Digging For Roots

I have always loved history but even more so after I began working on my family genealogy. My Grandmother and Great-Grandmother shared many family stories with me and got me started on our family genealogy. Several years ago I took what they had given me and started digging deeper. With the addition of the internet I have been able to find out so much more about my family roots. I thought I would share some of my favorite websites with those of you who would like to know more about your own family roots.

I start with a word of caution. Just because something is on the internet, it does not make it true. You might be saying 'duh' but I think one of the most important rules of genealogy is to get facts from the original sources. Don't just copy some tree somebody has posted on the web especially if it isn't backed up by realiable sources. If you find what you think is part of your family tree on the web make sure that it can be backed up with census records, marriage records, birth records, death certificates and other original records. It can save you a lot of time and frustration. Plus, I find the hunt for those original records part of the fun of genealogy anyway.

You don't have to spend lots of money to find original records either. Most of my favorite sites are free. Family Search is a great site with birth records, marriage records, death records, and census records. Another great site is the USGenWeb Project where each state and county in that state has it's own website with lots of free records. Find a Grave has photographs and information from gravesites around the country. Rootsweb is a place where you can find lots of family trees posted. Like I said earlier use caution if they don't site their sources.

Another fun way to explore your family genealogy is by including other family members. Geni is a site where you can post your family tree and invite other family members to work together to help 'grow your family tree'. It allows you to keep your tree private so you can protect your information too. When I first started working on my family tree it was all on paper. Soon all the paper files and boxes were making it hard to be keep it all organized, let alone work on it. Now that my family tree is online it is much easier to work on and to add the items that I find on the web.

Finding more about my family roots has helped me to understand more about where I came from and has given me a deep and heartfelt appreciation to all that those ancestors who came before me. In a way, genealogy has made history become more personal and alive for me. Genealogy is like a treasure hunt, sometimes frustrating, but always rewarding. If you have any favorite genealogy sites please feel free to share them. Happy researching!