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Wednesday, 17 September 2014

Arts & Humanities: Genealogy: “Question: I am looking for Sandra Morrissette, Norway, Maine area?” plus 4 more

Arts & Humanities: Genealogy: “Question: I am looking for Sandra Morrissette, Norway, Maine area?” plus 4 more


Question: I am looking for Sandra Morrissette, Norway, Maine area?

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 06:42 PM PDT

I am looking for Sandra Morrissette, Norway, Maine area?

I am looking for information and photographs of my grandmother Sandra (Morissette) Gouin. I believe she last lived in Norway Maine around 1997 and may have attended Oxford Hills High School somewhere between 1960-1965. I never met her and am looking for any memories, photographs, information, etc.

Question: Do you know my gradfather Edwin Nichols from Texarkansas?

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 12:59 PM PDT

Do you know my gradfather Edwin Nichols from Texarkansas?

Edwin Nichols was the brother of Connery Nichols married to Wynona Leeroy somewhere in Arkansas, Edwins mother was Eve Nichols Smith married to Albert Nichols Sr, they owned a gas station in Texarkansas thanks

Question: How to gather information about my ancestors?

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 09:13 AM PDT

Yep. Genealogists trace family all the time.. of course, its possible. Here is the "light bulb moment" key for you...
We don't ask. Most of the time, ancestors ARE dead, so asking would get you no where. And, in many cases, if you asked, persons (1) DON'T know, or (2) think they know, but are confused/ mistaken.
Pretend you don't know even your parents (or someone else is researching you). The first thing to do is LOOK AT YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE. It normally contains the names of father and mother (although recent birth certificates are increasingly short on fathers). Now, you have 2 persons to build on. You used a legal record so it should be correct. You continue by finding data about THOSE 2 PERSONS ie dates of birth/ death, and where they were. Once you have the details on them, you do the same for them.. find their birth certificates to identify their parents. By starting with YOURSELF, you are beginning to create a chain, that goes back. Since you know them to be your parents, you know their parents are in fact your grandparents (with some exceptions, of course). You learn which records are reliable and which are not.
Once you get to persons born prior to 1940, you can start tracking them in the census (later ones are not open for privacy reasons). Not only do you learn which records are reliable, you learn that to FIND a record, you first need an approx. year and location. There were no birth certificates in the 1800s, so you learn to use what documents DID exist then.
You also learn.. there are thousands of free sites, IF YOU KNOW HOW to look for those. Commercial sites want to sell you a service and make you think its all out there. A focused site (ie marriage records for Dallas co, Texas) is specific, and makes no promises of "genealogy". It's RECORDS. You find the records and build the genealogy yourself.
http://rwguide.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
Here's a short/ easy tutorial.
Once you get the idea of looking for records, instead of someone "telling" you.. the whole ball game opens up.

Question: Getting a new last name in Polish, thanks for help.?

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 08:23 AM PDT

I can call myself Cybert or Zeibert after my Great Great grandmother and so what? It's not my surname therefore I'm not going to lie that it is my surname...

Don't change your surname just because your great grandmother was called whatever!

Question: Am I welsh?

Posted: 17 Sep 2014 02:28 AM PDT

Rees or Reece is indeed of Welsh origin, as are Jones and Williams and many others. I have a friend whose maiden name was Reece, and who was born on the borders of Wales and England, but who now lives in England, and has done so since befiore she got married many years ago - she has also lived in Germany and Cyprus - her husband was in the armed forces, thus the whole family has been moved around several times.

My father's family came originally from Yorkshire, but was in London for over a century, and I was born on the Isle of Wight and have lived in London, Australia, and the West Country. What does that make me?

I put these illiustrations in to show that many people, of many backgrounds, do move around the UK, and indeed move around the world. I have a cousin, born in Portsmouth, who grew up on the west coast of Canada, but moved back to London in his early 20s, and has been there ever since. His sisters stayed in Canada.

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