I would like to find my grandfather, or find out about my grandfather, but I only have his first and last name and that he lived in Califorina for a few years if not alwyas. Any ideas on where to start would be very helpful. I've tried googling him and I have no way of getting any more information. Thanks
The answer you received is correct. Some other suggestions would be to seach Social Security death records in California or even some of the other states. You dont say about when he lived or died or even if you knew how old he was. If you hit a dead end email me at bgmsanders@aol.com and I will see if I can help you. Barbara
First, ask other members of your family about your Grandfather. Your parents or their siblings might be able to add to what you have. If that isn't helpful, try searching the US Federal Census. There is always a wealth of information there to be found.
Try sites such as www.familysearch.org ; www.gencircles.com or the many other sites out there and see if anyone else is researching your grandfather. Also, try your local library and check if they have a genealogy room. If not, you can use the library to access free research tools, like Heritage Quest Online.
If all else fails, contact me and I will help you locate the information. Hope this helps.
I am starting to research my family on my mother's side. I have a complete diary my Great Grandmother wrote, but I hit a wall in finding things related to her story. She was born and lived in Richmond, VA and was a young girl during the Civil War. Her name was Annie Cray. Her mother was the second wife of James Cray. Her mother was the eldest daughter of George W. Skully and Marie Ione Whit. If anyone could help please let me know.
Check your local library for Civil War information. There are books of list of soldiers who fought in the Civil War and widows who received pensions depending on how many children they had. Also if you get a chance I would go to Virginia and go thru the land deeds, estate wills, and other court documents. You might find alot out in those. If you hit a brick wall contact me at bgmsanders@aol.com and I will see if I can come up with some information for you. Barbara
Hi everyone. I found a website that adds info to my (inherited) already extensive family tree, but am not sure where to go from here because of 2 problems: 1. The source given is "per George Cogan". Is this a legitimate source? (no clue is given as to which George Cogan, or even which country he might be from) 2. The owner of the page adopted a "what you see is what you get" attitude and was not forthcoming with any further information -- and this is the only place I've been able to find this particular information. I've been interested in my family tree for years, but am still a relative novice. Where can I go from here with this particular source? Thank you for any help you can give and for your time. Mike Cogan
A really good way to see if George Cogan is vaguely reliable is to check whether he sits anywhere on the family tree - people who belong to that family are more likely to have a bit of a clue about rellies and dates BUT even then you have to take it with a grain of salt, and unfortunetely the gold standard reliable source is your countries births deaths and marriages office or, for more ancestral members of the family local (to where they were born etc) archives, which can clock up alot of manpower.
And (if you haven't done it already - sorry if I'm repeating things you already know) also look for any names you recognise or match up to the family tree you already have, ask parents and grandparents if they recognise people. Ideally you want to match up at the very least one whole family group (eg: Grandma recognises Aunty.... and Uncle.... and their children; or Peter Joe Smith and his wife Mary Susan Smith and their children Joe, Bob and Sue are on both family trees).
Also double check birth (and death) dates when you're matching up people - ie Does your Frank Smith and his Frank Smith have matching dates, otherwise they could be from entirely different familes but happen to share the same name
