Genealogy and family tree research options

[Bill G]

About 40 years ago Dad fell for a mail scam claiming for a low, low Earl Schieb price of $39.99 they would provide us a family genealogy. All he got a book of not a damn thing. I know after Al Gore invented the internet things have changed so is there any reliable, and honest places that can provide information. Trust me I tried the county and state, no help at all.

 

[Wilhelm]

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Ya' welcome!

 

[Wilhelm]

Or play with this if You are out of spit after my previous post.

FamilySearch.org

Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

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[Steve]

My dad does genealogy as a main hobby. There really isn't a just punch your name in and there you go option. He starts with himself and then branches off what he knows. Then when he reaches a dead end he combs through birth records of the same last name as his dead end in the county and state of their last address. Birth certificates usually have a mother and fathers name so it opens up another avenue. It's amazing what my dad has found over his quests.

Recently he found out something about his dad (my grandpa) that no one living ever knew about. Found that his first on the books job was for the PRR being a station hand. He found that in the Pittsburgh archives last year looking for another lead on another family member. Turns out my grandpa's cousin worked at the same station at the same time as my grandpa so they were on the same company pay ledger!

 

[Bill G]

On my mother's side my last living uncle passed away in May 2023 and now the house/estate is a total disaster. My mother always said the place was still in my Great-Great-Great Grandmother's name but I just thought she was mistaken. Well it appears she was correct. I need to do some research.

On my fathers side I know the history somewhat back to the Civil War but I need to go further.

 

[jacob j.]

Social Security archives can help but they only go back so far. Census data is helpful when combing through SS archives because you can comb out certain numbers which help you pinpoint certain distant ancestors. War records are also helpful if any of your ancestors were in the military.

As Steve said, there's no one repository but there are many sources you can pull bits and pieces from to assemble the puzzle.

 

[Loony661]

On my mother's side my last living uncle passed away in May 2023 and now the house/estate is a total disaster. My mother always said the place was still in my Great-Great-Great Grandmother's name but I just thought she was mistaken. Well it appears she was correct. I need to do some research.

On my fathers side I know the history somewhat back to the Civil War but I need to go further.

Just be real careful before you decide to give your DNA to one of those online sites that specializes in genealogy - you don’t know what they’re doing with that information once you’ve given it to them..

 

[FederalQ]

The Canadian Broadcasting Company had a segment on their Marketplace series about online DNA sources and concluded that it is merely recreational science. They sent samples to 3 different labs from identical female twins and the results were all over the place.

 

[Bill G]

Just be real careful before you decide to give your DNA to one of those online sites that specializes in genealogy - you don’t know what they’re doing with that information once you’ve given it to them..

Years ago my beautiful wife told me never to send my DNA to any of the online scams. She knew me well and did not want any state or federal agency having my DNA.

Sadly a few years later it was no longer my choice and they had it.

 

[Bill G]

What I have found here is many records with the county have been discarded. The county I live in and my family settled in in the early 1800s's is horrible to deal with. They refuse to assist and charge $5 a page to print what should be public information.

 

[Bill G]

Last year I questioned the gals in the county office about the $5 per page charge. They claimed it was a copy fee. I pointed out that a number of years ago when they the county board voted to demolish the old 1890 courthouse where records were stored they tried to move the physical records to the county office building. That was a failure as that building was in such poor condition the engineers said it would not withstand the weight of the physical records. The county idiots were in a tizzy. They ended up hiring a private company to digitize all physical records and flicking destroyed the originals. I told them to just email me copies. They said it would still be $5 a copy. I asked why. They reply was that it was state statute. I laughed as I said that is funny Mercer County just south of you had emailed me all the records I request for a whopping cost of "Here ya go Bill have a nice day and see you at the fair"