Researching Family

[armysc_25b]

Anyone here research their family's history? I've been doing it for the last year and a half on and off, but haven't really gotten past names I know. Part of the difficulty seems to be US Laws that don't let info get released until way down the line, and part of it is I just don't know how to link people together. Like right now, I'm trying to help my grandfather find out some info about his biological parents (him and his brothers were all adopted when he was 10 years old), and though I've got the info and I have a very good potential lead, I just can't find that bit of info to link them all together.

For those that do research their history, anyone have any luck finding info or "long lost family members"? For those that don't, ever thought about it?

[FeelinFroggy]

I haven't ever found any "long lost family members", but I have researched my family origin on my father's side. My mother was adopted so any blood line connected on her side has been severed. We've tried to locate her biological parents and have ended up empty handed every time.

My father's ancestors are of Irish blood.

And even though my mother was adopted, we've discovered that her adoptive parents are related to Daniel Boone somewhere down the line.

[pingjocky]

I haven't researched my family because my dad has already done it. He's got names and dates and places back 200 years. We're of German descent.

It can get tricky with adoption. It can be difficult to track "blood" sometimes.

R/
Pingjocky

[reddog]

A cousin and I have been working on our 'roots' for well over 2 years and let me tell you, it is work! All those letters that go unanswered from distant Family members and waiting for replies for addresses etc. Everyone wants a copy of the finished product, but soon tire of helping out, at least in our case. My cousin even made trips to Austria, to the town of our Great Grandparents and found 2nd and 3rd cousins we didn't know existed. Current Family members are key in your search and you must be in it for the long haul, actually it's a never-ending endevor, but the information you discover becomes addictive and well worth the effort. I wish you luck and hope you never quit searching...
Easy Brother,
Reddog...

[PhoenixCadet]

I've recently been working with one of my aunts on my mom's side in regard to this (my mom's the youngest of 9 children). Back in 2000 or so, my aunt created a timeline of our current family history, complete with all birthdays, who's related to who - and simply, anything that would be of interest to anyone looking at our family. I don't know how she did it - but she traced my moms family back to 1775 in Liechtenstein and the Black Forest of Germany.

Cool stuff, indeed.

[mtnsldr]

I've tracked back to the first batch of my family to come over to this country from Scotland. Unfortunately, we can't trace back from there with any certainty, so the claims that my family participated in the Battle of Hastings still cannot be confirmed...