But it doesn’t have to be so hard.

The Internet has made it so easy to collaborate family tree information and share that information.

Now, there are tools that can help to automatically expand links in your family tree, saving you tons of time searching, and the headache of running into roadblocks.

OneGreatFamily is a genealogy site that helps expand what you know of your family tree.

Of course there are lots of resources out there that can help with that, but what makes OneGreatFamily different is that it can automatically add thousands of matches into your tree with a few simple clicks.

In other words, it searches for matches while you sleep and lets you know if there are matches.

You have the option to review the matches for accuracy, and if it’s a fit, you might be able to add literally thousands of names to your family tree (that’s if there’s a good match).

Famous Folks have used it

Advertising for the site mentions that, “See how Donny Osmond added 38 generations to his family tree using OneGreatFamily!”

That’s pretty amazing. Maybe Donny didn’t have any genealogy work done, but I kind of doubt it.

There are other success stories that you can read on their site:

“We have had fabulous experiences with OneGreatFamily.com. We went from a few hundred people in our PAF program to over 10,000 each in OneGreatFamily.com.”
—Mark & Betty Stilwell

Are making the automatic connections easy?

They have millions of names in their database. The strength comes from their unique approach to organizing that information and the algorithms they use to plug it all together so that when a match is made, it’s easy to connect the dots and import the information in just a few clicks of the mouse.

How much does the site cost?

Of course there is a subscription fee to use the site, but there is a Free Trial that they offer.

You can try out the service, and if it doesn’t work out, you can cancel within the trial period without a problem.

Check out the site for more details and if they’re running any promotions.

To make the most of the service…

1. Collect your family history records (dates, names, etc.)
2. Start with the free trial and enter your dates and names to see if there’s a match at OneGreatFamily)
3. Record what you find.

Pretty easy!

Use this site in conjunction with other resources you have. You never know what might turn up!

The site has a relationship calculator that can be used to find famous connections as well which is pretty neat.

You can visit the site and read more about it here: OneGreatFamily

Hopefully, the quick review below will help you decide if giving Ancestry.com a try can help you in your research.

Free Services at Ancestry.com

First, lets get started with the free services provided by Ancestry.com.

Ancestry offers a membership through subscription to access much of it’s mult-billion genealogy records database. However, the site provides some awesome tools for free. They do hope that you’ll eventually sign up for a membership, but it’s not required to use the free tools.

The greatest free resource available through ancestry.com is the Online Family Tree Program. You can use this portion of their website to create your family tree record from scratch or to upload a Gedcom file with the information you’ve already collected.

Creating your family tree with the Ancestry service keeps your information private asking you to create a username and password to keep your information safe.

Returning to the site later, you can pick up where you left off.

What’s neat about the family tree tool:

• Collaborate with other family members – Share family history information with only those whom you want to see it. You can give free accounts to your family members across the world, and they’ll be able to upload information that they have about the ancestors in your tree. No more losing information in the mail or having to send lots of email attachments with records. Now, you can share all your research with the whole family. Leave a legacy of research that won’t be lost in a box in the attic!
• Easy to use – Export a Gedcom file from your computer and upload it to populate your tree. You can also enter information by hand as you go.
• Looks great compared to other programs – The tree has a very professional look to it and the colors used are easy on the eyes (compared to others out there I’ve used).
• You can upload rich multi-media content – Don’t be satisfied with just looking at dates and names on your tree, upload pictures, records, and stories. You can add oral histories over the phone. It couldn’t be easier.
• Researches your genealogy for you while you sleep – The family tree makes record searches in the background for each individual. That means that you can take a break while the system researches if your ancestors are included in certain censuses in the US or England, if they’re included in war records or old newspapers. A little green leaf will appear next to the persons in your family tree for whom the site has found possible records matches (to view/download many of the records, you’ll need a subscription to the site).
• Ability to make gifts – For a fee, you can have your tree and the stories you uploaded organized into a very classy looking book that you can give to family or friends.

The ad form below can get you started with the free Pedigree Chart portion of the Ancestry site.

Searching for records

If you’re ready to jump right in searching for records, then you’ll want to consider a trial membership of the Ancestry site.

The site generally offers two main memberships: US Deluxe and Worldwide Deluxe.

The US plan gives you access to US records while the Worldwide plan gives you access to US AND records from other countries such as the UK, Canada, Ireland and many other countries.

If you sign up for their annual plan, you’ll save $$ as opposed to going with the monthly plan.

The great thing about the site is that new information is added each week. Ancestry is obsessed with adding new databases to its collection on a weekly basis, so the chances of finding more matches to your family tree and ancestors increase each week.

Scope of records at Ancestry.com

Ancestry has over 5 billion records that you can search through (that’s a lot of records). You’ll find:

• Census records
• Newspaper articles
• Birth records
• Death records & obituaries
• Marriage records
• Immigration records
• Military records
• Criminal records
• Written histories

What’s great is that in most cases, you’ll be able to see a scan of the original record and download it for your own records. Information found in the censuses is extremely interesting. Depending on the census, you’ll see if your ancestors could read/write, what their occupation was, and the people living in their households.

Ancestry also offers services such as DNA testing to discover where your ancestral heritage hails from (different DNA experts may interpret the same results in different ways, but it is interesting stuff).

You can get a taste by searching some of their records by clicking the ad below:

Is Ancestry.com right for you?

I’ve personally found Ancestry helpful in finding valuable census records for family members, and the family tree program online has proved very valuable. You can always try it to see if it works for you or use it for a defined time.

For a specific ancestor search, fill in the information into the ad below and click the search button. You never know what might turn up!

A familiar question, one that is usually asked when you’re in trouble. However, this time, it takes a different meaning. Seven celebrities embark on a quest to answer the question, “Who do you think you are?” in a new television series on NBC. Of course, Ancestry.com on of the largest Genealogy Websites is helping out.

The celebrities featured in the new show include:

• Sarah Jessica Parker
• Susan Sarandon
• Spike Lee
• Mathew Broderick
• Brooke Shields
• Emmitt Smith
• Lisa Kudrow

The premise for the show might appear boring if the celebs were merely sitting at a computer looking at family tree info; you’ll have to watch below to see if that’s the case:

From NBC (after the ad):

From Hulu:

The show starts Friday Evening, March 5th and continues each Friday.

Resources through Ancestry.com help make the series possible. Ancestry.com offers a Free Trial to new signups.

First, you’ll need to upload or enter some of your family history information into the Ancestry Family Tree Program (on the web). After entering or uploading information for a few relatives (you’ll need locations in what you enter), you’ll be able to see information for a relative on a map.

This is not only helpful for understanding the areas where your ancestors may have lived, but you’ll also be able to see if a certain event took place near a cemetery, school, church, etc. where you might be able to search and find new records.

To get started with your family tree: Start Your Family Tree

To get started with Ancestry’s other features: Free Trial – Ancestry.com World Deluxe Membership

Remember the wall that Sirius Black had in the Harry Potter book Order of the Phoenix?  We’re talking about something like that, just a little more compact to fit 510 names of ancestors.

I came across The FamilyRoots Circle Pedigree a while back and started filling out the chart as a personal challenge.  I have to admit that I have one quarter of the chart that I haven’t gotten to, but I’ve been able to fill out about 280 names so far.  

It’s interesting to see how far back you can trace one line while perhaps another, only a few generations back, has no records you can find.  It seems like if a bunch can be traced back nine generations, then the few that stop only 3 or 4 generation in shouldn’t be that hard to track down.

Filling out a chart like this also helps you to see the commonality of names in your family tree.  We had an exorbitant number (okay I’m exaggerating, but we do have a lot) of ancestors named Elizabeth in my family tree.  So, when our first daughter was born, what did we do?  We carried on the tradition, so that someday nine generations into the future, someone can look back and name their child Elizabeth as well (or maybe not).

The chart allows for room to put dates and locations.  If you have any Puritan roots, it’s fun to see names such as “Thankful” and “Content” in the family tree.

If you feel up to the challenge, you can purchase the FamilyRoots poster (it’s 37″ by 37″) and start filling out your family line (see http://familyrootsorganizer.com/lessons/charts.htm or http://www.123genealogy.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=3)

To get started, there are a couple places where you can find information on your family line (with any luck, one of your distant cousins, may have done a lot of the hard work for you.  Don’t you wish you were nicer to them at the family reunions?  Oh never mind).

- Great Family Tree Research Tools -

FamilySearch.org – FamilySearch.org has millions and millions and millions of names, and you can browse the names in a pedigree or “Family Tree” format.  Access to the data is free; however, you may need to start a few generations back in your search results to an ancestor that you know of that has already passed away.  I used FamilySearch to get a lot of the info I needed for my chart.  We downloaded the information in the the Personal Ancestral File program (PAF) which is made freely available as well.

Ancestry.com – Ancestry.com is another great resource.  It requires a subscription, but if you’re looking to find more than just names (such as digital copies of newspaper articles, birth certificates, war records, etc.) you’ve come to the right, and perhaps the best place.

So take the challenge, see if you can get 510 ancestors on your wall (well, at least their names).

Multiple people can add notes to a picture. For example, say you have a scanned photo of an old family photo but don’t know who’s in it. Upload your picture, and ask Grandma to identify who the people are in the picture by clicking on the people in the picture and adding a short description.

When you put your mouse cursor over the updated picture, the comments appear.

There’s not cost to uploading the pictures, and you can upload an unlimited quantity.

Vietnam Memorial Project

The site also has recently launched the Vietnam Memorial project in which visitors to the Footnote website can search for names on the Vietnam Memorial Wall and see details about the names, places and battles.

Search the wall by name, home town, enlistment type, or service branch.

Visit Footnote.com

Al Caholic, Anita Bath, Sloth Washington, Mayor Bland, and Gamble Moore are just a sampling of the names some poor folk had to endure during their lives.

From the database at Ancestry.com,
comes a book that reveals bad baby names throughout the century. The names have been taken from census and other records. Some are pretty hard to believe.

You may find some strange names in your family genealogy. If you have puritan roots you may find “Thankful” or “Content” but hopefully, you won’t find any as bad as “Doctor Love”, “Seymour Butz”, or some of the other wacky names parents have actually used.

Read the feature on the Today show or watch the Today Show video about the names/book below:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23631411

Take the book on a road trip and enjoy the fun. The book is available at Amazon.com: Bad Baby Names: The Worst True Names Parents Saddled Their Kids With, and You Can Too!

Many people have wondered where they can search the genealogy information found in the Indexing Project. As of this writing, the information can be found at the “Labs” section of FamilySearch.org.

Create an account for free to view and search the records. Among many types of records, you’ll be able to search are:

• Census Records
• Court Records
• Vital Records
• Military Records

Information has been indexed from various countries including the United States, England, Mexico, Canada, and many others. Search the indexed information or even browse the images of the original documents.

The interface is fairly intuitive and is not cluttered by too many links or instructions. The site appears to be using some sort of AJAX or AJAX-like programing which means the web page doesn’t need to be refreshed each time you click on a link or enter information. This saves a lot of time if you’re on a slower Internet connection and it makes for a better look-and-feel for the website.

This search site will probably graduation from the Labs section at some point, but it’s great to have access to the records even while the project is still in its beginnings.

Occupations such as yeoman, wright, longshoreman, cooper, whig, yatman, and more are probably going to be pretty hard to find on someone’s business card today.  However, in the past, and on ship and census records, you may come across terms like these more often.  It’s fascinating to see the definitions of the various occupations.

To help you out in finding and defining occupational terms, choose from the links below which detail many “old” occupations and their definitions (perhaps you’ll find an old term that you would like to adopt for yourself):

• http://www.familyhistory101.com/encyclopedia/job-A.html
• http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwkidz/oldjobs.htm
• http://genealogyfix.tripod.com/jobdesc.html
• http://www.genealogy-quest.com/glossaries/occupations1.html

If you find a job title that you can’t understand in your research, you can also visit Dictionary.com to look up the definition. Another source for discovering more about a certain type of occupation is Wikipedia.

Ancestor occupations can provide tremendous insight into the life of your ancestor. A coal miner is going to have a much different life experience than an ancestor that worked in an accounting office.

Take special note if your ancestors left their country of origin to seek a new life and switched occupations.  In today’s world, people change occupations quite frequently.  A few hundred years ago, it might take several generations worth of the same occupation until a change was brought about.  Consider the hardships that an ancestor may have had in changing occupations and you’ll appreciate even more the struggles they went through to build a better life and future for their family.

A strong family will help ensure a family history worth keeping and a desire to make the most of it. There are many ways to strengthen the family and to better your family history. Spending time together and staying connected when apart are key to building a good family and memorable family history.

Spending Time Together – As simple as it sounds, spending time together with your family will help strengthen your family and your family history. One side of my family gets together for family reunions (these are big events). We enjoy the events and loads of family history info has been shared and swapped as a result. Unfortunately, on the other side of my family, it’s been decades and decades since the whole clan got together. There has been little shared in the way of family history. It’s not too late for us, but if you get started early, sharing family history will be much easier down the road, and hey, you might just have a more fulfilling family life.

Below are a few ideas of things you can do to strengthen your family ties. These are simple ideas, but the simple things are what can make the most profound difference if enacted on a regular basis:

• Eat a home-cooked meal together (with your immediate and extended family).
• Do yard work together (we have a “Help Grandpa Day” that is simply fantastic).
• Perform an act of service to the community together.
• Make a family video with pictures and music.
• Share family pictures during the holidays of what each family has done during the year (a 2-5 minute time limit isn’t a bad idea for this activity).
• Take a family vacation with the extended family.
• Visit the National Parks or State near your home.
• Turn that television off and go enjoy the out-of-doors with your family.

Staying Connected When Apart – Since we can’t always be together as families, there are many tools that we can take advantage of to stay connected with family while apart. It’s a shame not to take a part in some of these fascinating tools we have.

Email - If you don’t have or use email very much, I suggest you reconsider. Writing letters can make a big difference and are a treasure when saved, but writing emails is a great option because they are delivered much faster than conventional mail, it’s free to send, and it’s easy to store and preserve.

Many folks have an email address set up with their Internet Service Provider (the company that you use to receive the Internet). Getting your email through your Internet service provider isn’t such a great idea. I’ve had plenty of family members that keep changing their email address because they keep changing their Internet Service Provider. It’s a hassle for everyone. Try getting a free email account from Google’s Gmail. You’ll get plenty of storage space for your pictures and no advertisements will be placed in the bottom of the emails that you send to others (other free email accounts do this, but not Gmail).

Webcam - Using a webcam (camera hooked up to your computer) is a great way to stay connected with family members. If Grandma can use it, so can you. Just ask the resident “geek” in the family (just about every family has one) to help you set it up. Try using Skype for your video conferencing using your webcam. Skype is a free video conferencing software. You can also make national and international calls with Skype for well below the rates you’ll pay with your telephone company. The calls can be made from your computer’s microphone or from a special Skype phone that hooks into your computer. We had a family member do this on a trip to Asia and it worked better than calling on the regular phone!

Phone Home for Free – My favorite pick is ooma for staying connected to family by phone. With Ooma, you make a one time purchase of the Ooma Hub. You plug you Internet connection into the Hub and your phone into the Hub as well. You now have no more phone bill because your calls are routed through the Internet. That means free long distance to family members and you can still use your regular phones (no need to purchase a special phone). The person on the other end of the conversation doesn’t need to have any special adapter to receive your call.

I have an Ooma box, and I love it, love it, love it. The voice quality is great. The Ooma service will store voice mail for you, and you can even check and listen to your voice mail online after you log into the Ooma Lounge.

You can check to see if your current phone number is “portable” which means you can transfer your number completely over to Ooma from your old service provider without a break in service. If your old number can’t be ported for some reason, you can still use the land-line backup option which will retain your old number for you. You can also select the option for a brand new phone number.

Eliminate Your Monthly Phone Bill with ooma!

Whether away or at home, have fun, and stay connected. A better present-day family relationship will make for a better family history now and in the future.