Tracing roots

I was asked (by email) what is the best way to trace family roots. How is Ancestry.com for tracing family ancestry?

The best way is the old fashioned way. Time, research (that is checked and double checked), and official records.Some libraries do not publish this information to the internet, you need to actually go there to do the research.

Family memories get fuzzy, and Ancestry.com has a host of issues. I use Ancestry to a point, but I have seen so many mistakes on people's pages. My Grandfather was Jesse James Oliveria. Someone had him as Oliver James, and another as some weird concoction that was similar if you knew the right name. The problem with Ancenstry.com is twofold. The first issue is that much info is provided by other members. The problem with that is that many don't know their Grandfather's own name as evidenced above. There is also a problem when you have similar names. Some names like Smith and Jones are notoriously difficult to trace. Relying on someone else's so called research can lead you down the wrong path. I know that there must have been hundreds of Mary Mc Carthy's in the 1800's. There were at least 2 in my family, and there was another one living on the same street!

The other issue is that many focus on trying to find links to famous people. You can make a connection if you try hard enough and fool yourself into being someone "special". If  a person did that,and then you copy his or her tree, you are down a whole crazy path that has nothing to do with your ancestry. I have never met a person on the site who simply is Native American, they are all relations of chiefs. I would conclude from their research that the chiefs were the only ones having sexual intercourse in the tribe....but all sarcasm aside, it is hard to trace exact lineage back where there are no written records. The written NA records that are provided by the BIA and other governmental sources have their own issues. Many didn't participate (it was easy to "hide" out if one wanted to), many records indicated that the people were "Black", not "Indian", and matralineal societies confused the heck out of the census takers and record keepers. There were mistakes, not only on these records, but records in general. Only certain tribes (mostly in the Plains and Desert Southwest) were in certain official records, as in other places,  many Native Americans were already assimilated into the European society. My ancestors lived in villages on the east coast before there ever was a Lakota reservation. The Lakota are well recorded, the eastern woodlands people, are not.

The good part about ancestry.com is that you can research thousands of records, but you can do that ANYWAY without the site, just by using your head and a search engine. You may not know what records to search, so ancestry will help guide you, but if you do have an idea how to do the research, do it yourself for free.

I am at a place where I would have to travel to the east coast to certain libraries, and a museum research center, to get more info and do research. I am seriously thinking of hiring a genealogist. It would be quicker, and maybe more accurate. At least I can hand them a starting point!

Meanwhile, some families are very easy to trace, they lived in larger towns where records were well kept, or they had a position in society that made them noteworthy in the news of the time. I was told my family was traced back to  U. S. Grant, but I haven't even touched that branch of the tree yet, I don't know if it is family lore at this point or fact.

The sad part is that before I was born, my grandmother had a genealogist trace the family tree, where that paperwork is, I will never know. The other sad part is my half sister is roaming around the country somewhere with all the paperwork on our NA ancestry. It is all there, all finished, but no one can find her (IF she still has it).

So I have a huge project on my hands.

Someday , if you are bored, start researching, just make sure that you do it right, one little goof can take you off into a whole other direction that really has nothing to do with your family. Genealogical research is hard, it isn't a picnic, but if you like playing detective, you will enjoy it, especially when you find and authenticate a connection.

There are also classes in genealogical research, but I think most people can figure it out for themselves, it isn't difficult. It is just time consuming and sometimes tedious.

Research , learn and grow!




Peshaui Wequashimese




(C)2011 Dr. R M Reiter Wolf. May not be used, copied or reproduced without prior written permission.