Need help with a family tree?

Question:

Need help with a family tree?

so i am looking on ancestry.com and they don't have all my family records on there. yes i am looking up deaths. but nothing. i even go on the ssdi and nothing. what gives. i know that these people died and what state and some what city but nothing comes back. what else can i do? btw....i can't ask anyone in the family cause the ones i need to talk with r dead.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: One thing to remember is that Ancestry.com is one of many tools available to the genealogist. It doesn't have even 5 % of the records out there available. They are making a valiant effort to make new resources available constantly and they do have the complete censuses for the years 1790-1930. If there is a certain locality where your ancestors resided, I would suggest visiting the local library in that town and see if they have a local history/genealogy department. If they do, I would bet that you would have much more success than sitting in front of a computer screen. Besides books, they would likely have the local newspaper, city directories, old church records, etc.

Also, I did read that you said that you can't ask anyone in your family because the ones you need are dead. Ideally, we would all love to talk to the ones who have passed on and know the genealogy firsthand. I have to say talk to all of the relatives you can about your family. They don't have to be 90 years old to have some valuable information. Even siblings have different information than their other siblings. For instance, my uncle had told me that my great grandfather was a twin. He is seven years older than my dad who had never heard that piece of information. Further research proved that my uncle was indeed correct.

Keep in mind, genealogy is not a "one stop shop" kind of hobby. It is like an extreme puzzle that is never really solved! For every person you find, you have two more to look for (because everybody has two parents.) Besides Ancestry.com and the library, you would likely find records with the cemeteries, funeral homes, courthouses, the National Archives, and many others. Each source has something different to offer you. Be patient when doing your genealogy, it will come together. Some lines may come together very quickly, while others may take years.

If I may, I would like to make one suggestion regarding Ancestry. Our ancestors (yours and mine) really weren't all that diligent about correcting people who misspelled their names. If you can't find them with the correct spelling, try alternate spellings, nicknames, first initials, etc. You might also find searching by "soundex" might bring more desired results. Soundex is a way of indexing based on the way a surname sounds rather than the way it is spelled. Here is a link that may explain soundex a little better than I can.

http://www.archives.gov/publications/gen...

When searching the Social Security death index, I would put in the information I do know. For instance, if I knew my grandpas birthdate, I might just type in his last name, date of birth and state, or any combination of things you do know about the person you are searching for. Sometimes, by not putting in the first name, you learn that your ancestor actually went by a middle name rather than the his given first name.

I hope this helps. Good luck in your search.