Here are some more information for Family History:

First Steps to Start an Online Family History

Do you want to publish your family history on the Internet?

The answer is, "Yes". The primary reason is to capture and preserve in one place all family memories so that everyone can see it - and different family members can contribute. And, for most people, a blog is the best Internet publishing platform because it is relatively easy to learn and it costs little or nothing.

What if you are only interested in genealogy and a family tree plus a few photos and notes?

Then maybe a site like Ancestry.com will fit your needs. Ancestry has a good family tree application plus an organized approach to genealogy research.

After a free trial, for only a few dollars, using Ancestry saves hours and hours of researching other genealogy sites.

Or do you have a lot of family history material?

Biographies and associated material are the most popular elements of a family history. Family members may have much biographical material, including many photos and family stories. You may have family keepsakes, heirlooms and hand-me-downs to photograph and write about. And so forth. 

With more material, an online family history site will fit better than a genealogy only site.

Is the technology too difficult and too costly for an online Family History?

The answer to both questions is, "No". With the tools available, if a person can do email and navigate the Internet, that person can learn to write and publish a family history on the Internet with a blogging platform. For most people, even relative beginners, learning how will take only a few hours. In addition, various help facilities are available online.

How much time will this take?

As mentioned above, it will take most people only a few hours to learn to use the tools. After this learning period, how long it will take to do a family history depends, of course, on how much material will be included.

A benchmark might be less than one week, working a few hours a day, to do a smaller family history of a few pages and 10-20 photographs.

However, in most cases, the writer will take more time than originally thought because there will likely be more material to include than initially estimated.

However, usually the time needed ceases to be an issue because the work becomes interesting and fun!

Why write your family history?

The simple, but most significant answer is, "Because it's personally rewarding". I will explain.

Starting in 2002, I spent hundreds of hours as "Chief Writer and Editor" of the extensive A. E. Garden Family History. (I'm still adding material.)

It was a kick to capture in words the stories about my ancestors that I heard many times - adding associated photos and images of family historical items made it even more fun.

Also, I know that there is now a permanent record of my family history online for not only the present generation, but also for future generations to appreciate - truly gratifying!

The thanks of relatives who repeatedly express their appreciation is also gratifying.

For example, the grandchildren who never knew their grandfather loved reading the stories that characterized him and, in one grandchild's words, made him seem "real" - their appreciation was worth all my work!

It was also rewarding and fulfilling to work with and develop closer relationships with family members who contributed to this family history.

On a very personal basis, to be able to dedicate this to two people who cared very much about their ancestry - my father and my mother - was a huge satisfaction. My mother had spent many hours on our genealogy and it felt great to continue and expand her work. Also, in doing the research and the writing, I came to understand better how much my father had been "formed" by his ancestors - and therefore how important ancestors are to all of us.

You may find the results interesting if you enter into your Google search box: "why write a family history".

©  Copyright  January, 2010 by Dale Garden   

About the Author

Wrote and published extensive online ancestral family history, then began to help others do their own online family histories.

Formerly a corporate manager and management/business consultant now retired.

What is the best way to search for my family history?

I'm trrying to research my family history and I keep running into deadends, Any suggestions?

You didn't mention what country you are in... Yahoo! Answers is a worldwide forum, so I am going to answer your question as if you lived in the US. If you don't then, kindly disregard my answer.

If you are interested in doing your genealogy, the best way to get started is to start with yourself. Write down everything you know about your parents, then keep going back until you run stuck. Most people can get back to their grandparents and maybe a set of great grandparents. At this point there are so many ways to get back further in your tree. Much of it depends on the records available. For instance, it you live in the United States, public records are only going to take you back so far. Many localities weren't required to keep records until the late 1800's or even early 1900's, and many courthouses were burned in the Civil War destroying many of the existing records that were already in place. In Europe and many other countries, records go back a lot further. Other avenues of getting information are studying old land records, wills, cemeteries, city directories, local histories and military records. Another gold mine of information is if your parents kept old letters of the family. It wasn't uncommon in the early twentieth century for women to have post card books. Some old post cards have some interesting information as well. If you are young, you may have the honor of being able to interview your grandparents for information. If you do this, I would recommend taping the conversation because often it is impossible to remember everything they said and you will have a treasure for future generations. Even though tracing your tree yourself takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, you learn so much and it is so much more worthwhile than pulling up a tree on a website and wondering where in the world the author got their information.

First, ancestry.com does have a 14 day free trial-BUT you must cancel before the end of 14 days or they will charge your credit card. Also, don't be suprised if they ask you to put your cancellation in writing and fax it to them. I have had friends tell me that they had to do it this way to cancel. I personally have found the information at Ancestry.com very helpful. A few years ago, I had a 14 day trial and didn't find them to be worth the money, but over the last couple of years they have added so much. They have all years of the census fully indexed, immigration records, military records, newspapers, family trees and the list goes on. They have truly evolved the last couple of years and they keep adding more information.

Here is a list of some of the free genealogy websites.

www.rootsweb.com -This is a good one that is free. It is run by Ancestry.com but shouldn't be confused with Ancestry.com- the pay site.

www.cyndislist.com

www.familysearch.org website for the Church of the Later Day Saints.

www.genforum.com This is a site that is full of individual message boards. You can search and post by last name, state, country, or county. This is a great one. Simply post your question on the respective board, and when people answer you will get a notification on your E-mail. I have had a LOT of success on GenForum.

I must say, however, that a good genealogy query, doesn't just say. " I need information on John Smith" Try to provide as many dates, places, and details as possible. One little thing can make the difference as to the answer you get.

a good query has

1) the persons name
2) all of the biographical information you know to date and
3) asks a specific question

The reason a query should be so specific is because people won't waste your time and theirs telling you what you already know. I have done lookups for people already and reported my findings only to be told, "Well, I knew that!" It would have been helpful if they would have told me that they knew that from the beginning. I probably would have checked a different set of sources to further the search. Also, by providing ALL of your known information (for example, the childrens names) it gives people alternate people to research to help arrive at your answer.

http://www.usgenweb.org/ -When you get to the main page, you can get to the state and individual locality pages by clicking on the appropriate links. Keep in mind that some towns are going to have more information than some smaller obscure towns. It all depends on what kinds of volunteers contribute information to their sites. Genealogy is very much a hobby that depends on people.

Check your LOCAL LIBRARY. Many libraries have subscriptions to Ancestry.com or hertiage quest that you can Access from home with your library card number. Heritage Quest is geared mostly toward the US records.

www.interment.net or www.findagrave.com These are cemetery sites that have grown by leaps and bounds.

http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-b...

This is the link to the Social Security Death index. This is a very helpful resource to finding death dates of people who died in recent years (since about the 60's)

If your family immigrated to the US in the last 100-125 years you can try
www.ellisisland.org
This one is cool because you can actually have a look at the ships manifests!!

If you start your search for your ancestry, it will probably turn into an obsession. It is very addicting and it is like a big puzzle with so many benefits. You learn where your family came from, where they've been, often you can learn about family medical history. There just isn't a down side. Remember the old addage, "If you want something done right, you often have to do it your self." You are not going to just find your entire genealogy in one search. It is an ongoing puzzle. I tell people, if you can find one thing every time you are searching, you are doing GREAT. If you find any more than that at any given time you are LUCKY!! Write to me if you have any questions. I would be happy to help if I can. Blessings.

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A top barrister battling a divorce settlement 25 years after separating from his first wife should not have his second family "airbrushed" from history, the High Court heard.

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