This document provides tips and resources for finding information about one's family history and ancestry. It begins by having the reader start with themselves and gathering information about parents and grandparents. It then addresses common roadblocks like adoptions or unknown relatives. It suggests interviewing family members and searching for old family photos, records and artifacts. The document recommends searching census records from 1940 onwards if dates and locations are known. Further tips include searching maps, military records, newspapers, immigration records, city directories, local histories and lineage society databases to uncover more details the further back in time one's search extends. Examples are given of successful family history discoveries found through these methods.

1. How to find your family story

2.  Immigration Story
 Family’s Role in History
 War Hero
 Famous Ancestor
 Royalty or Celebrity
Cousin
 Lineage Society
 Mayflower
 Sons/Daughters of the
American Revolution

3.  Start with yourself, your
parents, your
grandparents
 Full Name
 Birth Date & Birth Place
 Marriage Date &
Marriage Place
 Death Date & Death
Place

4.  What if there is an
adoption?
 What if I don’t know who
my ______ is?
 What if one of my
parents is estranged from
his/her family?
 What if my parent is not
helpful?

5.  Ask about the story of your
family
 Interview family members
 Gather pictures
 Identify family heirlooms &
artifacts
 Does someone have a
scrapbook or newspaper
clippings?
 Pictures
 Nina's Dolls

6.  Start with someone who
was alive in 1940
 If you have some idea of
where they lived and
about how old they
might have been, the
census is great place to
start.
 Census records are easily
located for FREE!!
On pony, my grandfather, Richard,
holding his little brother, Paul.
His sister Rebecca & brother Stanley
are standing.

7. Names
Relationships
Ages
Birth Place

8. Caution: Look closely! Something isn’t right here.
There are 2 Heads of the Household
Are John & Fannie the parents of Thomas R.?
What does Wd mean?

10. He was hit by a car and
died. I knew this from my
grandfather who was only
8 when his father died.
But I wanted to know
more, and I found this
story in the Google News
Archive (free!). July 24,
1923 – Lewiston Daily Sun

11.  Once you have some names and dates:
 Maps – Where Did They Live? Where Did They Travel?
 World War I Draft Registrations
 Newspapers – Google, Newspapers.com,
GenealogyBank
 Immigration Records – Pictures of Ships
 City Directories
 Local Town Histories – Google Books, OpenLibrary
 Further Back
 Civil War Pension Files - $$
 Revolutionary War Pension Files – Fold3
 Compiled Genealogies – Genealogy Gophers, Archive

14. Civil War - First Battle of Bull Run
Holy History Jackpot
Student Finds:
• Great-grandparent naturalization
records
• Picture of Ship Great-
grandparents came on
• Picture of building where Great-
grandparents ran a bowling alley
• Great-grandpa was a chauffeur in
NYC
• Great-grandpa was a sheriff in
Limington & had a daughter
injured in a circus tent accident
Moving To Maine - Map
Certain Lewd Women - Divorce

15.  Our Librarians, Mrs. Denecker
& Mrs. Chavonelle are building
a libguide that I will link tomy
wikispaces page.
 I will post this presentation on
the page for you to use in the
future.
 Would you be interested in an
informal, come-when-you-can
genealogy club? Let me know if
this interests you.