I have recently been trying to look up my ancestors, and while I have had a little luck in finding my ancestors that I know of, I am having difficulty in going any further...It seems after some point in my search(On ancestry.com) it turns into a guessing game because the dates of birth are only estimated, and each census does not provide the persons entire census history and family info...If that's not bad enough, after performing a search on someone and being successful, I would do another search for that same person and get nothing, knowing that they were still alive.
While almost all of my family that I know of has came over here from Germany(My great great grandmother came here in 1911 from East Prussia, and my great great grandfather came over here from Germany both from my mothers side, and obviously my last name being Snyder, my fathers side of the family had to have been German as well, although I cannot search any further as they have all been in America as far back as our knowledge extends) I have also found out that I have Scottish heritage in me as well, as my grandmothers name was McClure. McClure being of the MacLeod clan of Harris.
I still won't try Haggis.
Ancestry
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Uncle Kram
- Posts: 5991
- Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:34 pm
Ancestry
I looked at my family history and got back to my great-great-great-great-Grandfather who was a Cordwainer (Shoemaker) and he had a shop in Nottingham. He was born in 1795. One day I might pick it up again and try to go further back. Requires some dedication and also some luck.
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN PUN
Ancestry
K.Snyder;519568 wrote: I have recently been trying to look up my ancestors, and while I have had a little luck in finding my ancestors that I know of, I am having difficulty in going any further...It seems after some point in my search(On ancestry.com) it turns into a guessing game because the dates of birth are only estimated, and each census does not provide the persons entire census history and family info...If that's not bad enough, after performing a search on someone and being successful, I would do another search for that same person and get nothing, knowing that they were still alive.
While almost all of my family that I know of has came over here from Germany(My great great grandmother came here in 1911 from East Prussia, and my great great grandfather came over here from Germany both from my mothers side, and obviously my last name being Snyder, my fathers side of the family had to have been German as well, although I cannot search any further as they have all been in America as far back as our knowledge extends) I have also found out that I have Scottish heritage in me as well, as my grandmothers name was McClure. McClure being of the MacLeod clan of Harris.
I still won't try Haggis.
You need time and persistance. With plenty of both you will eventually find out more and try again - it's well worth acquiring the taste.
While almost all of my family that I know of has came over here from Germany(My great great grandmother came here in 1911 from East Prussia, and my great great grandfather came over here from Germany both from my mothers side, and obviously my last name being Snyder, my fathers side of the family had to have been German as well, although I cannot search any further as they have all been in America as far back as our knowledge extends) I have also found out that I have Scottish heritage in me as well, as my grandmothers name was McClure. McClure being of the MacLeod clan of Harris.
I still won't try Haggis.
You need time and persistance. With plenty of both you will eventually find out more and try again - it's well worth acquiring the taste.
Ancestry
Being a bit more serious, it does take time and effort - my parents spent nearly 30 years tracing our family back. One or two lines only go back to 1837 but some go back to the 1500s.
With most of you lines quickly passing over the pond you will need to spend a lot of time getting to know their records system and will also need to consider visits to Germany to see paper records for yourself.
Many of the records you will need have probably not been transcribed and could well still be in the parish or district records office. This is especially true of wills and baptismal records.
Best of luck with your search.
With most of you lines quickly passing over the pond you will need to spend a lot of time getting to know their records system and will also need to consider visits to Germany to see paper records for yourself.
Many of the records you will need have probably not been transcribed and could well still be in the parish or district records office. This is especially true of wills and baptismal records.
Best of luck with your search.
Ancestry
Bryn Mawr;519577 wrote: You need time and persistance. With plenty of both you will eventually find out more and try again - it's well worth acquiring the taste.
I suppose I'm finding that out...but I seem to want to find out all of it as soon as possible, and the slightest resistance I encounter I get extremely discouraged.
I have traced back on my fathers side all the way to my great grandfather who was born in 1883, but all that will come up is his children(One of them being my grandfather) and his death certificate doesn't provide me with any usable information...All that I can do is look up others of the same name and guess as to if the household is of our ancestry based on the estimated dates of birth...
I had found one in which shows his est. date of birth at 1883 but they were living about 80 miles north of where they had moved upon our knowledge...It turns into a guessing game, and for any other site I try to use they ask for money and I just don't have the extra cash to give out, especially if it's going to be another guessing game...If they had SSN's or a complete list of entire census history it might be easier but they don't...
I'm currently doing what I can at the Latter Day Saints genealogical site which is free, but their census only goes as recent as 1880, making it sort of hard for a beginning point, but I will try to do what I can.
I suppose I'm finding that out...but I seem to want to find out all of it as soon as possible, and the slightest resistance I encounter I get extremely discouraged.
I have traced back on my fathers side all the way to my great grandfather who was born in 1883, but all that will come up is his children(One of them being my grandfather) and his death certificate doesn't provide me with any usable information...All that I can do is look up others of the same name and guess as to if the household is of our ancestry based on the estimated dates of birth...
I had found one in which shows his est. date of birth at 1883 but they were living about 80 miles north of where they had moved upon our knowledge...It turns into a guessing game, and for any other site I try to use they ask for money and I just don't have the extra cash to give out, especially if it's going to be another guessing game...If they had SSN's or a complete list of entire census history it might be easier but they don't...
I'm currently doing what I can at the Latter Day Saints genealogical site which is free, but their census only goes as recent as 1880, making it sort of hard for a beginning point, but I will try to do what I can.
Ancestry
Bryn Mawr;519589 wrote:
With most of you lines quickly passing over the pond you will need to spend a lot of time getting to know their records system and will also need to consider visits to Germany to see paper records for yourself.
Many of the records you will need have probably not been transcribed and could well still be in the parish or district records office. This is especially true of wills and baptismal records.
Best of luck with your search.
Well I was thinking that with it being in Germany most of the records could have been destroyed from the war.
But my great great grandmother and my great grandmother lived in Tilsit, East Prussia until 1911...I believe it's called Sovetsk now.
With most of you lines quickly passing over the pond you will need to spend a lot of time getting to know their records system and will also need to consider visits to Germany to see paper records for yourself.
Many of the records you will need have probably not been transcribed and could well still be in the parish or district records office. This is especially true of wills and baptismal records.
Best of luck with your search.
Well I was thinking that with it being in Germany most of the records could have been destroyed from the war.
But my great great grandmother and my great grandmother lived in Tilsit, East Prussia until 1911...I believe it's called Sovetsk now.
Ancestry
K.Snyder;519591 wrote: I suppose I'm finding that out...but I seem to want to find out all of it as soon as possible, and the slightest resistance I encounter I get extremely discouraged.
I have traced back on my fathers side all the way to my great grandfather who was born in 1883, but all that will come up is his children(One of them being my grandfather) and his death certificate doesn't provide me with any usable information...All that I can do is look up others of the same name and guess as to if the household is of our ancestry based on the estimated dates of birth...
I had found one in which shows his est. date of birth at 1883 but they were living about 80 miles north of where they had moved upon our knowledge...It turns into a guessing game, and for any other site I try to use they ask for money and I just don't have the extra cash to give out, especially if it's going to be another guessing game...If they had SSN's or a complete list of entire census history it might be easier but they don't...
I'm currently doing what I can at the Latter Day Saints genealogical site which is free, but their census only goes as recent as 1880, making it sort of hard for a beginning point, but I will try to do what I can.
All I know of the US census is related to the computerisation of the recording of the data but the fact that there's no prior data could suggest a move of area. We get exactly the same effect where one line I'm working on moved to Liverpool from Shropshire.
Do you have and Family History societies in the relevant areas? Very often they will have a newsletter or a website where members will field questions or, with a touch of luck, you can meet another member researching the same family.
I have traced back on my fathers side all the way to my great grandfather who was born in 1883, but all that will come up is his children(One of them being my grandfather) and his death certificate doesn't provide me with any usable information...All that I can do is look up others of the same name and guess as to if the household is of our ancestry based on the estimated dates of birth...
I had found one in which shows his est. date of birth at 1883 but they were living about 80 miles north of where they had moved upon our knowledge...It turns into a guessing game, and for any other site I try to use they ask for money and I just don't have the extra cash to give out, especially if it's going to be another guessing game...If they had SSN's or a complete list of entire census history it might be easier but they don't...
I'm currently doing what I can at the Latter Day Saints genealogical site which is free, but their census only goes as recent as 1880, making it sort of hard for a beginning point, but I will try to do what I can.
All I know of the US census is related to the computerisation of the recording of the data but the fact that there's no prior data could suggest a move of area. We get exactly the same effect where one line I'm working on moved to Liverpool from Shropshire.
Do you have and Family History societies in the relevant areas? Very often they will have a newsletter or a website where members will field questions or, with a touch of luck, you can meet another member researching the same family.
Ancestry
Bryn Mawr;519608 wrote: All I know of the US census is related to the computerisation of the recording of the data but the fact that there's no prior data could suggest a move of area. We get exactly the same effect where one line I'm working on moved to Liverpool from Shropshire.
Do you have and Family History societies in the relevant areas? Very often they will have a newsletter or a website where members will field questions or, with a touch of luck, you can meet another member researching the same family.
My only experience has been with ancestry.com...But they have an option to search for a specific person through all of their records, which would include them moving, but because in each record available they don't show any prior residencies or any records for that matter other than the certain link you had clicked on it makes it hard...And that's fine when you're looking for people who's name you already know, but when it comes to finding your more distant relatives it becomes a guessing game, as there are no incremental records to support your research...
For instance, I can look up my great grandfathers household while he was a kid which would be the 1900 census report(Born 1883) but because all of the birth dates are estimated it makes it even harder to pinpoint it's credibility and there are no social security numbers, nothing...only the occupation of the parents and county of residence if you're lucky, and that can be fine up and to a point, but eventually if you don't recognize the same county of residency it even further becomes a guessing game...
I will have to look into other options as you've said, and I'll look into that. But as for relying strictly on the federal census reports you will get no where beyond that in which you already know.
Do you have and Family History societies in the relevant areas? Very often they will have a newsletter or a website where members will field questions or, with a touch of luck, you can meet another member researching the same family.
My only experience has been with ancestry.com...But they have an option to search for a specific person through all of their records, which would include them moving, but because in each record available they don't show any prior residencies or any records for that matter other than the certain link you had clicked on it makes it hard...And that's fine when you're looking for people who's name you already know, but when it comes to finding your more distant relatives it becomes a guessing game, as there are no incremental records to support your research...
For instance, I can look up my great grandfathers household while he was a kid which would be the 1900 census report(Born 1883) but because all of the birth dates are estimated it makes it even harder to pinpoint it's credibility and there are no social security numbers, nothing...only the occupation of the parents and county of residence if you're lucky, and that can be fine up and to a point, but eventually if you don't recognize the same county of residency it even further becomes a guessing game...
I will have to look into other options as you've said, and I'll look into that. But as for relying strictly on the federal census reports you will get no where beyond that in which you already know.