Shout out to Becky re: genealogy

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colonialgirl
Posts: 1835
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 2:01 am
Location: Central Illinois

Shout out to Becky re: genealogy

Post by colonialgirl »

Hey Becky -
You have been doing genealogy for a long time. Would you mind sharing with me a brief overview of the hard copy information you get on each person? For example - do you try and get a birth and death certificate for everyone? Doesn't that get a little pricey?

I am trying to get DOB and location, DOD & location, full name, spouse name and dob and dod - dates and places of marriage and full names and birthdates of all children. Trying for pictures but that is proving difficult the further back I get. We are up to 2500 + people and the thoughts for paying to get copies of birth and death certificates many of them would be cost prohibitive.

Maybe you could give me an idea of what the general standard is, please?
clemencia2us
Posts: 11445
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:21 am

Re: Shout out to Becky re: genealogy

Post by clemencia2us »

not Becky, but I use Ancestry.com and can print off death and birth certificates.

Even the ones from Mexico.

I don't print them though, everything is just kept on my tree.

The other day I was talking to an older guy about genealogy, and he kept telling me to take good notes and keep them organized.

I don't think he understood when I told him all of that is kept online. I make notes and add info as needed to the people on my tree. Interesting little tidbits such as my great great great grandmother was a "molandera" in Mexico - a corn grinder. This was the first female from there that had a job. Most were listed as being "en casa" - at home.

Even if you do not continue with your subscription, the information is not deleted, so others can see it. If you make your tree public - which I do.
colonialgirl
Posts: 1835
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 2:01 am
Location: Central Illinois

Re: Shout out to Becky re: genealogy

Post by colonialgirl »

Thanks Clem -
I have all of the stuff on ancestry attached but have not found any birth or death certificates. Photos of graves, obituaries, military records, censuses, social security records, etc. - but no direct documentation of those two documents. .

I belong to a genealogy board on Facebook and in discussion of documentation there, there is a lot of talk about obtaining hard copies of documentation primarily birth and death certificates. I want to find out what the standard considered appropriate documentation procedure.

As far as Ancestry - I do not trust it. When I first started, I used it exclusively and kept notes out there of information I needed. For example I found several living cousins and I noted their phone numbers and addresses I had tracked down in my private notes. I went for about 3 months without working there when hubs had one of his many surgeries and when I went back - they had purged my notes. So I do not trust them to keep anything safe for me.

I have family tree maker on my computer and I keep everything in that and it is not linked to Ancestry deliberately.

I wish I could go somewhere and the a class.
clemencia2us
Posts: 11445
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 9:21 am

Re: Shout out to Becky re: genealogy

Post by clemencia2us »

Weird that you haven't found any death or birth certificates.

It is the primary way I tracked my father's family. In Mexico, the kids usually take on the mother's name and when they immigrate, names can change - even the spelling.

I have started several private Facebook pages for different branches of my family. I've met lots of new people and we share stories and photos there.

I've posted lots of the info and family lines on there too, so if ancestry goes kaput, at least it is there too.
colonialgirl
Posts: 1835
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 2:01 am
Location: Central Illinois

Re: Shout out to Becky re: genealogy

Post by colonialgirl »

That is so cool. I have not met as many as you but I have had personal contact with 10 second cousins I never knew before. I just love doing this - I could work on it every day all day long. I just will never live long enough to do all I want to do.
BeckyO
Posts: 926
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:32 am

Re: Shout out to Becky re: genealogy

Post by BeckyO »

Colonial girl I just saw this thread.

Genealogy standards do call for a birth, wedding and death certificate. Baptismal certificates can be used instead of birth. Yes, it can get pricey. I don't always have to order them. I ask relatives for copies . If theirs is certified I am satisfied with a Xerox copy. Obituaries, and newspaper stories can work until you get better evidence.

I don't trust any on line site. I use an unsupported version of Personal Ancestry File (PAF). I need to transfer to another program soon.

I do not completely trust my computer, I have lost massive amounts of info that way. So I print off stories, pics, etc and I fill in family sheets, make trees etc and keep all this info in archival plastic sheet protectors in notebooks. I have three ring binders for each line I research. Yes sometimes the info is duplicated. My family intermarried many times. I have about 25,000 names in my database.

I go back about 1000 years or more in most lines. Hard to get birth and death certificates, LOL, but church and civil records, family Bibles and other records suffice. I do siblings, families as far as possible, because I know that I may see that name in another family line. I have been doing this over 60 years now.
I have visited court houses, cemetaries, State Archives, many on line sites, been a member of Historical Societies and genealogy groups, visited many genealogy exhibits where researchers trade notes. Family reunions are great resources. Correspondence with other researches can be a big help. Since I had my DNA done I have started exchanges with relatives. Haven't really found anything new, just added a few cousins' info.

If you want to take courses do so on line. Future Learning has a genealogy course going now. There are others. Good luck.
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