Question about genealogy...

[appljx]

My fiance and I have been discussing for a long time about where he came from and where I came from and all that.  Does anyone here have an interest in genealogy and the means to research for us (or help us do it!!)?  Thanks! 

[Lord Figaro]

You may want to ask Julianne in the Arizona boards, she'll be a good resource to help get you started. But to get your feet wet, you may want to try www.genealogy.com to get you on your way.

[ravic]

If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with a true geneology library, start there. The librarians are usually trained in the science & almost always willing to help a newbie.

[Welsh Wench]

One thing---while the Latter Day Saints' site has alot of information, use it only as clues and not as gospel. The information is only as reliable as the person submitting the data.

Also, research the history of the area they settled in. Get the feel for the time and the area they lived in.

I was fortunate. I had Cape Cod English and Louisiana Creole, both of which kept excellent records.

The internet is invaluable in research.

[anne of oaktower]

My fiance has been working on his family history for a couple of years now.  He keeps running into snags, but persistence pays off.  One thing he has learned that others really need to keep in mind is that the U.S. was much different not so very long ago.  Census records for PA had his ancestor living a particular county, but that county had no such record...then he discovered that the census occurred at a time when there were only a half-dozen or so counties in the state.  Once we realized that new counties had been established and the ancestor actually lived in an area that had become one of those new counties, the pieces began to fall into place again.

Lesson learned:  Be very aware of how time (and mankind) changes all things.  That includes names of counties and towns, names and locations of roads (some of which don't even exist anymore), and, believe it or not, water ways (the location of streams, lakes, and even rivers can be changed by man over the course of time).

[Capt. Bacardi]

My fiance and I have been discussing for a long time about where he came from and where I came from and all that.

Well one night mommy and daddy went to the bar and did some slammers. Then went home and closed the bedroom door and nine months later the stork showed up with you.....   

Julianna has help me look into my history. Unfortantaly no lost money or kingship waiting for me thou. 

[DonaCatalina]

http://www.rootsweb.com
This is a good starting place. Sifting through the databases can be time consuming, but the mailing lists can be a goldmine. I have traced my DLH's ancestry back to Wales in 1554. Mine..........not so much.
Good luck with your hunting!

[Trillium]

Also keep in mind that the spelling of last names can vary depending on who logged it in when your family arrived in this country.  It can get particularly difficult with Slavic and Scandanavian names.

[BLAKDUKE]

My fiance and I have been discussing for a long time about where he came from and where I came from and all that.  Does anyone here have an interest in genealogy and the means to research for us (or help us do it!!)?  Thanks! 

All of the suggestions made are very valid.  However randomly going thru the internet and picking out names that seem familiar can be dicey to say the least.  Also random info requests to the various genealogy web sites can return a mountain of info.  Fortunately there is a way to narrow that down and unless you were born in outer space the info is not to hard to get except in states that have declared themselves as closed record states, New York is one of those.  I don't understand how any state can deny the public access to public records.  I'm sure a lawyer can get around it but onto other info.  First question any living relatives for whatever info they may have.  Your, yourself have info.  You know your parents names and you should know your grandparents names.  If they are still alive ask them where they were born.  If your great grand parents are no longer alive ask where they died.  Write to the city hall where they died and ask for a death record.  If they have that and you can get it then it should have their parents names and in some cases where they were born.   Keep doing that until you feel that you have gotten all of the info that is readily available.  While doing this purchase the latest full edition of Family Tree Maker and start entering all of the data that you accumulate.   When you get FTM you will get several CD's that will contain published genealogies, perhaps a distant cousin has already done the deed and contains all the info you need.  My wife and I found her great great uncle that way after I published my genealogy which contained her tree as well and 3 months later I got an envelope from half-way around the world laying out 8 generation of this great great uncles descendants and it came from New Zealand.   Good luck.  

[BLAKDUKE]

Also keep in mind that the spelling of last names can vary depending on who logged it in when your family arrived in this country.  It can get particularly difficult with Slavic and Scandanavian names.

More so than you can imagine.  In the early days of Ellis Island when it was manned by, shall we say, not the sharpest knives in the drawer, your ancestor left home with his/her name of Wojahojahowski from Poland and upon exiting Ellis Island his/her name is now Smith.  Try tracing that family tree.  Believe me there are documented incidents of that occurring although they are most likely to deny that ever happened.  I am even not to sure that the 'a' in my name Kahl was not originally an 'o'.   I have my original immigrant ancestors alien declaration and no one who has seen it can tell for sure one way or another, but seeing as how the Kahl spelling was in the city directories from 1855 on we are taking it for granted that it is correct.   

[Trillium]

Oh, I know!!  My dad is Polish and my mom is Swedish!  The records for my dad's side probably has 3 or 4 different spellings for the last names!  That's why I wanted to include that little tidbit!

[ravic]

Also keep in mind that the spelling of last names can vary depending on who logged it in when your family arrived in this country.  It can get particularly difficult with Slavic and Scandanavian names.

More so than you can imagine.  In the early days of Ellis Island when it was manned by, shall we say, not the sharpest knives in the drawer, your ancestor left home with his/her name of Wojahojahowski from Poland and upon exiting Ellis Island his/her name is now Smith.  Try tracing that family tree.  Believe me there are documented incidents of that occurring although they are most likely to deny that ever happened.  I am even not to sure that the 'a' in my name Kahl was not originally an 'o'.   I have my original immigrant ancestors alien declaration and no one who has seen it can tell for sure one way or another, but seeing as how the Kahl spelling was in the city directories from 1855 on we are taking it for granted that it is correct.   

Not just the immigration records either. Since all census, tax records, property records, yada yada, were handwritten, many of the names were taken down phonetically. There is, like, 14 variations of my paternal name  in this country & I'm related to some spelled differently & not at all to some spelled the same. Plus census records tend to only name the head of the house & maybe the spouse. Everybody else gets a gender & an age. AND the info is dependent upon who was home the day the census taker showed up.

A good bit of this info has not yet been digitized & is still on microfilm/fiche in the libraries. Good Luck.

[appljx]

Thank you all for your help!  Here's hoping!

[Molden]

Checking timing of me arrival - I suspect I'm the direct result of a "little birthday present" me Mum gave me Da' in early February! 

[Amyj]

I don't know about other groups/clans, but the Clan Maxwell Society has a neat thing where you can send in a DNA sample and they can match you with others who have done the same.  They are building some database.  My Dad sent in his DNA and should get a report pretty soon.  You might look into that too?

I just noticed the possible irony of my post regarding DNA coming directly after Molden's post...