In spite of this lack of information it is often still possible to research your genealogy. It is best to start with the families you are aware of and then expand your research from there. There are six steps to follow in trying to trace your African American roots.

Group of Slaves South Carolina

Firstly, you need to begin with yourself. Some brainstorming is needed so make a note of everything you know about you and your family relationships. Look through those old handed down boxes for old photographs and diaries and documents such as birth, marriage and death certificates of your ancestors Try asking the older members of your family for information on the names you have uncovered and do it now before memories fade further.

In step two you need to go back to the year of 1870. This is a very important date for African-American genealogy because it was the year when black’s details had to be fully recorded. From this point on they had to be included in records such census and cemetery data so making research back to this time possible.

Next you will need to find out who was your ancestor’s last owner (slavery was abolished in 1865). Not all blacks were slaves prior to the civil war as northern states abolished slavery earlier and some slaves were freed after a certain period when they were deemed to have paid the cost of their passage. The 1860 census has a record of whether the person was a slave or free. If you have established that your ancestor was a slave you now need to identify his or her last owner. Some slaves continued to use their former owner’s last name after being freed but the majority did not.

Under step four you will need to research the owner and information on the slavery. After finding the ancestor’s slave master or owner you will need to find their records to see how they managed their property. Slaves were regarded as merely part of their property. You will need to look at their wills and probate records, bills of sale and newspaper advertisements regarding runaway slaves.

Next in your African-American genealogy you need to concentrate on Africa. As mentioned earlier the black slaves came from Africa and were then bonded to American plantation owners. Look for records of slave advertisements and sales of slaves which often have clues on the slaves origins.

Finally, the search moves to the Caribbean . When World War Two ended a large number of ex-slaves from the Caribbean, but originally from Africa, migrated to the US. Once you establish that your ancestor came from the Caribbean you will need to research in that location.

Tracing family history can be a challenging task. A good deal of patience is needed to be able to persevere. Methodical research is the most important part of this process. As always the Mormon church often has information you might not expect and they do have some African-American genealogy resources so it is worth checking their records.

If you are not making the progress you would like try going over your previous research as there may be an avenue you have not explored. Often, lots of time is needed before seeing good results. A lot of your research can be speeded up using the Internet which is the genealogist’s greatest resource.

They started their Genealogy research because their religion required them to honor their ancestors but you cannot honor someone if you know nothing about him or her. They started a central Genealogy library in Salt Lake City in Utah to hold their research records.

Joseph and Hyrum Smith
Temple Salt Lake City

However few genealogists have the opportunity to go there in person and look at the original records. Someone based in Europe would have to fly in the region of 5,000 miles to pay a visit. Because repeat visits would be essential this would quickly become prohibitively expensive. But luckily for these genealogists the Mormon church founded Family History Centers usually abbreviated to FHCs. These are branches of the main Family History Library in Utah. The branch organization has spread across 64 countries and now totals over 3,000 in number.

The FHCs exchange over 100,000 rolls of microfiche a month between the main center and the branches. As a result much of the information needed is now available locally for genealogists to access. Some care was taken in choosing locations. So there is a mixture of locations with some in big cities where you would expect but others in smaller communities.

The centers hold an enormous volume of records and consequently they are extremely valuable to the genealogist. They hold copies of census, birth and death records plus church records and historical land ownership together with immigration. Mormon Genealogy provides all of this free of charge. The upkeep of records is carried out by church and community volunteers. They do a very useful service including answering queries from library visitors. The local libraries are funded by local Mormon church congregations. Because of this they are normally found in Church buildings.

The branches are sometimes known as satellite libraries. In addition to the various family history records the libraries also include family tree databases and books and maps on the subject. The collections of of microfiche, microfilm and books in each library is enormous. All of these are made freely available for viewing. Some records are not immediately available if they are in another location but the library will get them for the researcher.

The central record store in Salt Lake City is much bigger than the others as you might expect and can be requested by the local library. All this administration is done by the FHC volunteers. They do charge a small fee to anyone who wants to borrow records. It can take several weeks for requested records to arrive locally. They only keep it for a few weeks so you need to view it during that period and make detailed notes to avoid the need to view it again.

If you are concerned about the Mormons trying to convert you to their religion then do not worry as they do not force their views on visitors. Mormon Genealogy is a great service to the community and very commendable that they provide it largely free of charge.

As mentioned earlier the Mormon church started genealogy research for their own purposes but realized that a lot of other people would be interested. They then extended their mission by sharing their records with anyone with a similar interest in Genealogical research. Mormon Genealogy records are unique in that no other collection of records is as comprehensive or as wide ranging.
 

Mormon Genealogy Resources

Ancestor Hunt – Search facility for Mormon Church records

Free Mormon Genealogy Information – a nice Genealogy resource with articles and other help

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints official site

Celtic Tree of Life

What you will need depends on how much detail you want to go into. For those who simply wish to go back just a few generations, and only wish to document the bare minimum, there is likely some free software program available that you would be able to use. Alternatively, if you want to find out much more detail and keep all the pieces that you just discover, even if it is only a lead, the very best family tree maker software program for you is going to be a paid for product as the free programs are not likely to reach this level. Don’t worry too much about the price as the cost is usually affordable and and the better programs can be learned quickly.

The most suitable family tree maker software program is going to be the kind that’s the simplest to make use of and the one which holds essentially the most data in the best structured way. That looks like a difficult task, however it’s something that almost all packages can offer you. You may search for suggestions on-line, or see what other people are using. A quick and simple search can reveal some alternatives you can download from the Internet, or leads on where you’ll be able to go to buy the boxed package that you would be able to bring home and set up on your own PC.

Ensure you know your PC’s hardware specifications when selecting the most suitable family tree maker software program for your machine. You need to know what version of your operating system is installed and that there is sufficient free space. Usually, the space to install is not going to be a problem, unless your PC or laptop is very old, however the operating system version can be a problem. Verify this prior to making your purchase. The greatest family tree software on the planet is not going to be any use if it cannot run on your computer. You definitely|actually} don’t want to go out and buy a brand new PC simply to run the software you have just bought. For this reason you may need to settle for a less modern program that is compatible with your hardware.
 

Genealogy Tree - Tree of Life

If you want to learn more about your ancestry, putting together a family tree is a great way to find out those answers. There are many publicly available records that can help you begin to build your family tree and many have been digitized and are accessible online. A very good place to begin is birth, death, and marriage records – you need to have atleast approximate dates and some names to be able to find anything. You may even consider using one of the many web sites out there that can help in building a family tree. Genealogy.com is a very popular site for this facility. It might surprise there is already someone else out there building your family tree for you.

Some more popular web sites include familytreemaker.com and ancestry.com. These sites are used by millions of people wishing to research and build their own family tree. They hold huge records databases which you can review and see whether your ancestors are listed. If you are fortunate you might even find an already compiled family tree with your name in it.

Learning who you are and where you came from can be an amazing gift. There are plenty of people who do not have any knowledge of their ancestors but would like to know but do not know the first thing about how to go about it. Knowing your personal history and where and how your ancestors can open your eyes to a whole new world you did not know existed. In this age of technology with the vast information sources available there is now no excuse for remaining in the dark. So make a start on your genealogy tree. You will not regret it.

The Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to give it its full title) have been collecting family history information for over 115 years and this is now nearly all digitized and available for free on their online search facility at Family Search. The Mormon church started a practice of honoring their ancestors but to do this they needed to know who they were and this is how their genealogical research began. The project was formalized by then President of the Church William Woodroffe in 1894.

Ancestor Hunt has a huge list of Genealogy Websites with online databases including links to Government resources such as the Ellis Island immigration records between 1892 and 1924 including a fascinating photo record of the buildings and people of the time.

Ellis Island - Immigration

Olive Tree Genealogy is a great resource proving access to numerous free databases including ship passenger lists, immigration records and details of fascinating groups such as Huguenots and Quakers. They even have access to records of orphans.

For military records the best place to start is Search for Ancestors – Military Records. They do not just have US military records but also UK and Canadian ones.

If your search takes you to Europe other than UK Search of Ancestors again comes to the rescue with information all over Europe including a dedicated German directory.

A collaborative effort where users upload their family tree information for others to browse is Roots Web which is an Ancestry.com community.

I hope this listing of Genealogy Websites proves useful in your quest to find out your ancestral heritage. I wish you every success in your endeavors.