How to successfully trace my ancestry?

Question

I've gotten back as far as my great great grandparents. But i've hit a wall. Any suggestions on how I can go back further? Ancestry.com is useful but I don't want to pay $30 a month.

Answer 1

Ancestry.com is a good value for what they offer but not all records are on line. You may need to go to some state archives or NARA depending on why you can’t get further back further than your great great grand parents. If you would post a question saying specifically, what the problem is, then we would probably be able to offer specific suggestion for getting past the brick wall and if you post the necessary information some of us would probably actually help you with that piece of your research.



EDIT***

Have you tried Roostweb message boards either for surname or locality? http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/



Have you gone to a Family History Center to see if their volunteer staff can help you with ways to get through your brick wall? You can locate a Family History Center near you and determine their hours of operation on the main page of FamilySearach.org at: http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Home/Welcome/home.asp

Answer 2

The internet can be a wonderful 'tool' however it is not the only tool.............it has made us all lazy and a whole generation of people think that you can do nothing or at least very little without the internet..............what you can do is target where you are looking, you don't need to pay any commerical website to see records(like ancestry), nor do you have to put up with secondary , copied and donated 'information' from religious websites ( like familysearch) as your only way to build your family history....prior to the internet and home computers researchers were researching their family histories, I feel very lucky that because when I started there was no internet, so I had to learn to research by looking at and understanding what records are available in the areas/countries of research, now with the internet it is easy to target specific records and I also know where to go to find records that will never be put online and my expectation is one of research and not just put in a name, click and get a computer database to build my tree with information from who knows where which many are unverfied records and so you will end up a tree of unrelated names....so the internet in this instance encourages you to have high expectations that all records are available and makes you think you can research your family tree in a few months.

You have got back to your great great grandparents, so you must have heard all the family stories from your living relations, checked all their and your own homes for records so will have a good knowledge of your family/ancestry and will know where to start to target resources.....if however you have only gone onto websites you are missing a whole lots of free resouces...a checklist what to look for http://familytimeline.webs.com/recordsinyourownhome.htm

I am presuming your are US based, so it will be different websites for US records, although this web links are UK based there are some US ones....also look at NARA and start using your internet to target the places you are looking as many private researchers will transcribe records and put them on their own website for others ( and will cite them).............there are many good quality cited records online, however there are also many which which never be online, so your library may have resources and your local records office, and family history organisation will and it is worth going and looking............lots of US census online, NA ancestry resources etc...good luck with your search

Answer 3

First, get as many additional details about your grandparents and great-grandparents as you can -- where they lived, when, etc. This information may come in handy later on. Then you need to figure out why it's hard to go back.



If your ancestors were in the U.S., you might be able to use census records, tax records, property records, old newspapers, death certificates, military records, and cemetery records to learn more about them and their ancestors. Some of these resources are only available online if you pay, but most of them can also be found in libraries or by writing to the appropriate government agency of cemetery. (You may still need to pay for copies of the records.)



Some local and state census records are being digitized and are available for free.



If your ancestors were not in the U.S., you can search immigration and naturalization records. Ellis Island records are searchable for free, and they often contain information about place of origin and names of family members. You may have to pay for a nice printed copy of a ship manifest image, but you can view it online for free. Death certificates and birth certificates (for children) may also contain information about the person's place of origin. Once you find out where your ancestors came from, you can look into resources in those countries.



Helpful free information...

Answer 4

Family Search

http://www.familysearch.org

Search the Family History Library's database, which contains millions of names from thousands of family trees.



Free On Ancestry

http://www.freeonancestry.com/

A directory of all the FREE records and resources available on Ancestry.com.

Answer 5

Un fortunately you will have to pay some organisation even if it is for a birth, marriage or death certificate



It is easier and quicker with one or the websites

Answer 6

get a family member or friends id and use it