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Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
Mom's side: Polish, Prussian, German
Dad's side: Irish, Polish, German, French
What does everyone use to research geneology? I'm really interested in it but almost all the surnames in my family are very common.
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Your best bet is to start at home. Ask who's who in your family. Who are your grandparents? What are the maiden names? Where did they live? Who were their parents? Realize that half of what will be told is embroidered! There are some great forms to use at
http://www.usgenweb.org/researchers/...ng.html#forms. There are several different filing systems; find the one you're most comfortable with, and stick to it! Remember that spelling is never standard! I know of 28 ways of spelling "McCullough"!
See if there's a genealogical society in your area. The National Genealogical Society has a site at
www.ngsgenealogy.org. Other sites are
www.rootsweb.com, www.kindredkonnections.org, www.genealogy.org, www.usgenweb.org, www.genforum.com, and of course, the Latter Day Saints at
www.familysearch.org. The LDS maintains awesome records, as it's part of their religion - and they couldn't be nicer about letting the rest of us use their records! Most lineage societies maintain a site, too, such as
www.dar.org - which also provides a free ancestor look up service. There are a ton of free email sites, too ( such as
www.ancestry.com).
When using a message board, ask for the proof behind any help given! I cannot stress that enough! When my mama & I were doing ours, we found two families who lived within four miles of each other, and the names were identical for three generations!! In order to prove which was ours, we had to prove which
weren't ours. When I see well-meaning people try to say that these two lines are the same, I ask for the proof. It's easier to know up front that you're going down the wrong trail than research it for years and THEN find out! (Yes, I've been there. Yes, it's terribly frustrating!)
If you have any questions, feel free to pm me. I'm far from an expert, but I really do intend to make genealogy my second career!
