Genealogy Pointers

If the antiques that your grandmother had but never thought to ask about them have fascinated you, where they came from, how old they were and now it’s to late, well it’s not. There is a way to find the stories behind these old antiques so you can preserve them for future generations.

Just follow these 10 steps and the stories will come to life.

1. Question your kin
This is the easiest and most important step in researching an heirloom. What your relatives and even family friends already know might surprise you. Ask them who owned the objects and when, what it was used for, where it was kept and why it’s significant. What memories do they associate with it?

Try to determine who originally owned each of your family heirlooms. And don’t make assumptions: You may associate those antique knitting needles with grandma, but maybe she inherited them from her grandmother, and they’re older than you think.

If your far-flung relatives can’t see the heirloom in person, jog their memories by sending pictures.

2, Examine home sources
Clues could be right in front of you. Look through old pictures, you might get lucky and find the heirloom in a picture and don’t forget to check the back of every picture for writing. Check to see if there are any diaries or journals that have been handed down. You might find a clue in there.

Household inventories are another source. Many people documented their belongings in case of a fire or burglary. Check for safety-deposit boxes also check probate files for an inventory list. Probate files are located at the county court house.

3. Study the object’s shape, size, color and material substance
Most of us can recognize jewelry, china and other keepsakes commonly passed down by families. But what if you inherited some weird gadget you can’t identify? How do you figure out what it is?

Start by describing the object in broad terms. Does it look mass-produced or hand-made? Does it seem to be missing any parts? Could it be part of a larger device? Guess the object’s function and use.

Next, consider your ancestors’ hobbies and trades. Are there any craftsmen in your family, perhaps a jeweler or a carpenter? Might a relative have used the gadget in his profession? Did your grandmother love to cook? You may have inherited an antiquated cooking device, such as an ice-cream mild or a butter curler.

Now look more closely at the object. Do you notice any markings, such as a manufacturer’s name (usually on the under side of the object)? Take note of any decoration, which might indicate the time period. If the heirloom looks handmade, one of your ancestors might have created it.

Don’t forget to look inside any object with a lid or drawer.

4. Look for a patent date and number
A patent date on an heirloom can clue you in to which ancestor originally owned it. For instance, if the date’s 1885 and your great grandfather died in 1879, you know the gadget didn’t belong to him. Armed with the patent number (sometimes accompanied by the letters PAT), you can easily trace the object’s patent application, which could include original drawings. Just type the number into the US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) online database at www.uspto.gov/patft.

5. Research the manufacturer on the Web
If your heirloom doesn’t have a patent number, try researching the manufacturer instead. Start by looking for the maker’s mark, which may include a factory name, pattern name, place of origin and some type of symbols. This will help you not only identify the maker, but also pinpoint the year the item went on the market, since some manufacturers used different marks over the years.

Once you’ve found the mark, type the manufacturer’s name or any other identifying information into Google or another search engine. Search carefully, and you might find a picture of your heirloom on the Internet. Try typing the manufacturer’s name into the Google search box and then clicking on Images.

As you search, try variations on the manufacturer’s name. At times manufacturer’s used abbreviations or changed one letter.

Remember that you can’t believe everything you read on the Internet, even if an antiques dealer claims your great-aunt’s clock dates back to 1776 and is worth $10,000. You’ll need to confirm those figures in other sources.

6. Hit the books
Old catalogs are great resources because they contain pictures and the original prices of antiques. Seek out old consumer magazines, newspapers and trade journals, too, for product descriptions and pictures. These sources also can tell you what your ancestors called that odd kitchen gadget when they bought it and if you’re still stumped, what it was used for. Most large libraries have these publications on microfilm.

Illustrated antiques books hold even more clues. You can find books covering every topic imaginable from colonial artifacts to 1950’s kitsch, 17th-century saws to salt-and-pepper shakers. You’ll even find publications devoted to artists’ marks.

Use them to identify those weird symbols on your ancestors’ porcelain, pottery, glassware and metalwork.

7. Track down city directories and business records
Similar to today’s telephone books, city directories list a town’s inhabitants alphabetically. Although some cities printed directories as far back as the 1700s, most began publishing them annually or every other year in the mid-to late 1800s. Directories usually list all adults in a household, plus their occupations, employers’ names and home address. Many city directories also include a business directory, which will benefit your heirloom research the most.

The first place to look for a city directory is the library in the area the directory covers. You might find these resources on the Web, as well. Ancestory.com had transcribed dozens of directories from all over the country, which you can search if you subscribe to the US Records Collection.

City directories also can come in handy if you inherited an old tool that you suspect a relative used in his or her occupation. Some directories will indicate people’s professions.

8. Pull out your family tree
What if you’ve found your heirloom in an old catalog or antiques book and tracked down a city directory, but you’re still not sure who owned it? How do you find out? You’ll have to work backward by considering the date the object was made and then referencing you family tree. If you found your keepsake doll in an 1886 catalog, it probably didn’t originally belong to your mother, who was born in 1916, or your grandmother, who was born in 1888 unless one of them bought it used. So perhaps your great-grandmother or great-great-aunt owned it. Or maybe one of them bought it for your grandmother’s older sister or a cousin. Photographs and journals can help you connect the dots.

9. Keep your heirloom in tiptop shape
You’ll want to preserve your keepsake so you can pass it down to your descendants. Be sure to handle it with clean, dry, lotion-free hands, and store it in a place with moderate temperature and humidity.

Extended exposure to hot and humid conditions will promote mold and mildew, and could cause chemical deterioration in metals and plastics. Conversely, low humidity may damage wood and leather.

Avoid storing your heirloom in an area with frequent fluctuation in temperature and humidity, such as an attic, basement or garage. Keep your heirloom out of direct sunlight, too, so it doesn’t fade.

10. Record the keepsake’s story
After all your detective work, don’t forget to record what you’ve learned. Your ancestors might not have left you inventories, but you should leave one for your descendants. For each keepsake, jot down who owned it originally, when and where it was made, how you came to own it and any stories associated with it. Also be sure to include the object’s actual name and description of the way it was used, you might know what it was used for but your great-grandchildren probably won’t.

As you investigate your heirlooms, you’ll uncover all kinds of fascinating facts and stories about your ancestors, and you’ll get a glimpse into their everyday lives.

Being a Genealogist means you have to keep a level head. You have to keep your excitement over finding new evidence in check because every time this happens there is the possibility of a let down. And the let downs do happen probably more times than you would like. The excitement of find new evidence could and probably has taken you down the wrong road many times, your emotions just can’t handle this! So the best way is to stay calm and follow up your new evidence with further research.

Listed here are the assumptions that people commonly use while research their family tree. If you go down one of these roads way to often, you will be one of the millions that throws there hands up and quits.

1. Never assume the children come from the only wife you have found so far.
The man’s children could of come from another women, not his present wife, or his wife previously or even a wife after the one you have found. Remember that parentage is one of the hardest things to document, unless you know for sure. Women died in childbirth all the time. It was not uncommon for a man to have 2 or more wives.

2. Don’t worry if you haven’t found a marriage record. There are several reasons for this. A lot of early marriages were not documented at the time of the marriage. It could of taken 5 years or so before the marriage could be written down in a courthouse. There might have not been a courthouse around or even a church; lots of early marriages took place in homes. Hundreds of records were burned during the Civil War.

You have to be creative and look for alternative forms of proof.

3. Don’t always assume that your ancestor’s came from the same state that their neighbors came from. Migration routes were basically the same but not every person follow the same route. You have to research further.

4. If you don’t find your ancestor in the next census record and you assume it’s because they were old and died, don’t just assume. Yes, most people did live the normal life span but people did live to a much older age also.

5. If you find several men that live close to each other and have the same last name, don’t assume they are brothers. Yes, there is a chance that they could be brothers but they can also be cousins, uncles or might not be any relation at all. Not every surname that’s the same is related.

You have to research further, look at the closeness of their homes, how each of them named their children, and court records to see if they witnessed each other’s documents.

6. Don’t assume that your Jr. you found has the exact same name as Sr. Years ago the words aunt, uncle, Jr., Sr., and cousin was also used when the individual was no relation; in other words it was used very loosely. For example, you may have found land records that have Jr. and Sr. listed but these 2 men just happen to have the same name so to distinguish between the to, Jr. and Sr. was used.

7. Don’t always assume that the name of an individual is a boy or girl’s name. Parents sometimes just liked a name and to us it sounds like a girl but back then it was a boy. Some names years ago were originally boys name but now they are girls. Parents also named their children after a famous person or a long ago relative.

8. Don’t always assume that a female that has the same last name as her father isn’t married. Women did marry men that had the same last name as they did. This happened a lot back when household were scattered far apart and relation lived fairly close to one another; cousins married distant cousins and cousin’s married distant uncles or aunts.

Keep in mind that divorced women did sometimes take back their original name and widows sometimes did the same.

9.Don’t assume that your ancestor died in the same place he or she was born and never moved around. It wasn’t uncommon for individuals to move their families many time but as they did get older, most moved back to live closer to their family. The best way of working on this is to create a timeline and research many of the areas that they lived.

10. If your ancestor lived in one town or county and then you loose them, don’t just assume that they picked up and moved. There are other reasons you may have lost them. The county that your ancestor lived could have been broken up into several counties or they could of lived on the line dividing 2 counties. You have to research the surrounding counties.

Being a genealogist or family historian, assumptions is what keeps the research going but you have to recognize the trick as an assumption and prove or disprove them with further evidence.

The photo technology has come a long way, from having to take your photos in to be developed to loading your pictures from your digital camera right onto your computer. Sharing photos has changed from mailing photos to family and friends to sending your photos right through the Internet for instant viewing. There are a number of services out there for the individual to choose from for sharing their photos and the amazing thing is that several are free.

You can upload tons of photos, create fun albums or slide shows, order prints and you can even add voice or video for your photo album presentation. These are just a few of the tools you can use for sharing old and new photos with your family and friends.

Here are just 5 of those services that you might want to check into for your photo collection.

1.Yahoo Photos
Up loading your pictures are very easy, all you have to do is drag and drop. You can set up albums for each category of group pictures plus you can allow the whole world to view them or just make them private. Yahoo Photos has no limit as to how many and the size of the photos you want to work with. You can work with photo editing tools, organize your photos with tags, and order prints plus sharing your photos online with family and friends. Yahoo Photo takes care of the re-sizing for viewing online so you don’t have to. The best thing with Yahoo Photo is that it’s free!

2. Scrapblog
This site is a combination of a blog, online photo sharing, and a digital scrapbook. Scrapblog is a great service for family historians to share their old family photos and stories that go with each photo. The software is easy to upload your photos by the drag and drop method and it’s free. There layout is what you see is what your get, design.

3. Bubbleshare
Bubbleshare will let you create photo albums and post them to the Web for the whole world to see or if you choose, for private audiences only. They have an easy upload for photos and once you have designed your photo album, you can change the layout of your photos about any way you would like. You can add comments, record voice annotations, and lots more. Bubbleshare offers you unlimited photo uploading but there is one catch, you have to put up with Google Ads that will appear on the side of your album page. The best thing with Bubbleshare is that it’s free!

4. Amigila
Amigila is basically a family photo sharing service. You can share photos with a family tree navigation program, write a journal, do a family blog and also share recipes. Uploading your photos is easy from your computer or you can even upload them from two other photo sharing Web site, Flickr and Riya. You can set your photos up for the whole world to see or private where you have to have a password in order to view. Amigila does charge for their services of $49.95 but this covers your entire friend and family network.

5. Phanfare
Phanfare offers you a large variety of photo album templates for you to be as creative as you would like for online sharing. It will let you designate whom you wish to share your photo albums with plus the users that you allow to view your photos are able to download any of the images they would like in high-quality so they can print the photos themselves. Phanfare isn’t free, they do charge for their services but you can pay for what you get. They don’t have any ads on your photo album page and the editing tools are great.

The best way of choosing a photo sharing service is to think about what exactly you want to be able to do with your photos; then explore your options.

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.

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.

Have you ever hear of the Bayeux Tapestry? If you are a professional historian, genealogist or just a lover of history, you have probably heard about the beautiful hand embroidered tapestry. The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the greatest historical records of the Norman period in English history.

The Bayeux Tapestry is medieval embroidery commemorating the Norman conquest of England, in which William of Normandy defeated Harold II of England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Shortly after the victory, many hands stitched the colorful history that was William the Conqueror’s triumph.

The monumental masterpiece is a band of linen approximately 70m (230 ft) long and 50cm (20in) wide, on which there are more than 70 scenes commemorating the Norman Conquest, embroidered in worsteds of eight colors. For you that don’t know about embroidery, worsted is wool yarn that is made of long fibers that has been combed to remove the short fiber that makes them lie parallel. The exact length of the tapestry is not known because the last strip is tattered, although it has been suggested that the tapestry was originally made to fit around the nave of Bayeux Cathedral

The tapestry is estimated to have been completed in 1077, possible for the consecration of the new cathedral at Bayeux, a small town on the coast of Normandy.

In a time when a majority of the population was illiterate, the embroidery told a story in pictures. There are thirty-one scenes total. The opening scene sets the stage for Harold’s visit to Bosham, en route to Normandy (1064), to the scene of William deciding to attack England, to the loading of all the ships, this included hundreds of horses, to the arrival at Pevensey, the battle at Hastings, to the death of Harold, and closes with Harold’s forces retreating from Hastings (1066).

The historical chronicle is told from the Norman perspective and the work is considered a Norman document.

A French fable gives credit for the embroidery to Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror, and in France it is referred to as the Tapisserie de la reine Mathilde or “Queen Matilda’s Tapestry.” In fact, most researchers believe that it was commissioned by William’s half brother Odo, bishop of Bayeux, and was embroidered in England and later moved to France. But there is no definite answer as to who actually embroidered the tapestry.

One of the most controversial scenes is the death of Harold. At the battle of Hastings Harold was reported to have been killed by an arrow in or about in the eye. Historians have studied this for centuries. Many believe that the man that is displayed with an arrow in his eye was one of Harold’s knights, not Harold himself. Others still believe that an arrow in the eye killed Harold. The true cause of death of Harold will never be known.

The Tapestry has twice been saved from destruction. In 1792, during the French Revolution, the people of Bayeux were desperate for cloth to cover their wagons. It was removed from the church where it was displayed and draped over a wagon caring ammunition to the northern front. Lambert Leforestier, a lawyer, saw this and quickly offered to replace it with a cloth better suited for the purpose.

Two years later, the tapestry was again placed in danger when it was about to be cut into sections to decorate a festival.

Since the Revolution, the embroidery has only been moved from Bayeux a few times: to be exhibited in Paris at Napoleon’s wish in 1803-1804, to be carefully stored in 1871 during the Franco-German War and from 1939 to 1945 during WWII.

The Bayeux Tapestry is considered a remarkable work of medieval art and a leading source for 11th century history, including details of everyday life not described by other documents. It shows scenes of Norman dress, castle building, hunting, Armour, building boats and other facts of daily life.

Today, the Bayeux Tapestry is displayed in Bayeux, at the Centre Guillaume le Conquerant. The Bayeux Tapestry has special meaning to thousand of people all over the world, including myself. It represents our ancestors that fought for the rightful King of England even to the start of Democracy.

Over the centuries restoration attempts have been made to save the Bayeux Tapestry even filling in the stitching that has deteriorated over the years with modern stitching, with skeptical accuracy.

I have a special attachment to the Bayeux Tapestry because my ancestor is displayed on horse back beside William the Conqueror that became one of his chief-in-arms. If it weren’t for William the Conqueror invading England, England and America would have been a different place today.

If you have been working on genealogy for some time and enjoy it, have you ever thought of becoming a Professional Genealogist? Do you have the necessary skills, experience, and expertise to turn genealogy into a business? If this question has popped in your head a time or two, then, here is some information for you to consider in order too take that step to be a pro.

The first thing you should consider is how much experience do you have. Are you familiar with all the various types of genealogical records that are available, do you know how to locate, and access them? Then, can you analyze and interpret exactly what the records are saying?

If you are not sure about your expertise, then you can always contact a professional genealogist and have the person critique your work. This person can also offer you guidance on what you need to improve on.

The second thing you should consider is your education in the field of genealogy. Have you taken any genealogy classes, attended any seminars and workshops. Do you subscribe to any genealogy magazines, read books on the subject? Genealogy changes everyday. It’s not just one thing you learn, it’s on going.

The third thing you should consider is joining a genealogical society. This way you are working side-by-side with genealogist and they can help you with expanding your skills.

The fourth thing to consider is to volunteer your services in transcribing genealogical documents. This will give you plenty of practice in reading old handwriting.

The fifth thing is your writing skills. You have to be knowledgeable in the proper way to format your source citations. You have to have good grammar in your writing skills to communicate with your clients. The only way of improving your writing skills is to write and keep writing. Submit a genealogy article to a local genealogical society for possible publication in their newsletter.

The sixth thing you might want to consider is joining the Association of Professional Genealogists. This organization is for professional genealogist and also for people who want to further their skills.

The seventh thing is your business skills. You will have to work on your business skill constantly. If you don’t know anything about taxes, accounting, advertising, billing and managing your time wisely, you won’t succeed.

You also have to consider what area of specialty is for you. Not all genealogists just work with clients. Some are teachers, authors, adoption specialists, and bookstore owners. You can chose from just doing research in your local city, to expanding your research area by regions. You can even go as for as an expert for a different country.

There are lots of books out there on being a Professional Genealogist. The best one I would recommend for you to start with is the Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lectures, and Librarians. This book has helped me. It will give you information on everything from abstracting to setting up a business.

Several other things you might want to check into are the websites for the Association of Professional Genealogist, the Board of Certification of Genealogists and the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogist (ICAPGen).

The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogist is an accreditation program that test individuals on both theoretical research in the location and use of original documents that are unique to the regional area in which the person has applied for accreditation. This is a rigorous program and every five years you have to renew your accreditation.

The Board of Certification of Genealogist test and certifies individuals in several different categories and you also have to renew your certification every five years.

Both the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogist and the Board of Certification of Genealogist have a code of ethics and conduct that you have to read, sign, and abide by.

Certification and Accreditation are not required in order to be a Professional Genealogist but the fact remands, people who hire individuals to do any type of work want to be able to see some kind of proof that the individual can do what they claim they can do and do the job right.

Here you are with all this family information that you have collected for several years and you always have to dig through piles to find what you are looking for. You get a phone call or e-mail and someone has a question or your aunt wants to know who married whom. You are about to pull your hair out if you don’t organize this mess so you can find what you want and send what you would like to other people. There is something that you can do to solve all this chaos and that is to publish your family tree online.

Publishing your family tree online is a wonderful way you can share your information that you have researched with family members. Family members have a tendency to contribute more if they can see the work that is being put together. Often people won’t contribute because they just don’t know what you are doing with all the information.

A family Web site is also a great asset for attracting other genealogy and historical researchers that are researching the same surname as you. Setting up your family Web site is easier than you think and it keeps getting easier every day; you don’t have to be a technical genius. If you use a genealogy software program, send email, can upload files and pictures then you can set up a Web page.

If you do have a genealogy software program installed on you computer with all your information in it then your Web site could be as simple as uploading your GEDCOM file to the online database that you have chosen. You can also choose to go as far as creating a hand made Web site that includes all the documents, photos and your reliable sources backing up your information.

Know matter if you choose to just upload your information or create your hand made site you will need to choose the database that will fit what you are looking for and what you are willing to take the time and learn.

First you need to take some time and figure out what exactly all you want to include in your family Web site. Will this site be just on a particular person or the entire family? Do you want anyone else to be able to add information and photos to the site? How about other fellow researchers that are researching the same surname but you don’t have any idea if they are related to you or not? These are very important questions that you need to answer before you go any further. Remember, if you allow other people to add information you will have no control over the space that you are allotted so you may have to fork over more money to keep the site operating.

Now that you have decided what information you want to put on your new Web site, you have to find the space for your Web site but first you need to decide how you want the layout to be. Do you want a written family history including photos and documents or do you just want the family tree of names and dates?

If you decide to just want your family tree then you can use genealogy databases like: FamilySearch pedigree Resource file, RootsWeb World Connect, Ancestry World Tree or GenCircles. These Website databases are as far as I’m concerned are among the best. You don’t have to have hardly any technical knowledge to submit your GEDCOM file and this allows the world to find your family tree.

If you want to actually set up your own Web site then you’ll have to find a Web hosting service that will offer you enough space and support for all your information. There are quite a few Web hosting sites that are offered for genealogy. Some of them are even free but that can limit you on the amount of space they offer for free. Check with your own ISP server, they often offer free space for your won Web site. Go ahead and check out the ones that are not free because they do offer some excellent tools that you might not know how to do yourself with the free sites. They can help you with things like, photo uploads, separate email address to keep your genealogy contacts separate from your personal email, automatically generated reports or charts.

There is a third option for you. How about a genealogy blog? Blogs are becoming very popular and you can use it like a journal to document your family history search, photos and other information you want to include. Blogs for some people are easier than Web sites because you don’t have to know HTML. Just search for blogs and check if there is any genealogy blogs and take a look at some.

Now putting you information online will depend on the hosting service you have chosen. Some will offer you templates and tools you can choose to use or if you know HTML then you can design your own. If you don’t know HTML then you might have to have a program that will let you convert your information that is in your database into HTML to upload it to the Internet.

It’s great to find out that your great, great Grandpa was born in Scotland in 1769. And you have a Grandmother that grew up in Ireland. But what makes your family trees fascinating is the people, not the facts. Learning about your great grandmother who had the courage to travel from Germany to America alone with three children, to join her husband who had come ahead to make a new home for his family. Little details like these are what makes family history so exciting, and can bring a vivid picture of your genealogy research to life.

There are a lot of different resources available that can help you learn more about the time periods, religious practices, and ethnic customs. These resources will help you place your family’s lives in a meaningful historical context.

Starting with your living relatives: The most valuable resource you have right at your fingertips – your living family members. Be sure to utilize this while you still can. They won’t always be around!

They may not talk about what their life was like growing up because they think people will find it boring, but once you get them started, you’ll be surprised how their memories come to life. Below are some questions that you can use to get started. Remember you don’t want just dates and places. You want stories of their lives.

1. Describe the house that you grew up in. Did you have electricity? Indoor plumbing?
2. What is the earliest thing you can remember from your childhood?
3. What kind of games did you play as a kid growing up?
4. Did you have a favorite toy; did you take it everywhere?
5. What was your favorite thing to do for fun?
6. Did you have any chores?
7. Did you receive an allowance and how much did you get?
8. What was school like as a child? Were you in any activities or sports?
9. Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes?
10.Who were your childhood heroes?
11. What were your favorite songs, music?
12. Did you have any pets? What were their names?

The next resource is your library. Libraries have great sources for background information on the time periods and locations in which your ancestors lived. This includes history books, cookbooks (for period recipes), maps, and fashion (for clothing styles from different time periods). Your library card can be your key to unlocking your family tree. Libraries across the U.S. and around the world subscribe to multiple databases for the use of their members.

Your locale library’s databases may include obituaries, census, and biographies, immigration records, marriage and birth records, and historical newspapers. Certain libraries may subscribe to as few as one to two databases, while other libraries may offer a wide range of free databases.

History in the news: This is one of the most useful databases for genealogical research.
Period newspapers provide more than birth announcements and obituaries. Period newspapers are also a window into the lives of your ancestors through gossip, columns, editorial comments reflecting the community, and product advertisements.

Period newspapers also serve as daily or weekly diaries of local communications and their inhabitants. Newspapers are excellent source that provides a wonderful undiscovered, resource for genealogist, providing events not recorded anywhere else. A genealogical researcher can not only expect to find birth announcements and obituaries, but also announcements of anniversaries, letters to editor, legal notices, and social columns filled with local news of a more personal nature. Whether it’s an urban or rural newspaper, it can open a new window into the lives of your ancestors.

Mapping out your family tree: Being familiar with the area where your ancestors lived is essential in researching your family history. Maps come into play here. Maps can not only help you pinpoint the name, location, and history of the city or town where your ancestors lived, but can also help you find and picture where your relatives were born, resided, courted, married, raised a family, and was laid to rest. Many family history research problems can be solved with the use of maps, atlases, and gazetteers. Maps can help you locate you ancestors’ neighbors and family members, pinpoint county courthouses or town halls where records may be located, and can even be uses to compare other genealogical records to distinguish between two individuals of the same last name. By using maps, you can learn more about the name, location, and history of the city or town in which your ancestors lived.

Researching genealogy as a professional or just as a hobby is lots of fun. You find ancestor after ancestor and if your lucky may be a story or two about their lives. But the hardest thing about genealogy is staying on track with the family line you are work on.

Here you are at your computer, you have allotted the evening for researching on your father’s direct line and before you know it you are looking at your fathers mothers sisters family tree. Then a new message comes over the genealogy message board you’re a member of and someone asks a question that you can answer.

Then a light bulb goes off, you stop, and wonder, how did you get so far away from the direct line you wanted to research and look what time it is!

This has happened to every person some time or another that has anything to do with a computer and the Internet. This is called distractions. In order to stay on task, you have to try very hard to concentrate on what you are doing and nothing else.

I have come up with some tips that you might be interested in that helps me stay focused on my genealogy line that I’m researching. I still have to refer back to them once in a while to remind myself what I’m doing and not doing.

1. Stay Focused
When I first start to research my family, I tried to do every line on my mother and father’s side. I ended up driving myself crazy. You have to stay focused on one direct line, a single-family group, or a single surname. Decide exactly what you want to work on and stay with it.

2. Stop-Organize
If you have been working on your family line for awhile now, I know you have papers, documents, notes from sources you have researched, notes from people you have talked to, records you have found, and notes of theories you have come up with. This has to all be organized together before you can move on. Stay away from the Internet until you have everything organized in an easy-to-refer-to file. While you’re at it, try to put all those little notes you have jotted down, either in one file or copy to a single sheet of paper. This is a lot easier that 20 scraps of paper.

3. Log, Log, Log
Keep a log of where you have looked, what you have found if anything, what file it is in, and the date you looked. This log is called a genealogical research log. This will help you identify gaps in your research and keep you from searching in the same place you have already searched. Plus you won’t be wasting time.

4. Plan
In order to make the most out of your precious genealogy research time, you need to have a plan. You need to review your family file and identify what you need to look for every time, before you set down to work. You can even make a ‘to do’ list right before you end your research time, that way you know right where to pick up at.

5. Distractions
Your all ready to set down and start to work, wear blinders (figurative, of course). Put all other research papers away. Have only out what you need to research what you have decided to work on. Tell family member your working for such and such time and don’t answer the phone. You can even turn the volume down on your computer so you won’t here that “you’ve got mail.”

6.Putting your Genealogy on Hold
Include a “pending” file for each of your family groups. This is an excellent way to stay organized. Each pending file holds copies of outgoing and incoming correspondence and unrecorded genealogy papers. Pending files can even contain your notes from Web site you want to look at further in detail, and information you got in the mail from a distant cousin.

When you come to a good stopping point in your research, you can go through your pending files and what goes, what stays, what needs to be recorded, any notes that this new information will effect your research plan, and any filling that needs to be done.

7. Working Notebook
I know you have walked way from your research for several days or even months. You want to get back at it but it’s hard to do. You have forgot where you were and what you were working on. The best way to solve this problem is to make a working notebook for the family group you are working on. This notebook includes a copy of your research plan, family summary, research log, and correspondence log. This will allow you to review your progress you have made and where you need to go from there. This will also help when your are at a brick wall with one family line so you decide to work on another family line but unexpectedly a break through comes with the brick wall line.

When people see my filling system they are surprised. They think filing papers and records is all there is to it but us genealogist know there is much more than that. If you plan where you are going and keep track of where you have been your family research will be fun and effective.