Do you mean are there rules in the Genealogy world that you should be aware of or unwritten rules in this group that you should be aware of?

As far as "unwritten group rules", the only real "unwritten rule" is be civil to others. If you have issues with a particular DUer on other groups/forums, this is not the place to fight with them about it. Feel free to disagree with others about things, but don't call them names

In the Genealogy world outside of DU - the only unwritten rule I've ever wanted to see enforced (and it never has) is don't be mean (I guess that's the same rule LOL). I once had a cousin tell me that my research skills were crap and that I got it completely f**king wrong. This from the same cousin that had a man fathering a child 27 years after he died (when he would have been 97 years old).

A lot of older records are open to interpretation and people do the best that they can. I wish that other genealogists knew that and could just say "hey... I think you might have this wrong. Calvin Neel could not have fathered this child. Are you sure he's not the child of William Calvin Neel?" instead of attacking you personally.

Above all, have fun and let us know what we can do to help!

Hard to add to that

you can run into some awkward moments, depending upon how the research develops. My Grandfather was something of a rascal it seems. He apparently fathered one child out of wedlock (about 1895 or so) was briefly married and then run out of town (probably by his Father), in Ohio ending up in Illinois, where he married my Grandmother (who turned out to be something of a mean drunk, but that's another story). They split in the 1930's and we believe he married again. The Granddaughter of his first & somewhat temporary wife found me through one of the research sites and we communicate as time permits.

His Sister also had a child out of wedlock & sent him off to an orphanage we believe as he ended up in Iowa while she married & moved to Detroit. The boy kept the maternal name as a last name, eventually shows up on a WWI draft registration, some church records and I was able to track the family down there. They had no idea of his family as he never spoke of them. I am not sure how much interest or happiness my contacting them created, but from my point of view history is history.

I have found in my research, Slave holders, Civil War Veterans (and deserters one of which was shot or hung), Possible Revolutionary War Veterans, A Car Thief, Alleged members of a charming group that starts with a K, Farmers, Blacksmiths, Harness Makers, Jewelers, Grocers, Shipbuilders and a whole bunch more. It's a whole lot of fun.....

our tree for many years and I am always amazed at how friendly and generous other genealogists are. As a result, I help whenever I can.

I have to say I have never encountered anyone who was rude or difficult. Also I've found a number of 2nd and 3rd cousins who shared what information they had.

I have found information at the message boards at Ancestry.com, as well as siblings I didn't know existed. There doesn't seem to be any real established etiquette, as the people I've encountered just know how to interact politely. One gentleman I'm in touch with made a special trip to a cemetery in Pennsylvania to take photos of my elusive great-grandparents headstones, which filled in many blanks on my tree. He has been a great source of help over the years.

I can't even begin to tell you how many great people I've been in touch with over the years because of genealogy. That alone makes this a worthwhile pastime.

I've met so many people - even ones I'm not related to. And worthwhile, indeed!

these days and being nonpolitical is a refreshing change.

I do have some recommendations for free software.

The most basic one is Personal Ancestral File, better known as PAF, available free from the LDS: https://familysearch.org/products/ It's very simple to operate and a lot of genealogists have been using it for practically forever. It does try to get you to share your information with the LDS Family Search web site but does not force you to.

Legacy has a basic, free version that is very nice: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/ They do send out emails but they are not very intrusive about them. In fact, some of their emails have links to online webinars and articles that have good information about how to improve your genealogy research.

Both of those programs can export GEDcom files, the standard format to exchange genealogy data among programs, so if you upgrade to a better program someday you can simply export from the free programs and import into the new one.

I used PAF for many years then tried out Legacy Basic for a while. I settled on The Master Genealogist as my main program since it is so rigorous about nagging for documentation but I recently bought Family Tree Maker 2012 to make it easier to coordinate my data with what I have on Ancestry.com. But linking directly to Ancestry is a sure fire way to get errors introduced into your tree as I have found out the hard way, so I keep my file in The Master Genealogist updated manually and consider it my primary database.

Document everything you find - I keep digital copies of everything (both what I have found online and the old data my grandmother and Mom found decades ago) on my computer and print out hard copies in case my computer crashes - and to share with my Mom who will never look at genealogy on the computer. Don't accept online trees as the truth until and unless you find supporting documentation. Lots of people are putting unverified information out there and it can lead you far astray.

I have a world subscription to Ancestry - if you want me to see what might be available for the area your family came from in Italy, let me know. I can take a look to see if they have put anything up.

have you been to this site yet? http://automatedgenealogy.com/

It's a great resource to locate ancestors on some of the census indexes that are quite often transcribed wrong at Ancestry. Most of them have been proofread and gone over with a fine-tooth comb. Many thousands of links for individuals to other databases, ie. Military, Home Children, etc. There's also a message board with a lot of very helpful people, though it's not nearly as busy as it once was.

I can imagine how difficult the name McNeil would be ... I had the same trouble with the Fraser name in PEI. There were thousands.

Good luck! I hope you find the clue.


whoops... sorry for the name misspelling.

I mean... seemed pretty unique to me. But come to find out... not too unique after all. It's a German name (derived from the German "hof" = manor or farm and "mann" = man) which is apparently pretty common - like Farmer in English.

That one made me rethink my whole "unique name" LOL

And most of them aren't even related to me

A lot of the hints are garbage but some will save a lot of time. Problem with my lines is that most of the easy stuff was done a very long time ago.

Check online - I know the Family Search has been trying to set it up so you can order microfilm and other things online, pay for them to be delivered, and have them waiting when you go to the local Family History Center. I haven't made it to the local one yet - I had knee replacement in May and go back in late July for the second one. Because of my knees, getting places has been nearly impossible so that resource will have to wait until I am fully healed an mobile!

Please start keeping track of the documentation NOW! It's easy to be lazy but you will pay for it when your tree is larger and more complicated. I've found it easier to zoom in on the digital copies to read the old documents. I can put them into an editing program, play with the contrast and brightness and bring up faint or hard to read images. Then I can zoom in and make the part I'm trying to read larger on my computer monitor.

I've only had luck with my Quaker ancestors in Ireland and that is mostly from third party sources, such as an old source about the sufferings of the Quakers and how they were penalized for not being members of the state church. Even so, very few of my Irish ancestors have any documentation.

Canada is a pain - most of the provinces did not do census until 1861. I've got one ancestor who says in census that he was born in "Lower Canada" in 1817. There is an immigrant with the same name who arrived in Canada that year and I think that could be his father, but there are no parish or vital records to prove a connection. I'm still struggling with my Canadian branch and may never get anywhere with them.

I really hate when ancestors disappear at census time! Especially when they're in the same place the decade before and after. I've read through entire counties looking for missing ancestors and still did not find them. Sometimes they were just missed by the census taker or away at the time it was taken.

Good luck!

but not new to genealogical research. One of my main pet peeves are people who take things from my personal websites and add to their own. Not the dates and names but my actual wording and then don't link back to me.
I have met such nice people over the years but there are always a few that can drive you crazy.
I do not add living people and many times do not add the generation directly above living people. I know who they are... I am looking for my ancestors. I hate when people I do not know and can find no way they are related to me in anyway add my lines with my parents and my name and siblings. If I don't have it on my pages then I don't want some stranger to do it. It is an invasion of my privacy.

I agree with everyone that said keep your sources!! In the beginning (before internet) I didn't always do it.

Good luck!

Last edited Sun Sep 16, 2012, 10:23 AM - Edit history (1)

mainly PhpGedView and webtrees, that let's you publish your data to your own site, but includes in the package privacy settings and controls over access.

You can set it up for invitation only site visits, or open it up but with limited add/edit powers for registered users. Open it to google searches, or not. It takes only modest tech skills to set up, but there are slightly spendy web hosts that will do it for you. It's a good solution too for distant relatives who would be struck dumb by a massive gedcom file, but would be interested to view or add a detail or two. A simple forum included, as I recall. If all else fails, you have the final edit. Keeps it all out of the hands of Ancestry as well.

At this rate I should be on top of it by 2020.

An overview:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_web-based_genealogy_software

I do the html but I did see a site that had an interactive family tree on their personal site. I thought that was pretty cool but haven't had the time to figure it out. I will check out your link.... thanks!

I hear you on the pet peeve! I started making the living and two generations before them private. I have my family tree on Ancestry and it's all private. If anyone really wants to know - they can have a conversation with me. I've opened it up to a couple of people who turned out to be honestly my cousins.