the search IS frustrating.  I've been researching with my mother since I was big enough to sit at a microfiche.

There is a book on my maiden-name family history that was published a few years ago - and 75% of it is purely made-up.  Most of it was disproven before it was published.  The author took three or four lines and mixed them up terrible.

If there are repeat names in your family tree, it can go downhill fast.  That's why b-dates are so important.

And as for spelling, standardized spelling didn't really even exist until in the early 1800's.  It was not uncommon for a person to spell his own name two or even three different ways in the same document.

Names of immigrants were put down as best they could. Many didn't read or write on their own, they certainly couldn't help the registrar with the spelling of European names.  (If they even gave the correct name.  I am sure that when some left the country, they DECIDED to be "Smith".)  My own maiden name comes from a line of Huguenot nobles.  We know the one man who brought the name to the USA, and the year.  He himself signed six documents in one day using six different spellings of his name.  But any records prior to his coming to America are long gone, as anything linked to Huguenots is long gone in Europe.

And then there are the odd ones like Bexar (Bexar County in TX).  The story *I* grew up hearing was that there was a document to be signed.  It was expected that Mr Bear did not know how to write and his X was made for him.  But knowing how, he wrote BE and AR on either side of the X.  Is it true? Probably can't be verified.  But things like that certainly COULD happen, where someone wrote in one bit, someone corrected around it.  I've looked at thousands of census pages were the handwriting was perfect copperplate, and others where you went cross-eyed trying to figure out even half a name....

Oh I know about census records and since I have all of the info in needed back to the 1930 census which is now available, I had no need of those at all.  I am talking about normal records like individual birth and death records.  You have to be a next generation relative to get them in New York state.  I can only get my mother or my fathers birth/death record, nothing beyond that.  I had an uncle by marriage that dies and since his name differed from mine I could not get his death record.   New York State sucks and always did, that is why I got out of there.

[BLAKDUKE]

Try sorting through a family where the eight daughters are all named Marie!
That is when middle names come in handy. 

On my mothers canadien french side all the boys first names are Romeo and all of the girls are Mary

[DonaCatalina]

One little tidbit that helps, at least among people descened from the British Isles before the War Between the States;
First born son named after his paternal grandfather
Second born son named after his maternal grandfather
Third born son named after his father.

First born daughter named after her paternal grandmother
Second born daughter named after her maternal grandmother.
Third born daughter named after her mother.

This was not a hard and fast rule but it sometimes helps.
i.e. census records for Thomas Spencer Freeman jr. shows him age 16 living with his father Thomas sr., oldest brother John both of whom were born in North Carolina.
Then in North Carolina you find an earlier census with John Freeman and son Thomas.

Of course if you have 7 Johns in a row like my DLH's family, the middle names are the big help.

[Julianne]

I don't know if the original poster still wants to pursue this topic.

I thought I'd bring it back from the dead....cause that's just the way I roll. ( see that's kind of a joke)

I'll help as much as I can.  I've somewhat dabbled rather well in gen research...cause I don't play with maybe's....I have to have proof before I pass my research unto you.  It's a gift...I know.   And I don't mess around with the supposition.  You are who you are by blood relative research and I've often found unfortunate news.  I'll deliver that to you because you are an adult.
On the bright side...I found a cousin here....a blood relative and that was very special to me since I have no family left alive currently.  A real cousin.  That is a lot.


If anyone else is interested let me know.

[Lady Christina de Pond]

also watch out for last name changes my aunt was searching back my grandfather's family and found ran into a dead end. the thought is that one of my great great grandfathers killed someone in self defense and to avoid being put in jail had to leave town. and changed the last name

[Jon Foster]

Genealogy can be very expensive and extremely time consuming. I worked on my family for 12-14 years before finally finding out my grandparents real names. But after that everything started to move along very well. For about 4-5 years anyway. Then I started to get into areas that required even more time, a lot more money and some crazy trips half way around the world. So I've been idle for a while now.

On the flip side, during that time I was able to track my wife's family (the Salkeld's) back to the late 1200's in the English West March. It turns out she is from one of the original Border Reiver families (http://www.borderreivers.co.uk/). Maybe that's why she likes the Ren Faires so much? Hmm... 

As for getting started, get a genealogy program and add yourself first. Then your husband/wife and your kids. After that, add your parents and the parents of your better half. Then add theirs and go as far back as you can etc. Once that is done get a cheap Ancestry.com membership. Use it to get all the basic information taken care of. For example, use it to verify all the information you added about yourself, parents and grandparents. To verify information you will be looking for the basics first. Census information (it has a ton of good info to get you going). Then start looking for death certificates, birth certificates, marriage certificates and anything else with legal names in hopes of finding more documents with ancestors names. Then you start looking for social security application forms. Visit graveyards and check with the offices to see what information they have on file (take pen, paper and a camera to document everything). Save everything to your computer and make hard copies as well. The hard copies come in real handy when you are up all night trying to make a connection between two people. After all of this you will be ready to really start your research.

At this point I think I've spent thousands of dollars on this "hobby". I've been working on it for years and see no end to the research any time soon... Here are a couple of examples of our work. Back in the spring of 2005 I drove around to every funeral home in the east end of Dearborn, Michigan until I found the one that processed my grandparents. I then had my first hard facts. I also found one of my uncles at the same funeral home. From there I went to the cemetery where they were buried. My real research started on that same day... On several occasions I've stayed up 30 and 40 hours at a time tracking down a name or record only to find dead ends. Another example. My wife had a very old picture of her grandfather leaning on a head stone with his family name on it. Not a living soul could identify where it was. We tracked it down by visiting every cemetery in the Unionville, Michigan area until we found it. We also found several other relatives of hers in the same graveyard. Including a recent grave with fresh flowers on it. We left a note with pictures and contact info printed on a laser printer in a baggy tied to the head stone. We had a e-mail with a few days and now we are connected with about 30-40 other family members... It's hard work for sure, but very rewarding work too.

Here's the head stone picture we stared with:



And here's the result of our persistence to find the location:



We also keep a fairly up to date family tree online in hopes other researchers find us:

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/f/o/s/Jonathan-T-Foster/index.html

Jon.

[captmarga]

also watch out for last name changes my aunt was searching back my grandfather's family and found ran into a dead end. the thought is that one of my great great grandfathers killed someone in self defense and to avoid being put in jail had to leave town. and changed the last name

Not only that, but variations in spelling.  The census recorder wrote down what he heard - which may or may not have been correct.  In working on Chris's family tree right now, I have a fellow with a wife named John on one census.  Earlier I find her as Jon.  I now find she's Jonetta, but also listed in two other family trees as Jon Etta.

James Pickney has been changed to Pinkney and Pinckney in two places.  Carneal has become Carnile, Stearns has become Sternes and even Storms.

It's a big puzzle for most, that has a lot of pieces in another box...

Capt Marga

[DonaCatalina]

Accent does make a bigger difference than you realize. Imagine a rural deep South Carolina census taker
listening to another southerner say the name Burkhalter.

It came out Buck-Hatter.
I've only gotten my family back to 1730 in the States, but my husband's family is back to 1485 in Wales.
I've dug around in dusty old courthouses, libraries and funeral home records. We've walked remote cemteries in 100 degree heat photographing tombstones.
It has been a lot of long frustrating work, until that moment when two or three pieces of data click into place.

My first real goose-pimply find was the record of my GGGrandfather's service under Gen'l Sam. He came to aid Travis as a fellow native of South Carolina. He arrived too late to make it to the Alamo, but served in the Runaway Scrape all the way through San Jacinto.
I had a pretty good idea of what he would look like from photos of my grandparents and uncles.
So I held the photocopy of the muster roll he had signed and I could picture him as he held the original.
It is a sense of connection that you have to experience to understand.

I would wish that experience for everyone.

[Welsh Wench]

I have a photocopy of the Oath of Allegiance signed by my great great grandfather from the Battle of Vicksburg. He was a POW for a few days. The paper made him  swear he would never again take up arms against the North, basically.
After the seige, I guess his heart just wasn't in it anymore.

He was free to go back to his farm in Thibodaux, LA.
Or what was left of it.

I can join DAR seven different ways from NY to PA to LA.
Do I want to?
NO.
Although I do have the little black dress, pearls and heels to go with it.

[BLAKDUKE]

Although I do have the little black dress, pearls and heels to go with it.

somehow I just have a hard time picturing you in that.

Maybe just the ................   ooopppssss better stop there.