How do I trace my roots?

Question:

How do I trace my roots?

I want to learn about my ancestors. My family (mom and aunts) don't know anything about them. How do I trace my roots?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Still get as much information from family as possible, particularly senior members. It might be the little things that don't seem so significant will turn out to be very significant.

Start with your parents and go backwards, then your grandparents. An LDS center (Mormon church) has lots of records and I have never had them coming by and ringing my doorbell because I availed myself of their services.

If you have a genealogical library close by or a public library with a genealogical section check it. They might have census records. Ancestry.Com has them through 1930. Some of the libraries have a subscription to Ancestry.Com that you can utilize because it does require a subscription.

Death certificates and applications for social security numbers have both parents name and place of birth including the mother's maiden name. I feel the application for social security number is the best because most people will know where their parents were born. While the death certificate depends upon someone remembering where Grandma was born.

National Archives in Washington DC has lot of records on immigrants.

Work on one family line and when you come to a brickwall, put it aside and then work on another.

Court house records, wills, marriage records are important.

There are websites. Now information in family trees on any of the websites should be taken as clues not as fact as much is not documented. Even if you see the same information over and over by different submitters, a lot of copying is being done.

I feel Ancestry.Com has the most records on line and they are getting more all the time.