Making a Family Tree

Saw this in Google news and thought it might be worth sharing. Looks like there is going to be more and more resources coming available for those with Jewish ancestors.

Getting to the root of family
By Molly Ritvo
Wednesday January 23 2008
Technology has aided genealogists in their search for family. Genealogy is a growing trend among Boston’s Jewish community With interest in genealogy growing around the world, it is no surprise that many members of Boston’s Jewish community are also eager to connect with their own histories.

“Jewish genealogy is bigger than ever,” said Newton resident Jay Sage, former co-president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston (JGSGB), an organization dedicated to the promotion of Jewish genealogical research and family history. “More and more Jews are looking for their ancestral history to develop a deeper understanding of who we are.”

Read the full story — The Jewish Advocate

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If you want to create a family tree, you can find hundreds of blank forms online. Once you have performed the necessary research, these forms are ideal for presenting your genealogy data in an easy-to-read format. Before you can fill in the branches of your family tree, you need to find a reliable resource for locating the names of your ancestors.

Creating your family tree begins with selecting a few family members to trace through the years. This research blossoms as you gain information through public records, online resources, and data gathered from family members. You can improve your research efforts by learning some of the research methods used by the professionals.

One of the best resources for learning the tricks of the trade is The Basic Beginner’s Genealogy Guide from Genealogy Beginner. If you choose to download the guide (free), you’ll receive valuable advice on getting your paperwork in order, family interviews, initial database searches, government sources, and how to learn from the work of others. Each of the 5 chapters covers a different aspect of researching your family history.

Taking the time to learn how to perform efficient genealogy research saves you a great deal of time in the long run. In addition, taking advantage of The Basic Beginner’s Genealogy Guide helps to ensure you gather accurate information from the most reliable resources. Once you perform your research, you can find software that offers templates for creating family trees. You can also find several websites that offer interactive forms that you can post online for people all over the world to view.

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Overall at the Genealogy Roots Blog Joe has organized a collection of records into a search-able database.  Thought you might find this interesting and worth a look.

Genealogy Roots Blog: A Small Collection of Online Genealogy Records

Over the last few years my various websites have accumulated a messy pile of transcribed genealogy records.  Most of these are ship passenger lists, but there are one or two other records as well. Many of the names are German and Irish, but other nationalities are also included. Even though these transcriptions are scattered around the web in a seemingly haphazard way — there really is a method behind all of it I think, or I thought there was at the time — you can search all of them from one place.

Right here:

Search Some Cool, Obscure, Weird Genealogy Records and Passenger Lists

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Hot off the presses!  The folks over at SCGS write:

We are very pleased to announce the roll-out of the searchable Virtual Surname Wall database, sponsored by the Southern California Genealogical Society.

The Virtual Surname Wall is free and open for use by all family historians and genealogists. You need not be a member of SCGS to participate.Although it took a little longer than we anticipated or wished, entries from over a thousand genealogists from around the world are now searchable by family name, by geographic region, and by each participant’s Submitter ID.

Access the Virtual Surname Wall at www.SCGSGenealogy.com.

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Eastman has been at this a long time.  I thought it would be worth referencing his post here for those who want to get a grasp of where genealogy as an online pursuit has come.

In his blog-post today he writes:
Boy, the time does fly! Twelve years has slipped by in almost the blink of an eye. It seems like only yesterday that I sent the first e-mail newsletter to about 100 people, mostly members of CompuServe’s Genealogy Forums.

None  of them knew in advance that the newsletter would arrive; I simply mailed it to people who I thought might be interested. In 1996 nobody objected to receiving unsolicited bulk mail; the phrase “spam mail” had not yet been invented. I shudder to think if I did the same thing in today’s Internet environment.

In that first newsletter on January 15, 1996, I wrote …

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If you want to understand the information contained in public records, it’s a good idea to do a little preparation. One of the best instructional resources on using public records for family history research is the The Basic Beginner’s Genealogy Guide from Genealogy Beginner. Chapter four of this guide is appropriately titled, “Searching Genealogy Public Records.”

One of your best resources for genealogy research is your local pubic library. Local libraries have access to online genealogy databases that may contain valuable information about your family. Librarians can significantly reduce research time by pointing you toward the resources that best fit your research needs.

You can also find a great deal of genealogy information by writing to the Social Security Administration and requesting information about family names, applications for citizenship, and birth dates. The Census Bureau has records dating back to 1745. You’ll also find birth announcements through the Office of Vital Records or by contacting local courthouses directly. These are just some of the leads you’ll find when you lean more about The Basic Beginner’s Genealogy Guide.

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