Looking for More Previous Research

There are still many other places to look for previous research in this post I will include a few more. We have all used Google.com search engine to find things. Have you used it to find your ancestors? I once had a professor that asked his students to always do a Google search for every name on your pedigree. Can you imagine my surprise when I searched for a Swedish name and found a hit. I found a journal recorded by a local priest in the community where my ancestors lived. One of his entries mentioned a visit to my ancestors' rural home. You just never know what you might find. When searching in Google or other search engines for your ancestors, use quotation marks around the name. You can also include other pertinent information in the search field like the name of the state where your ancestors lived or the year of birth.

Another kind of search is a surname forum search. I like to use Genforum.com, but there are many others. Search for your family surname and see if others are searching for the same family name. If you find a family forum for your surname you can then search the posts within the forum. You might choose to search for a state where your family lived or you might search for a family first name. This kind of search will narrow down the number of posts you will need to read. Each contributer to the family forum will have email contact inforamtion available when you click on their post. This allows you to contact the contributer directly by email.

The last place and most popular places you can look for previous research is on online trees. There are many websites with free online trees: Ancestry.com, RootsWeb.com, Gencircles.com, Genealogy.com, and many more. Most of these trees will have contact information available.