Oh, my goodness! I just joined Ancestry.com...

[Rebecca VA]

I've located relatives from back to 1785, and I just started searching. This is mind-boggling for me...I have never known any relatives except for my parents' immediate families, and they have all long since died. I had no idea of where my parents came from (actually, I may never find out about my mom, since she was adopted). Now I know that I had many paternal relatives from Conway, Arkansas going back almost 150 years, and many other relatives from Mississippi. I saw a photo of a distant relative who is about the age of my (late) dad, and he looks so sweet....

 

I'm really in shock. Wow. The thought of having real relatives just blows me away.

 

I would love to hear stories of anyone else's experiences with Ancestry.com or other search engines. It will help me process what I'm feeling right now.

[cougarmom4]

Wow...that is amazing for you to find out! My mom is very into geneology and she often calls me after she has discovered something exciting like that. She loves it...and it is such a thrill to make a connection.

 

I don't have any stories to share, but just wanted to share in your excitement. :D

[DawnM]

I wish I could find relatives. The only blood relatives I know are my two sons. I was adopted at birth. I have a last name of my birthmother but can't find her as I don't have a first name.

 

Dawn

[Alessandra]

You have to be careful what you get from ancestry.com. If you are looking at other people's family trees and linking them to your own, you have to be cautious, as some people just scoop up likely sounding relatives without much proof.

 

But ancestry is a treasure trove of information if you look at sources -- census, war records, directories, etc. It is very rewarding, but painstaking work.

 

Good luck!

[Liz CA]

How do they handle common last names? Can you search even if you don't know complete names or birthdates / birthplaces?

[Rebecca VA]

I knew a little bit about my paternal grandparents -- last names and the place they lived when they had my dad. I was able to find huge chunks of information about my grandfather because someone else (the gentleman I mentioned earlier) had already gone through and made up a family tree, which Ancestry.com made available to me. Almost all the names of wives, siblings, dates, and places are there, all the way to 1700 (I searched some more after I wrote my original post) -- when my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was born in Northern Ireland. He and his wife came over here, and that's how our family got going in the United States.

 

I wish I could find out more about my paternal grandmother. The farthest back I have is a census record from 1910 that lists her family members and where they were living. So I know the names and birthdates of my great-grandparents (from my dad's mother), but that's all.

[angela in ohio]

I found a long-lost cousin! He is now happily reunited with our extended family. It was a divorce situation, and his mother never gave him much information on who his dad's family was. I saw a message asking about my grandfather, whose name he did know. He had no other family after his mother died, and so he went looking.

 

I also found dh's dad, who left when he was a little boy and hadn't been heard from since. That was through obituaries and phone listings online, though.