M y only regret in researching my ancestry is that I didn't get started sooner. It wasn't until after all my grandparents had died and I had moved 2,000 miles from home that I got the urge to trace my roots. I missed the wonderful opportunity of hearing my elderly family members tell me in their own words what they knew about their heritage. Of course, not everything they said might been accurate but at least it might have given me some clues.

     For a short time I moved back closer to where my ancestors lived and died and had the joy of searching actual records and tramping through old burial places looking for the headstone's of some of my ancestors. I was able to fill in a few blanks, but also found a couple new puzzles. My searchable database includes both my ancestors and my husband's. Most of our immigrant ancestors came to America from the British Isles, Scandinavia and Western Europe. I have also included what little we have so far on my husband's Syrian ancestors. In this database you will find not only our direct ancestors, but as much info as we have on their siblings and some collateral lines as well. My Ludlow line descends from Edward I, King of England, but I have not included the pedigree of King Edward here.

     There are religious reasons for some and others want to prove inheritance rights, but that's not why I'm tracing my roots. I think it's fascinating to look at a pedigree chart and see the continuity of time displayed! I am the end product of all my ancestors! There's a bit of each of them incorporated into me. I believe that you can genetically inherit more than just your father's eyes or your mother's nose. It's obvious that other traits are handed down from one generation to the next ... talents, abilities ... and maybe more. Is it possible to pass down memories? Have you ever felt a strong affinity for a place you've never been or an era you didn't live in? Maybe it's a genetic memory. In any case, I want to know who my ancestors were, where they came from, how they lived. This personalizes world history! Imagine my surprise to find out that among my ancestors are Charlemagne, William the Conqueror and even Lady Godiva!

      All but one of my immigrant ancestors came to America before the Revolution. Unfortunately, so many of the oldest records have been lost in various wars and natural disasters since then. Probably even a few were tossed in the trash by an ignorant clerk who saw no reason to keep those dusty old things! Those old timers kept record of many more things than you might think ... even the ones who lived way out in the wilderness. But a tremendous number of records from around the world have been preserved on microfilm by The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) and are kept in an underground vault in Salt Lake City. The best thing is that copies of these films are made available free to the public at numerous Family History Centers around the world! (You may have to pay a small postage fee if the film has to be ordered for you.) Much of the information on these films has also been put on CDs which can be viewed at these centers and some public libraries. You don't have to be a member of their church to be welcomed at the centers ... I'm not Mormon ... but I've done quite a bit of successful research there.

      Of course, right now you are experiencing another great source of genealogical research ... the Internet. There are hundreds of websites, newsgroups and mailing lists devoted to genealogy. It's been my experience that family researchers are some of the nicest people in the world. It's as much fun helping someone else find the info they are looking for as it is to find your own ... well, almost! I'll never forget the thrill of seeing one of my ancestor's names in a census record for the first time!

      If you'd like to get started on your own research the first thing you need to do is talk to every living relative that you can!!!! The info you get may not all be correct, and they may not all agree with each other, but write down everything they tell you. Better yet, grab your tape recorder, press record and just let them talk. The mention of Uncle Joe's barber shop burning down or Aunt Mary's best friend Ida might not mean anything to you now but it could be a valuable clue in the future. If you can get to a Family History Center you can get some very inexpensive "family group sheets" to have your relatives fill out. These have places for names, dates and places of birth, death, marriage, etc. You will use one for each family with the parents at the top and the children listed below. If you can't get these pre-printed sheets just take down all the info yourself. Get every little bit of info you can... if they don't have exact dates and places write down their guesses, those can be a starting place.

      Then, get copies of all the official records you can such as birth, death and marriage certificates, military records, wills. Don't forget yourself ... because hopefully one day someone will carry on your research and they'll want all your records too. You'll probably be able to fill in some of the "blanks" from the information you find on these official records. Then you'll need to start looking through books, microfilms, online databases, etc. to fill in more. If you live in a fairly large town or have a university nearby, their libraries may have a decent genealogy section. I've already told you about the LDS Family History Centers. Do a search here on the Internet to find genealogy links or start with one of mine here.