Heritage Album

How do you look up your family tree?

I want to find out exactly who my ancestors were, and what genes I'm comprised of........ meaning, I'm Dominican but I want to know what percent of me is Tiano Indian, Spaniard, and African..... I'd also like to know how far back can I trace my roots to? I really want to know..... thanks in advance for your help.

Public Comments

1. 1. Get a DNA test, I believe they can tell you your ethnic composition, on either your father's or mother's side. 2. Go to a good website, such as: ancestry.com to find distant relatives from the DR with your name... .
2. ancestry.com. excellent website and it gives you everything you want.
3. Microsoft has a program specifically for this purpose. Visit www.Microsoft.com, and do a search there for Programs, Family Geneology. Good luck and may God bless you.
4. You get your parents parents names from birth records - this includes maden name. Then look up for their birth records. Then the new ones. In the US they do a Census every decade. That is where people put down race, occupation education, children etc. The resuts are private until they are 40 years old - not sure eactly the # of years. I dont know about other countries. Good Luck! It's a lot of work.
5. One should start with oneself, then to your parents and grandparents and so on. Shy away from skipping generations as this seldom produces accurate results. Call, write visit and e-mail family and cousins that can assist you to get back a few more generation. Check elderly family members for old documents, wills, family bibles and any other important papers they may have. Once you are able to get back to generations where there are records available, such as census, vital statistics and other records, then broaden your search. DNA testing can at present only tell you about your father's father's line (Y-DNA)etc, or your mother's mother's line (mtDNA) etc. Autosomal (atDNA) testing is relatively new and not too effective yet. atDNA will test the rest of your family roots. Acquiring more knowledge and skills on how and where to search will also help. For some basics visit http://www.SearchMyTree.com Here you will find information that will help you learn the how to and demystfy the process and it is free. As to how far back can you go? That will depend on which countries your ancestry originates and how extensive are their records. I have been fortunate enough to get back to 1200's on one line and to the 1500's on many lines. Good luck.
6. The best way is simply to start with your own family. If you want to do it on the computer, you can download PAF (Personal Ancestral File), which is free genealogy software at http://www.familysearch.org under Order/Download Products. I imagine you can pick it up pretty quick because it is very user-friendly. Then talk to your parents (and grandparents if still alive) and get as much information as you can from them including names, dates, and places. Here are a few online resources for you to use: http://www.familysearch.org - Probably the best free online resource. http://www.ancestry.com is one of the best but has a hefty subscription fee (for most of its databases). Also, you can check the surname message boards for your surname at: http://genforum.genealogy.com http://boards.ancestry.com For links to helpful sites, you will want to take a look at: http://www.cyndislist.com And finally for a lot of different resources: http://www.rootsweb.com For grave records: http://www.findagrave.com It won't all be free but it's worth it. Good luck, Dave -- Create a family tree website at http://www.familypulse.org
7. Check with your local Public Library do they have a genealogy room or branch? Also check local Morman Church, LDS Library, you don't have to be Morman to visit.
8. Start with your own birth certificate. It has much information on it, and then start with any information on your mom and your dad, and as you go back after that you will have 4 lines to research each time you go back, and if you find some type of document on someone, it will some information that you can use to go backward that much further. My cousin has one of his lineages back to Dan, and the tribes of Isreal, and we have one branch of ours back to Denmark, in the year of 630 a.d. (the Copeland name, which is Coupelande, overseas). They were probably, according to the legends, Real Estate People, buying up land, and by the time they came to America, in Virginia, they were Makers of Silverware, and Ceramic Dishes & pottery, and preachers and law enforcement officers. Any Black Heritage Information can be found in Records after the Civil War, records which are Called the Freedmen (Indian) Rolls. In Oklahoma, Our Freedmen Rolls, are at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, in Muskogee, Oklahoma. On those pages will list the Roll Number given to each of the Slaves who received Freedom Papers, and also there will be listed the name(s) of the Slave Owners, and I've found that in an ancestory a grandpa might be owned by the Master, and the negro child, growing up might be owned by the Master's wife, and so on. It seemed that each member of the Master's family could "own a slave" and have personal service. Many of the Choctaw Indian People have Black Heritage in their ancestory, but the most interesting fact is that, most, if not all of the Choctaw Indian People, from this Oklahoma Choctaw Indian Tribal Nation, descended from THREE WHITE BROTHERS, NAMED FOLSOM, meaning Foulesham, in England. They married the Princess Daughters of the 2 Choctaw Chiefs in Mississippi, and from those 3 brothers, the whole of that Nation, of descendants from the Folsom name, ARE TRIPLE COUSINS TO THEMSELVES. (and marrying "back into the tribe", is encouraged). As long as you can find documents of proof, you can go back as far as the "proof'' can take you...(to dirt, if you can find the connection, to when God made Adam)....from the beginning of time....which is endless...