When I first started my own genealogy research I really didn't know what I was looking to find.  By that point both of my parents and all of my grandparents had already past away. Like most people I never took the time to ask many questions. I was only 22 when my maternal grandmother Katherine KLEIN passed away. But for some reason thirteen year before I even knew what the Internet was, when my nanny, as we called her was getting very ill and we knew that she wouldn't be with us much longer I asked her for her parents names and my grandfather's parents names. On a piece of notebook pad written in green ink that I still have,  I had written Luis Klein and Olga Dihl as my grandmother's parents. I can remember still to this day that I had asked her about the spelling of the names. She was very clear about the way her maiden name was spelt because all of her life people had been spelling it KLIEN instead of KLEIN. She would also have this problem with her married name STR...

If your new to Genealogy research and feeling a bit overwhelmed thinking that your new hobby is going to be an expensive one let me reassure you that there is a lot of free info out there. With any hobby there is going to be some expense but before you start thinking that this is one hobby that is going to be too expensive for you and you give up before you've ever begun because you think your going to have to join Ancestry because it is the one site out there that can help you fill out your family tree. Ancestry does have millions of records but that doesn't mean that you have to join as soon you start doing your research.   To begin with the only thing you need to start your family research is a spiral notebook and a pen. Simply start by writing down all of your family members names. Start with your parents and work your way backwards. If your lucky your parents or grandparents are still alive and you can get the correct names, places of birth, dates of birth and deaths...

  Another year is upon us. What genealogy goals do you have for 2009? I'll share mine with you today. But first a little background. My second great grandfather Jacob FLANDERS was born in Prussia about 1835 and died in Manhattan, New York in 1899. His wife Pauline JACOBSEN was born July 1836 in Prussia and died 6 May 1922 in Queens, New York. They had four children. Three of them were born in England. My great grandmother Henrietta was born in Manhattan. In 1874 they immigrated from England to New York City on the ship Holland. I have many documents. I have death certificates on Jacob and Paulina. I have the passenger list from the ship. I also have many documents on their four children. Periodically I would go back to research them as all genealogists do when they come to a point in their research when there is a lull. I knew they were from Germany and I can't tell you how many times I tried to find info on the FLANDERS surname in Germany. Their name had been butchered...