Genealogy Pointers

Even in the field of genealogy you will find companies out there that will scam you if you let them. Even the knowledgeable have been sucked into one scam or another in their career. If you look up the meaning of scam, it is defined as “a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation.” This is exactly what these companies are doing to innocent people like you. The best defense against scams, hoaxes, and other deceptions is to be knowledgeable. The old saying is; if it sounds to good to be true, it’s probably not!

In order to not be sucked into a scam, you have to do your research before you send any of your hard earned money to any company. Below is some information about four different scams that are out there hunting for you. Being a genealogist, I have received several of these myself. You may receive the information by regular mail or by email. Genealogy is so wide known on the Internet that anyone can find you.

1. Your family history scam
A letter comes in the mail that claims to have done extensive research on the history of your surname. They might be introducing it in a form of a book. Saying it’s a wonderful book, one of a kind that traces your family surname back to the 1500’s. This sounds to good to be true, well it isn’t.

These books are just a generic form of your surname. The book usually will contain some general information on how to trace your family tree, a brief history of your surname, and then a list of names, like a phone book. The surname is so broad ranged that your particular family isn’t even in there.

There are a few other items to watch out for: Companies that are offering your family history, and the origin of your surname. These are printed on plaques. These only give you a generic history or the surname origin of some of the people that do hold that particular name. There is nothing on your particular branch of that name.

So any company that mass-produces items on an individual family history is only out for one thing, your money. Stay away!

2. Falsified Genealogy Credentials
Just because a genealogist doesn’t have a professional certification doesn’t mean they don’t know what they are doing. But it is very easy for an amateur family historian to charge for tracing a family tree. The government usually doesn’t require genealogist to be licensed, but professional genealogy organization have required screening programs.
So it’s easy for people to be misled by inappropriate credentials.

Before you ever hire a professional researcher, make sure you do your homework and know exactly what you are getting for your money.

3. Confusion of Coat of Arms
First and foremost, there is no coat of arms for a surname and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. A coat of arms belongs to an individual, not an entire family or the entire world with the same surname. For an individual to have a coat of arms, they had to of been granted one or be a direct descendent in a direct male line from the person whom had the coat of arms originally.

There are hundreds of companies out there that will sell you your coat of arms printed on what ever you would like, cups to t-shirts. Some companies are not out to get you but their advertisements are misleading. They say they have your coat of arms but how do they know if your family line has inherited it and has the right to display it.

I can verify this to be a fact. My father is a direct line back to the first person granted a coat of arms. I have been able to find the original coat of arms and I know who now holds the coat of arms in England. No company that I have found on the Internet can give me the right information for my surname. So if you are looking for something fun, go ahead and order away, but if you are looking for the legitimate thing, keep hunting and stay away from these companies.

4. Phony Inheritance Scam
This is the one I really like. You receive a letter out of the blue claiming that you have an unclaimed inheritance and that it has been found. A full report with details will be sent to you telling you how to claim your inheritance for a fee.

Hundreds upon hundreds of these letters go out everyday and they take in many people. What they are doing is, taking the money people send in for the fee and run.

If you really have an inheritance coming to you, you will be notified by a lawyer.

There are many more genealogy scams out there so always be aware, and ask yourself, can this be true?

As a kid growing up I never took note of all the old stories that my relatives would tell when we would all get-together for holidays or family reunions. I thought it was boring and wondered why would you want to set around and talk about this! Now as the years have passed, I have my own family and most of my relatives have passed on, I wish I had listened to all those old stories. Those old stories are worth more than people will ever realize, that is why tracing your family tree, called genealogy is so important. I have been tracing family trees for 10 years now and the mystery story never ends.

I know, you are saying why would you ever want or need to know about your ancestors that have been dead for years, you never ever met them, and you don’t need to know about them.

About every person during his or her lifetime will run across something that will refer back to their ancestors whether it is an illness that the doctors say is hereditary or a name that has been handed down. Where did these thing come from, how did they start?

In order to answer these and many more questions everyone needs to know where they came from even if it is just back to your grand parents names. Genealogy has become very important in everyone’s lives in today’s world. The majority of the population is entering their final phase of life and they are realizing that family is very important; even the younger generations are taking note of the importance of family.

For myself learning about my accessorial family has brought me closer in realizing that if you don’t have family you have nothing, your life is empty. In learning to understanding yourself you also understand where you came from, how you got here, why do you have the values, morals and beliefs you have.

In working on your family tree or even someone else’s you see things that are repeated from one generation to another, why is one person able to play the piano by ear and the other can’t. You see thing through the ancestors eyes, how they worked, what they wore, what they ate, how they lived. They appreciated their lives more than people do today; things weren’t taken for granted.

In order to do genealogy you have to try to travel back in time in which your ancestor lived. Yes, this can be a difficult thing to do but it is easier to develop an understanding of the social, political, and the working of there daily lives.

By looking at recorded history, document and journals that have survived plus other resources you can develop a picture of what their average life was like. But looking through stacks of papers, volumes of books is not the only thing involved in genealogy, Just by trying to find proof that a particular person existed by their birth and death dates is not enough. It’s an adventure to discover what we call our lives into reality. It’s reality that is hidden from the living to try to understand the facts that were recorded over an allotted period of time.

A genealogist is basically a time traveler that with each new discovery they become transported to that time period and into the lives of that person. They dig through the ashes to discover the details of the lives that lived at that time, they discover forgotten letters, public records, diaries, photos and many more as they push and prod on.

Genealogy is like a mystery story, you look for clues and search for evidence, the more you dig the more you find. What makes this more interesting is it’s your personal mystery story.

Have I got your curiosity up? Are you wondering, right now, who are your ancestors? Thinking to yourself what you can find, what you might not want to find. That’s right with all the wonderful things you can find on your ancestors you will probably come across something you might not want to know. These are the “skeleton in the closet” that could come out. Just remember that everyone has these and time has past so they won’t hurt you or anyone else.

If you would like to start a family tree it is at first an easy process. Just start with yourself; write down your name and birth date, where you were born and where you have and are living. Then add you immediate family. Take some time and write or record (if you have a tape recorder) any life stories you would like to have remembered. Things you did as a kid, vacations you went on, people you met. These stories are more important that any dates you will record.

What ever you do and I know you will be tempted, don’t go to the Internet, this will only confuse you at this starting point. You have to have a point of beginning before you can travel down the road to get to your destination. Everyone that decides to research his or her family tries to rush, wants all the answers now, doesn’t want to wait. Genealogy is a slow process. Think of it as driving your car at a slower speed to make your gas tank go further.

After you have taken the time to record yourself it is time to move on to your parents. If they are alive discuss with them what you are doing and why. Remember not everyone is interested in genealogy or they have never even thought of it. Explaining why you are working on your family tree and how important it is to you will help other people understand your reasoning’s. This process needs to be used with every family member that you will have contact with. Don’t push for the information; people will only give you what they want you to know.

Now that you have your parent’s information then if your grandparents are alive, visit with them. If they have already passed on then see what your parents can remember about their parents. Don’t forget to ask for any stories of their childhood and before you were old enough to remember things.

This is basically the process you will work on with each live individual. Once you have information from your parents and about your grand parents then check with any siblings that they have. Sometimes you will get the same stories and other times you can get a complete different story. This is where the mystery investigation begins, if you want to call it that!

The next step you need to do is to go to the Internet. Now stop, the Internet is a vast system and can give you the right information if you let it but it can also confuse and take you down the wrong path. Don’t just go to the search engine and start typing to see what you come up with. This can also make you discouraged and you’ll end up giving up.

The first web site you need to check out is cindyslist. This Web site is full of information that you have to spend the time reading and I’m saying read. Don’t just start clicking; you’ll end up in “tim-buck-to” if you let yourself. The next wonderful site is rootsweb.com. You will use this a lot. People have posted their family lines, there are hundreds of message boards that you can read and post your own questions on, and rootsweb will even teach you how to start and what to do. After years of genealogy research I still go back to this site often.

Now there are many Web sites that you will come across that in order to use them you have to pay a subscription fee. My advice is to not do this now. There are many people that will be willing to do the look-ups for you, all you have to do is ask nicely and you will get several offers. As time goes by and you become familiar with the process that you do with each generation you will probably want to subscribe to one of the paying sites. The best one that I use is ancestry.com. Every once in awhile ancestry will offer a free service for an allotted amount of time; take advantage of this so you can see what is all available and make a determination if you would like a membership or not.

In working with genealogy research you have to remember to take it slow. Talk to all living relatives and document their stories and dates. Talk to them about past relatives that they remember. Use the Internet as your friend; it will help you if you let it and so will the millions of other genealogist out there.

Genealogy is something that no one can take away from you and you will be leaving behind a legacy for your grandchildren, their grandchildren and so on. Genealogy is an historical blessing that is shared between generations and passed down to them from their ancestors.

Are you at a brick wall in your genealogy research? Did you know that two head are better than one! Finding researchers that are working on the same branch or even the same surname can increase answers to question and fill in gaps.

Genealogy is one of the most popular hobbies in the United States today, so there is bound to be someone out there who is researching the same family line as you.

How to find that person, is the question and here is a method to try.

Post an Inquiry.
What is an inquiry, it’s a message that lets other people know that you are researching your family line and which one. Message boards are an excellent place to post your inquiry because they reach a wide audience all around the world. Online services like rootsweb and genform are genealogy forums that you can post these types of messages.

Plus posting your own inquiry, you are able to check for inquiries that might relate to your family research that was posted by other people.

So how do you post messages that will get you result?
First thing you have to understand that most message boards are public, so when you do post a message on the Internet it will be out there for anyone and everyone to read. You have no idea who is going to read your message or who might quote portions of it to share with other people. You want to make sure that your message you want to post only contains information that you are ready to share with everyone.

You also need to know that once you submit your message you won’t be able to go back and change it; they are permanent. So double check for any typos and that it’s exactly what you want to say.

Message boards guidelines
Web site usually has rules and regulations that you have to follow. They are usually about the frequency and content of messages that they will allow on their boards. An individual monitors some message boards and some are not. If you look for the words “policies,” “user agreements,” or “terms of use,” these will out line the rules for you.

The key is to post your message in one or two places that is the most appropriate and will receive the best response. Don’t leave the same message in every available message board or you can get kicked of, this is irritating to some people and they will report you. Try to stick with the right topic of the message board.

There are several genealogical message boards that people go to. The most used is rootsweb.com and genforum.com. Visit these sites and get a feel for how they are run before you post your message. Here are something’s that you can do to help ensure that your message receives positive responses.

The more information you can give the less confused people get when they read your message. Make your message rich in details this will attract more responses. I have seen messages that just state “looking for Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” This doesn’t tell anyone anything. Someone will probably take the time and email you back to ask you for more details but most people will just delete the message. So the greater the details you provide the greater chance of linking up with someone that is seeking the same individual. Some common thing to include in your message is:

Full name, including any middle name or initials you know of.
Dates: Birth, Marriage, and Death.
Places where the events occurred.
Residence and migration from county to county, town to town, state to state.
Names of their siblings if you know, names of their children and their parents.

Good Grammar
Make sure you have good grammar, spelling and punctuation, this is very important. If you don’t write well no one will respond to your post. Good grammar is like an invitation to others. Your message needs to be easily understood with few errors; this makes it easier for other researchers researching the same topic to comprehend your message. So make sure you proofread your message before you click that “Submit” button.

There is definitely one good reason you want your message posted with no typos; that is the search engine. You want the search engine to pick up your message and display it right when someone else is searching for the same family you are.

Oh, and don’t forget to double-check your email address. You want that researcher to be able to contact you!

About everyone that has lived in America for generations knows about war. If your ancestor started from the colonies or came to America several generations later, all have known war. We as American’s can claim at least one individual who served our country bravely and proudly. Even if you don’t know who that individual was you can do a bit of research and find out.

So where do you start, well, think back. If your in your twenties and your grandfather or your great grandfather is still alive there might lie your answer; either probably served in WWII. If either is not alive then there are ways of finding out if any of your ancestors served in the military.

1. How to determine if an ancestor served in the military.
There are several things you can search for in order to find clues in locating an ancestor that served in the military.

Family Stories: This is usually how people find an ancestor that served in the military, by asking family members that are older than your are.

Grave Markers: Most gravestones will have a military mark engraved on the head stone. It will usually have the initials of the branch of serves and the individuals rank.

Photographs: Try to locate old pictures of family members. Look for anyone in a uniform. Most military personnel had their pictures taken in uniform.

Death Records & Obituaries: Most death certificates will have a place that has been checked or written information, if the individual served in the military.

Newspaper clippings: Newspapers can be a big help if your ancestor lived in a small town. Usually they will list the individuals that went to war.

Local Histories: Check with libraries for the history of the town or county. Most have books written about the people that lived there.

Journals, Diaries, and Letters: These could have been handed down from generation to generation.

2. Once you have determined that an ancestor of yours served in the military, you will want to document their service. Military records can provide lots of genealogical material about your ancestor like birthplace, age at enlistment, names of immediate family members and occupation.

Compiled military service records
If you ancestor served in the American Revolution, War of 1812, and the Civil War most of these records were destroyed by fire in 1800 and 1814. In 1894 reconstruction of these lost records was started to collect military documents from a variety of sources. These collected records are called Compiled Military Service Records; they are in an envelope that is sometimes referred to as a ‘jacket’. These jackets can contain abstracts of an individuals service records. These can include muster rolls, rank rolls, prison records, enlistment and discharge documents, hospital records, and payrolls.

Bounty land records
If you ancestor served in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, early Indian Wars, or the Mexican War then he probably received land. Receiving a land bounty was a grant of land from the government as a reward for the risks and hardships they endured in the service to their country. Basically these land claims were based on wartime service between 1775 and 1855.

Pension records or veteran’s claims
A pension record was based on service in the armed forces of the United States between 1775 and 1916. The National Archives hold these records of pension payments for veterans, their widows, and other heirs. These pension files can include narratives of events during service, depositions of witnesses, discharge papers, marriage certificates, birth and death records, and other information.

Draft registration records
During World War I there were three drafts; all men that were born between 1873 and 1900 had to register. These draft registration cards could contain information like name, birth date, place born, occupation, physical description, dependents, and nearest relative. The original WWI draft registration cards are at the National Archives, Southeast Region, in East Point, Georgia. In order to access these original records you have to know the individual’s full name and the city, county, and state of residence at the time they registered.

Military service records
These records are basically available at the National Archives and the National Personnel Records Center. All enlisted men that served in the regular Army throughout our country’s history; including discharged and deceased veterans of all services during the 20th century. Unfortunately, on July 12, 1973, a fire at the National Personnel Records Center destroyed about 80 percent of the records of veterans discharged from the Army between November 1912 and January 1960 and about 75 percent for individuals that were discharged from the Air Force between September 1947 and January 1964, alphabetically through Hubbard, James E. There has been an effort made to try to replace some of these lost records by asking the public if they have any information to please let the National Personnel Records Center know. The majority of these records will never be replaced.

When you are working in the Genealogy field you have communication with all kinds of people, from all races of life in this world. Some people are Professional Genealogist and others are just doing genealogy for a hobby.

So what is the right way to communicate? What are the dangers to look out for when someone approaches you for your family information and what about those web sites that invite you to submit your information? The answer is, proper etiquette. There are rules to be followed and pros and cons that you need to be aware of.

Here are some basic guidelines to help you when these situations arise.

The most important thing that everyone who does research, know matter what the field of interest is, always be aware that not every person in the world cares who you are or how you got your information. They just want it and will run.

If someone approaches you for your information there are certain thing you should find out before you every hand over yours.

Ask how this person found you; did someone you know give out your name, address? You are looking for honesty. The contact should be able to tell you right away how they found out about you.

Find out if you give out your information, what does the contact have for you in return and when should you expect it? When, is the key word; you could be waiting forever and never receive anything. The general rule is to never give out anything until you have received.

You should ask for examples of what the contact already has. The contact will have to have some information on your family or they wouldn’t be contacting you. This way you will know automatically if this person is on the up-and-up.

If you feel content with this person and they are connected with your family somehow, you are in the position to be generous if you want, but there are string attached. Don’t give out your information until you know exactly what will happen to your material.

This is where you will just have to trust you instincts. You can copy right your material except the information like, documents, birth, death, and marriage certificates. These are in the public domain. Keep a record of the conversation, date and time.

So now you are seeking information from an individual. The first thing you should do is to be ready for the initial conversation. Have your family information ready with copies made and ready to send. This will show that you are honest in your approach and that will go a long way in gaining the confidence of your contact.

You also need to discuss who you are and how you found this person. Make sure you go through everything that you have researched, that includes sites on the Internet, so the contact person will realize you are working hard to gain more information.

Remember, you are digging into lives of people that may be sensitive in certain areas, so you need to tread lightly. You will be communicating with a lot of elderly individuals so don’t be demanding or pestering phone calls. This age bracket of individuals expects courtesy, consideration and patience. The name of the game is give and you shall receive. You will also receive new friends.

Never charge for your information in order to receive a reward. Your information like everyone else’s is not set in stone. When you trade information with other people your research is a conglomerate of sources.

Don’t expect other people to do thing for you without some generous or decent gift like any new information you come across. Keep the communication flowing between yourself and your contacts. This is a common courtesy in return for favors given to you.

Now we move on to those web sites out there that invite historians to submit their information.

If you find a web site that someone has entered information on your family, you have the option of contacting the Webmaster to submit the information you have collected. If you chose to do this, there is something’s to be aware of.

Most website owners are happy that you have something new to be added but don’t assume your information is wanted. You will run across sites that the Webmaster doesn’t’ want any more information. They either don’t have the time or they are finished with the site.

You have to be very clear with what information you would like to give. Don’t demand that your information has to be put on the site; Website owners don’t like to be dictated to. Don’t expect your information to be entered exactly the way you want it and don’t be surprised if you find your information scattered all over the Internet without any attribute to your generosity. This is just the way thing are.

You will probably have one or more bad experiences with someone out there but not all people are out to get your information. If you follow the rules of proper etiquette, be courteous, have patience, and consideration for others, this will go along way. Ask questions, be generous with your information and they will offer theirs. Keeping in contact with your contacts will gain you a world of friendship.

Email is a very important tool for genealogy research. It’s a quick and easy way for researchers to converse from all over the world. Very often it’s not possible for relatives to interview each other face to face. Or you have found an individual that could be a potential cousin or a researcher that is researching the same surname but lives on the opposite side of the world. This person may or may not have the information you are seeking and is also someone you have never met before; you can use email to establish a friendly and, hopeful long lasting connection.

I have listed 5 basic email tips to consider following when you don’t know the individual you want to contact. These basic email tips can also be used for other topics other than genealogy.

1. Simple is the key
When you are ready to email an individual that you don’t know, the rule of thumb is to keep it simple. You should tell this individual who you are and how you received their name and email address. Explain how you are related to the family you are contacting them about. Tell the individual why you are interested in the family history.

Don’t bombard the recipient with questions or your family tree in this first initial email.
Consider this email your introduction as if you were standing right in front of him or her and shaking their hand.

2. The Subject line has to catch their eye!
Today people are overwhelmed by the amount of email they receive. People often scan the subject lines for any important emails and the rest are just left unopened and sent to the delete file. This has become a necessity because of Spam and viruses.

Subject lines that just say “Hi” usually are not opened.

When I’m emailing someone that is new to me, I always include the surname or the full name if possible, of the specific ancestor that I’m writing about in the subject line. Also don’t forget to put the word genealogy. For example, a subject line like, “Mills Genealogy” is apt to receive attention than just “Hi.”

3. Language Barrier
What do you do if the recipient doesn’t speak or read your language? Then you need to see if you can find someone that does. If this fails, there are many sites on the Internet that can help you. There are many that you can type in your text and have it translated to the language you need or want.

Another tip on language translation – When I’m searching for my French ancestors, I use Google. You don’t have to do anything special, just search as usual. When there is a site that has non-English results there is a “translate this link” that will take you to the English version.

4. Be Conservative
Once you have communicated with this new individual, still, take it slow. The individual may have a few reservations about sharing their information. Ask them for just a few helpful basic facts and reassure them of your discretion. If they refuse to share information, don’t press them. Try by showing them some of your basic facts on the family. By doing this slowly, over time the recipient will come to see that you are honest and sincere about your research. Remember though, some people just won’t share anything, just move on with your own personal research.

5. Remember to “Thank” them
When people take time out of their day to corresponded with you and share there hard earned work, the least you can do is email them back with a “Thank you.” It can be easy to get caught-up with new discoveries and just leave the email hanging in your inbox. Remember when you sent your information to someone and you wondered why you hadn’t heard back from them; take the time to thank the person and that thank you will go a long way if you ever have to contact the person again. Also it is nice to keep them informed on your progress of your research with any new information.

If you can try to make these basic 5 tips a routine, then you will have cherished family and friends forever.

When you hear the name “Ellis Island,” most people think of the millions of immigrants that pasted through. Coming from all walks of life to a land they have never seen before. Coming from cramped, unsanitary conditions during their Atlantic voyage, to long lines and dreaded medical inspection, Ellis Island was their “Isle of Hope.” But most people do not know the long historical journey the island had before the first immigrant could pass through its gates.

Ellis Island was known by several names before it was finally called Ellis Island. The Mohegan tribe called it Gull Island in the early 1600’s. The island consisted of two to three acres and during high tide; the island could scarcely be seen. The Dutch discovered its rich oyster beds in 1628 and renamed it Oyster Island. In 1728, Anderson the Pirate was hanged and the island was renamed again. It was called Gibbet Island after the instrument used to hang him. Finally, Samuel Ellis purchased the property on January 20, 1785, and gave it his name, which it has been called ever since.

After the property was passed down through several of Samuel Ellis’s descendents, the island was bought by the state of New York. Then sold to the federal government in 1808 for ten thousand dollars. During the years of 1812 to 1814, Fort Gibson was erected but was dismantled by the government in 1861. The United States Navy, in 1876, used the island for a munitions depot, storing 260,000 pounds of powder. In 1890, the depot was removed, because of complaints from nearby New Jersey residents. In this same year, the House Committee of Immigration chose Ellis Island as the new site for a new immigrant screening station. The original station at Castle Garden could no longer handle the large flow of immigrants.

The island had to be increased to 3.3 acres by means of landfill and a ferry slip to handle the new facility. During the next two years the island was enlarged to 14 acres to handle the immigration depot and other building. In 1892, Ellis Island was ready for business.

On opening day the first immigrant to pass through was Annie Moore, a fifteen-year-old girl. Col. John B. Weber presented her with a ten dollar gold piece, which she never parted with.

The registry room was the most impressive room. It measured 200 feet by 100 feet and has a vaulted ceiling. Divided by iron bars were 12 narrow aisles that channeled the new arrivals to be examined by doctors at the front of the room. The building had its problems, leaking roof, doors that were not on hinges, wouldn’t close properly and sometimes would fall off.

In 1882, the Chairman of a joint House-Senate investigating committee, to survey the condition of the reception hall, hired two architects. They reported that “The main building was constructed badly, the materials were bad, and the foundation insecure particularly that portion resting on wood piles and could not possibly last more than ten years, probably not more than 5, and the leaky roof was weak and to flat.” Also it was possible that heavy rain or snow could collapse the roof, and there was no flooring in the basement. The surveyors estimated that it would cost $150,000 to complete the repairs. After this leaked to the media, several people involved with the construction of the building resigned their positions.

In 1895, another architect was sent to inspect the building. He reported that the roof was in good condition and was not in need of repairs. This angered Ellis Island employees and officials. Leaky roofs and the fear that it might collaps in the winter constantly plagued them.

This wasn’t the only problem Ellis Island had. There were stricter inspection policies that slowed the inspection process and due to the amount of new arrivals there wasn’t adequate living space. Finally, in 1897, a 250-bed dormitory was to be added.

Before this dormitory could be built, a kitchen fire broke out on June 15, 1897, burning everything to the ground except the surgeon’s quarters, the engine house, and the electric light and steam plant. There were 200 immigrants on the island at the time of the fire but no one was injured or burnt. By dawn the next morning, there was hardly a trace of the station left.

The island was forced to shut down and plans were drawn up for a new building. On December 17, 1900, the doors were open again to immigrants to pass through. The building’s architectural design was in likeness to train stations because they were accustomed to dealing with thousands of people and cargo in a single day. It was recorded that 6,500 immigrants, each receiving some individual attention, entered, passed, and cleared through the gates in nine hours.

Ellis Island in 1898 was expanded to 17 acres while a second island was built by dumping rock and earth taken from the subway tunnels and the Grand Central Station excavation. From 1905 to 1906, a third island was built using the same method as Island 2; Island 3 measured five acres and included a wooden bridge connecting to Island 2. The total cost of the 2 new islands, new Immigrant Station, additional dormitories, hospitals, kitchens, a baggage station, an electrical plant, a bathhouse, and the hiring of all personal, the total cost reached $500,000.

Immigration through Ellis Island began to decrees slowly because of harsher and harsher legislation. In 1954, Ellis Island was shut down by the Immigration Services and transferred back to Manhattan.

As of the closing of Ellis Island in 1954, over 12 million immigrant steamship passengers pass through. The main building was restored after 30 years of abandonment and opened as a museum of September 10, 1990.

Yes, genealogy is fun researching generation after generation. The new discoveries are an adventure to wonder down but now that you have tons of information on you’re family lines how about writing a family history book? Sound to daunting of a task, doesn’t it? Well, it really isn’t and it can be fun to put together.

Here are 5 easy steps to follow and you will have that family history book done before you realize it and your relatives will love you for it.

1. Choosing a Format
Try to picture what you would like your family history book to be. Do you want a full-scale, hardbound book for other genealogist to use as a reference or just photocopies of pages for your family to share? What are your obligations and time restraints for working on your family history book project? Would a family newsletter or Web site by better. You have to be honest and realistic with yourself about the type of family history book and your time schedule. Otherwise you will have this unfinished project just laying around and nagging at you for years to come.

Consider the audience, the type of information you have to work with and your interest, here are some ideas that your family history can take:

Scrapbook: If you are lucky enough to have accumulated a large collection of family photos and memorabilia then a scrapbook or photo album may be the fun way to tell your family story. Photos have to be in chronological order and include descriptions, stories and a family tree to complement the pictures.

Memoir/Narrative: Combining stories and personal experiences, memoirs and narratives don’t need to include everything or be objective.

Memoirs do usually focus of a specific time period of the life of a particular ancestor, while a narrative generally includes a group of ancestors.

Family Cookbook: Family cookbooks are fun to put together and help carry on a family cooking traditions. You can write about each person that contributes a recipe and how it has been handed down from generation to generation.

Most family histories are combined of personal stories, photos and family trees; this is narrative.

2. Define the Coverage of your Family History
Do you intend to write about every individual in your family tree or just about one particular person? Next you need to choose a center of interest for your family history book. Some possibilities could be:

Every descendant of a particular individual or couple and all of their descendants, organize each generation by chapters. If you know who the original immigrant was this is a good starting point.

Chapters by grandparents starting with your grandparents; working backwards through their ancestry or forward from his/her earliest known ancestor.

One single line of a descendant beginning with the earliest known ancestor; following him or her through a single line of descent. Each chapter of your family history book would cover one ancestor or generation.

Particular surname or geographical area of a descendant for example, your grandparents that were born, raised and died in a small town.

Choosing any one of these steps would be easy for your time and interest.

3. Deadlines:
Set a deadline even if you think you can’t meet it. This will force you to concentrate and complete each stage of your project. The goal would be to complete each piece within a specific time frame. Polishing will be done at a later time. The best way to make this happen is to set a writing schedule and stick to it.

4. Themes and Plot
You have to think of your ancestors as characters that you would read about in story form. What obstacles and problems did your ancestors face? Your family history has to have interest and focus; this is plot. Some could be:

War Survival
Pioneer or Farm Life
Migration form state to state
Immigration
Slavery

5. Background Research
If your ancestors didn’t leave must of their experiences behind them, then look to the social histories of that particular place. Your family history needs to make the reader feel like they are in your ancestors shoes, in other words, if your family history is dull and boring, know one will want to read it.

Every summer thousand of families hold reunions. Many people enjoy reunions but there are some that agree that reunion are not a good experience. Perhaps you are the one who dreads the reunion the most. Did you find yourself, as the head honcho of this years reunion, don’t despair. Think of the reunion as planning for your next day’s workout: you have to warm-up, work out, then cool down, so you can pass it off to the next reunion organizer.

There are a number of important principles that, if followed, will significantly increase the likelihood of success. This is speaking from the voice of three reunions under her belt.

The key to a successful reunion is organization, organization, organization!
Hear are some essential reunion organizational steps to follow. Don’t miss any or you may find yourself in a crisis during your workout.

Getting Ready
Know who is Family. Prepare an up-to-date family address book and information about who will be involved in the reunion. I strongly recommend doing this early in your planning. Will this reunion be just a smaller, immediate family gathering? Or are you working from one common ancestor and all of his or her descendents? In building your address book, separate families by units and make sure you have all the needed contact information as well as email addresses. This will reduce your time and stress!

Send Out A Survey
Sent out an email or regular mail survey to all potential participants. In the survey, ask for information about timing, budget question, genealogy information and resources, ages and genders of participants, etc. Finding out what everyone thinks will help make the reunion a success.

Select a Date
Once you have the results of the survey, determine the best time that meets the needs of the participants. Understand, you will probably not find a time to accommodate 100% of those invited, but you want a date that will work for most of them.

Select a Location
There is always an expectation that the reunion will be held close to the home of the organizer. However, that is not always the case. There are a lot of factors in determining the location to hold a reunion. Using the budget information you received from the survey you sent out will help you focus your location search. Free is always nice but not always possible. You may have to look for a park, a conference center, campground, a church retreat or even a school. Once you settle on the location, make a map and provide detailed driving directions from nearby landmarks and highways so no one gets lost.

Get Set
Once you have the basics in place as far as date and location, now move into a more intensive planning phase.

Budget for Your Reunion
Now you need to develop a realistic budget for your reunion. For your expenses, identify first what types of things will be included. Will you be a large or small group? Will a reunion committee purchase food, or will all family members be responsible for paying for catered meals? Are you planning any outings? Does the facility cost to use? What about souvenirs, name tags, etc? The following budget checklist can come in handy.

Bank Accounts and Checks
Phone calls
Printing and Mailing Costs
Deposits for various services and facilities
Registration supplies
Prizes
Entertainment
Picnic or meal expenses
Rentals of tables, chairs, decorations
Photographers or film

Now that you have your expenses clearly identified, look at ways to share them. There are several ways you can do this: assess each attendee, divide the cost by families, asses the cost based on the age of the attendees. However you decide to do this, decide it early and stick to it.

Set Up a Bank Account
This is a good idea, especially for a large reunion. This way any expenses you incur can easily be accounted for and reimbursed.

Consider a Reunion Web Site
This is particularly good for a larger reunion. Explore low cost or free web sites with information about the reunion. You could post all kinds of information and links to web sites connected with the reunion like, hotels, campgrounds, nearby restaurants, parks, etc.

Planning the Activities
Decide what you want to do at the reunion, and make sure you have something for all ages and abilities.

Recruit Volunteers
Just because you are the organizer doesn’t mean you have to do everything. Ask family members to volunteer for tasks as being treasurer, maintaining the web site, ordering items like souvenirs, shirts, etc., organizing menus and meals, handling registrations, running events, setting up and cleaning up. Most of these tasks should be delegated so you can be free to focus on the bigger picture, making the plans become reality.

Starting the Reunion
The day the reunion beginnings will set the tone for the rest of the day. Make sure you have a place for people to register, pay remaining fees, and get nametags and so forth. Help family members get better acquainted or renew old friendships. Remember, some attendees will be first timers so make sure they feel welcome and appreciated. Make sure you have a sign in sheet for the attendees; this will help in making final financial allocations and will update your mailing list for the next reunion.

Record Memories
Make sure you are having lots of pictures taken. Digital pictures are fun since they can be posted to the web site later for participants to download after the reunion. Don’t forget to get names with the pictures.

Family History and Genealogy
Take some time during the reunion to catch up. Have people share their research and findings. Make copies of some of the genealogy information they bring. Consider a large family tree posted somewhere during the reunion so people can connect, add to, and correct information.

Send An Evaluation Form
This is helpful after the fact to know what worked and what didn’t. Consider e-mailing or regular mailing an evaluation form, or posting one on the web site with the pictures. Ask for feedback about the reunion in general and specifically, the food, the activities, the location, the cost and for recommendations for coming reunions.

Send Thank You Notes
Don’t forget to thanks those who helped with the planning and execution of the reunion. It’s common courtesy, and the help of the volunteers is often the most important part of a reunions’ success.

Rest and Recuperate
Treat yourself to a little break after the intensive planning efforts. What ever you enjoy doing, enjoy it. You deserve it!

Studying Genealogy can take you on so many different roads of history. Besides learning the names of your ancestors, you learn about different time periods in history.
For example: The great Depression, Civil War, the immigration westward, and the Revolutionary War.

If you are lucky enough to take your family tree back to the original country your family came from, you probably will hit the medieval times. Medieval can open a whole new avenue for you. If you discover your family was nobility, you have opened a whole new and exciting door.

Back before surnames were ever thought of, their trade or skill of labor they performed referred to people. A geographical item, like a lake or river, called some. Stretching back further in time, people used symbols to distinguish who they were. Symbols are still used today but surnames are the way of the world now.

These symbols were and still are called Heraldry. William the Conquer established the first heraldry in the Norman Conquest of Britain in 1066. In the 12th and 13th century the popularity of the heraldry symbols grew.

Heraldry is more properly referred to armory. Heraldry is a system of identification that uses hereditary person devices portrayed on shields and later as crest, on surcoats, which were worn over armor, bardings, which was the armor and trappings for horses, and banners, personal flags throughout the Middle Ages, these symbols assisted in the identification of knights in battle and in tournaments.

These devices, marks, and colors are commonly referred to as the greater nobility, first adopted coats of arms for the display of arms on surcoats. By the mid-13th century, lesser nobility, knights, and those who later came to be known as gentlemen also used coats of arms.

The custom during the middle ages was an individual coat of arms belonged to one man only, being passed from him to his male-line descendants. Basically, it is one man, one arms, and reminder of the origin of heraldry as a means of instant recognition the battle.

This is very important to genealogist because the coat of arms is descended through the families. This proves evidence of family relationships. The sons in each generation inherited the original shield, but they had to alter is slightly in a tradition known as cadency, an addition of some mark which was perpetuated in their branch of the family. Upon the death of the eldest son’s father, the original paternal coat of arms was now his.

When families were joined by marriage, the coat of arms was combined. This was known as marshalling, it’s the art of arranging several coats of arms in one shield, for denoting the alliances of a family. Several methods were used, placing the arms of the husband and wife side by side on the shield, this was called impaling; escutcheon of pretense, placing the arms of the wife’s father on a small shield in the center of the husband’s shield; and to display the children, the arms of their parents, wit the father’s arms in the first and fourth quarters, and their mother’s in the second and third, this was called quartering.

You might often here that women did not have arms, well they could and did. They were able to inherit their fathers and to receive grants of coats of arms. They were only allowed to pass theirs to their children if they had no brothers. They were called heraldic heiresses if they did this. Since women usually did not wear armor in the Middle Ages, it became convention to display the coat of arms of her father in a lozenge (diamond) shaped field, rather than a shield, if widowed or unmarried. If married, a woman could bear the shield of her husband upon which her arms are marshaled.

To understand the Coat of Arms you have to know the six basic parts, which is the traditional method of displaying the coat of arms, and it is called an achievement of arms.

1. Shield
The escutcheon or field, which is, placed the bearings in coats of arms in known as the shield. This comes from the medieval times when the shield was borne on the arm of a knight and was ornamented with various devices in order to be identified to his friends in the midst of battle. This is also known as heater, the shield displays the unique colors and charges (lions, designs, etc. that appears on the shield). The shapes varied according to their geographical origin as well as the time period.

2. Helm
Helm or helmet was used to indicate the rank of the bearer of the arms from the gold full-faced helm of royalty to the steel helmet with closed visor of a gentleman.

3. Crest
By the end of the 13th century many nobles and knights had adopted a secondary hereditary device called a crest. It was commonly made of feathers, leather, or wood; the crest was used to help distinguish the helm, similar to the device on the shield.

4. Mantle
A mantle was originally intended to shield the knight from the heat of the sun and to ward off the rain, it was a piece of cloth placed over the helmet, draping down the back to the base of the helm. The mantle was often embellished with the coat of arms to give prominence to the arms and crest, and was usually presented as ribbons over the helm.

5.Wreath
The wreath was a twisted scarf used to cover the joint where the crest is attached to the helmet. Today the heraldry depicts the wreath as if two colored scarves had been braided together, the colors showing alternately. These colors are the same as the first named metal and the first named color in the blazon, and are known as “the colors.”

6. The Motto
This is the writing you see underneath the coat of arms. A motto or phrase incorporates the basic philosophy of the family or an ancient war cry. It doesn’t have to be present on the individual coat of arms.

You can still be granted a coat of arms to day. Coat of arms are granted by the Kings of Arms in England, the six counties of Northern Ireland, the Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms in Scotland, and the Chief Herald of Ireland in the Republic of Ireland. The College of Arms holds the official register of all coats of arms or heraldry in England and Wales. The United States, Sweden, and Australia also maintain records of and allow people to register coats of arms, though no official restrictions or laws are imposed on the bearing of arms.

I’m one of the luck ones and was able to trace my family back to William the Conquer and before. I was able to find the original coat of arms for my family that William the Conquer presented to William de Warenne (Warren). Now you have a reason to start your family tree and see all that you can discover.

There are hundreds and thousands of people in the world that gather family genealogy every day. Web sites come and go e-mails fly probably faster than the speed of light. But what about your information that was hard earned and time spent, where does it go? Right into other peoples information that they claim is there’s.

So what is a person to do to protect their information so other people can’t steel it? Lots of people wonder this every day. They ask should I copyright my information? Is my information automatically under copyright when I publish it? Do you think I should keep my information a secret or should I publish it for all to see? I’m not publishing my information because there is so much inaccurate information out there! These are hard question to answer.

The first thing that anyone that lives in the United States have to realize is that facts are not protected by copyright laws. Most of the information a genealogist gathers is basted on facts. Facts are in the public domain.

You might be able to claim copyright on the arrangement of those facts and you might be able to claim copyright on a compiled collection of facts; but every individual fact still remains in the public domain.

So what exactly is your information considered? The genealogy information that you have collected consists of a collection of facts. Now remember, facts are not “owned” or copyrighted by anyone. So you really don’t own your information. Most of your genealogy information was obtained from a public source like, birth, marriage and death records, census records, military pensions, and more. These are all in the public domain and are available to others, if they wish to look.

You can in know way consider your information you have gathered “my private information.” You have simply transcribed the information that is already out there for the public. You have just copied the information for your personal use, the same way anyone else can do by spending their time and effort, like you did finding the original records. Therefore, it is not “my” information; it is everyone’s public domain information that you happen to transcribe.

You will run across a few cases that you can supplement the public facts with more information that you obtained from family members or other non-public sources, but the U.S. laws still stand. The facts cannot be copyrighted.

You need to interpret this to mean that facts are facts, regardless of where the information came from or what the information is. If you obtain information from your cousin or from a family bible, it is still a fact and is not “my” private bit of information.

If you think of keeping your information a secret, think again. As I have already said, the facts are mostly public already. Most facts are readily available for the public viewing, birth, marriage, death records, census records and so on. You cannot keep these a secret or protect them from the public. These are public records on deceased people and there is no reason to protect these records. You never want to publish information about a living person; so whether you publish your information online or not, your really are not keeping secrets or protecting anyone.

Now if you are one of those that won’t even consider publishing your information because there is so much out there that is wrong and your don’t trust people. You might consider it this way.

No genealogy information is set in stone. One person can back up there finding with a certain document and another can come along with some other kind of document and challenge you. This is what genealogy is all about; challenges in seeking the true. If you know you have the correct information, publicizing it will out way the inaccurate information.

If you have a collection of family stories, you rewrite them in narrative form; you may be able to claim copyright and “ownership” of those stories. But remember that story will exclude any facts in the copyright. Facts are still facts and are not protected by copyright in the United States.

So this is basically a catch 22. Facts are not copyrighted. There open to the public domain. You can’t claim ownership, but you can work on getting the right information out there with the right facts to back the information up.

If you are planning a genealogy research trip to your local courthouse, a State Archives, the National Archives, a State Historical Society or any of the number of research resource that are available for Genealogist; you have to be prepared. If you don’t prepare yourself then you will waste time by asking questions and hunting for information that they might not have. Here are the 10 most important questions that you need to have the answers to before you ever leave home.

1. What are the hours they are open for research?
This probably seems like common since but if you have done any genealogy research at all you know that many different places do have different times. By finding out times you might have an option of researching in the evenings or that the history room may have only a couple of hours a day for research. If it’s a small library or courthouse, you might want to ask if a certain individual helps researchers and the time that person is there.

2. Holidays or lunch closures?
Holidays are a given when it come to libraries, courthouses, and archives so don’t plan your research over a holiday. Some research facilities will close for a few weeks during the summer or winter to give their employees a break or for things like inventory. Research facilities can also be relocating to a new location so could be closed for a month. In small towns, courthouses can and often do close for the lunch hour.

3. Records that are available, how are they viewed?
Do they have the original documents or are they on microfilm? If they are all on microfilm, are you able to get a copy of the original? Do they have an online index or a printed index that individuals can look at in advance? Is all the records closed-stack that has to be requested before hand or are they open-stack that anyone can browse?

4. Restrictions that could affect my research?
There are any number of reasons that restrictions could affect your research ability during your visit. Some places can limit access to a facility and even certain records if you are not a member. The records that you want to research might not even be in that facility. They could be located off-site and you have to request them in advance of your visit. If you are looking for a reasonably new document you might have to face the privacy law and except that they just aren’t available. If you are looking to view a record that is really old and rare then an archivist will probably have to handle and view the record with you; these often have to be requested in advance.

5. Do they have any unique records or collections?
Whenever you visit a new research facility you should always plan a little extra time to explore the records that are unique to the facility. They will probably be located all within a certain area. These records are usually not available anywhere else. They can include, family letters, special groups of records, or manuscripts that can’t be copied.

6. Are there any copying restrictions?
The majority of the time copying is only done by the staff but some research facilities do allow other forms of copying like, you can do the copying yourself, can be saved to a CD, or you have to purchase a copy card. Some records are not to be copied at all so you have to be prepared to transcribe the document yourself so plan extra time for this. You do need to know how much the research facility charges for different types of copies.

7. What are you allowed to bring with you to the research facility?
By finding this out you won’t be disappointed when you get there so be prepared with the tools you can use. Some facilities won’t allow pens, markers, cameras, scanners, or even laptop computers.

8. What are the best times for my visit?
Many research facilities can tell you there busiest times of the week like Mondays and Friday. Try to plan your visit during the down times so this will help you getting onto a microfilm reader easier and hunting through stacks of materials faster.

9. What about parking, bus routes and a lunchroom?
These are three questions that research staff gets the most of but they are always very helpful. If there isn’t a lunchroom asks for the closest and best places to eat or you could bring your sack lunch if the facility has lockers for the public; many now offer lockers.

10. Is there a particular person that specializes in my area of research?
This is an invaluable resource that one needs to find out. Having someone that specializes in your area will be able to answer questions that you have about that particular area of research. All of the staff members should be able to help you locate records and on how to use the microfilm machine but there is probably only one person that can help you with the early colonization of North Carolina.

For thousands of years the final resting place of a loved one was always marked. A burial place for early Christians, called a catacomb, contained fully clothed bodies that were placed and which were sealed with a slab inscribed with the name of the deceased, date of death and a religious symbol. Many of the 19th and early 20th centuries graves were styled after the ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian civilizations. After the First World War, grave markers started to get smaller and less elaborate, plain crosses and simple, upright stones decorated with carvings, symbols and epitaphs.

Cemeteries are lessons for the history of your loved one. The people who buried their dead said much about themselves and the ones who had died. Even though cemeteries are not a primary source of information, gravestones or headstones, are a great source of dates, maiden names, birthplaces, spouses’ names and parents’ names. They can also provide evidence of military service, religious affiliation, and membership in a fraternal organization.

Now you are asking, why should I visit a cemetery if you already have a birth and death date for your ancestor? Because; you may learn things that you wouldn’t otherwise. Nearby headstones can show you other family members. Little grave markers can tell you of a child who died in infancy. Flowers left on a grave may lead you to living descendants.

Other than a few records and documents, your ancestor’s headstone is the only physical evidence that they lived. There is nothing that will connect you to your ancestor more than to stand on the one place on earth that contains their mortal remains and to see important pieces of their life carved into stone. It is an amazing, awe-inspiring experience.

But how do you locate a cemetery? The first thing is the obvious one – you need to learn where your ancestor is buried. Death records will often contain this information as will as obituaries. Don’t forget family members. They often know where family burial locations are.

Funeral homes and morticians can be a great help for locating cemetery records. Funeral records may still exist which can contain information, including the burial location. Funeral directors have knowledge of most cemeteries in their area, and may also be able to point you to family members. If a funeral home is no longer in business, then check with other funeral homes, as they may know where the old records are located.

If you know your ancestor’s religious affiliation you may try contacting the church in the area where your ancestor lived. Churches often maintain attached cemeteries and also keep records for their members who are buried elsewhere.

The local genealogical society is a good source for information on local cemeteries. These groups are always compiling cemetery indexes and may be able to provide clues to little burial locations, especially family cemeteries. Old local histories can also prove useful in identifying former names and locations for cemeteries that have been moved.
The Internet is becoming a valuable source for cemetery records. Many sites offer links to online cemetery records or you can do a search for a specific cemetery.

If you have narrowed down the area, but aren’t sure which cemetery may contain your ancestor, maps can come into play here. Use census, land, or tax records to help you pinpoint your ancestor’s land on a map. You will often find them buried in a nearby cemetery, or even in a family cemetery on their own property.

When heading out to visit cemeteries, a little advanced planning will help make your visit a success. The best time to visit cemeteries is in the spring or fall, especially if it is one, which is neglected and over grown. You always want to be careful of snakes. Some cemeteries are even impossible to get to, like in the middle of someone’s field where wheat is planted. Try to find the owner of the land. Don’t go trampling through someone’s field without permission. This can be trespassing.

What do you need to bring with you to the cemetery? First you need to dress in long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, sturdy shoes and gloves because of gnats, ticks, snakes, and mosquitoes. If the cemetery is in a wooded or rural location you may also want to bring a hoe to help cut down brush and also bring a friend for safety. Here is a list of other items you may want to bring:

1. Paper, several pencils
2. Digital camera or regular camera and plenty of film.
3. Video camera
4. Tape recorder
5. Handheld computer.
6. Extra batteries for anything that may need them!
7. Headstone rubbing supplies – Water, rags and a soft nylon bristle brush for cleaning stones, plus clippers for clearing away grass and brush.
8. If you are looking for unmarked cemeteries, you may want a map so that you can mark their location as you locate them.

In order to make your visit count, write down names, dates and inscriptions exactly as they appear on the stone. The excitement of the moment can be overwhelming, so it is very beneficial to have an accurate record in your research. Be sure to sketch any symbols that you are unfamiliar with so you can look them up later. These symbols are valuable clues to membership in an organization, which may have records about your ancestor.

Family members will often be buried together in the same plot so make notes of the relationship of headstone to headstone. Neighbors and relatives may also be buried in adjoining sections. Make your way around the cemetery and don’t forget to check out the back of the stones as they can also contain important information.

Visiting cemeteries is one of the most rewarding parts of genealogy research, so stop and take the time to commune with your ancestors.

If you are a professional genealogist you know how frustrating it can be looking for a female ancestor. It’s sometimes can lead to your brick wall and that can last for years. Many amateur genealogist or hobbyist have hit this snag and just given up.

Finding a female ancestor can be difficult, but it can be done. When you do find the female, this can open new avenues for your road of research. New surnames, new families, and new connections, can be a whole new branch of your family.

I have listed 10 of the most commonly records and resources that you’ll find that mention a female’s maiden name.

1. Looking at Marriage Records
Marriage records are the best place to locate a woman’s maiden name. You have to know the spouse’s name. Where the marriage took place and the approximate date to find a marriage record. Marriage records are important for proving that the ancestors were legally married and that their children were legitimate. Marriage records often include the maiden name of the bride. Marriage license are not the only thing to look for, marriage bonds, marriage banns, marriage announcements and marriage certificate.

2. Looking at Census Records
You have to check every census record that is available for your female ancestor up until the year she died. You will often find an elderly parent living with one of his or her children or another relative. A young married couple may be living with his or her parents. Check out the families that were living nearby, there might be a clue.

3. Looking at Cemetery Records
Find proof of the woman’s existence may only be found in a cemetery. Headstones can list women under their maiden names, with “wife of so and so.” This is a record that they were married. Also the woman’s maiden name could be used as her middle name or initials. You might need to check nearby plots for possible family member to find the female’s maiden name.

4. Looking at Church Records
Churches are a good resource for finding both parents names, christening records and births. The marriage record will usually include the spouse’s maiden name, and are an alternate source for marriage information for the times civil registration was not in effect.

5. Looking at Land Records
Land was often handed down from father to daughter so this is an important avenue to research. Researching deeds for your ancestor and/or her husband can have clues. Look for the Latin phrases “et ux.” (and wife) and “et al.” (and others). They may provide the names of females, or names of siblings or children. Also look for couples selling their land to other relatives. Couples often sold land to relatives for 1 dollar, or other small amounts. The couple that is selling the land is more than likely the parents or a relative of your female ancestor.

6. Looking at Death Records
If your female ancestor died recently enough, there is a death certificate on her. This is one of the few places where her maiden name may appear. Death certificates can and often are inaccurate, check the certificate for the name of the informant. The relationship between the informant and the deceased can help you assess the accuracy of the provided information.

7. Looking at Newspaper Records
Newspapers in the location where your ancestors lived are a great research tool. You will probably find birth, marriage announcements and obituaries. If you can’t find an obituary for your female ancestor, you may be able to find other family members, like siblings and parents that could provide helpful clues.

8. Looking at Military Records
Your ancestors spouse or children may have been in the military. Military service records and pension applications are often good biographical information.

9. Looking at Naming Patterns
This can offer you clues, the maiden name of a mother can often be found in the names of her children. Middle names for children are often found to be the mothers or grandmothers maiden name. Or the eldest daughter could have been named for her maternal grandmother.

10.Looking at Probate Records and Wills
If you know your female’s parents or have a possible match, search for their probate or will. Female children are often listed by full names, along with their spouses. Estates, and division of land, are listed in deed indexes. This could possibly lead you to probate proceedings.