Look to Churches and Cemeteries for Family Information

I knew some of my relatives were buried in Catholic cemeteries in a couple of different towns, so I called the Catholic Churches, which had the information for those cemeteries and found that one of the churches actually had some obituaries, as well and even some information on one of the relatives buried in another state.

I found where relatives are buried going back to the great great grandparents  and great great great aunts and uncles.  I was able to go to these cemeteries and take photos of their headstones and learn about children who died young or as infants that were not listed on the census records.

Some of these churches even have copies of all of the people buried in the cemetery which you may be able to purchase for a few dollars.  Other churches have archives and you can send a request for them to research names and send copies, for a small fee.
I usually begin my search online, looking for churches of the area, then, the type of church or diocese.  I call the numbers listed and usually learn more about who I need to contact.  Three phone calls led me to the Diocese of Pittsburgh - Archives and Records Center Information, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where my great grandmother's baptismal records might be available.  I need to send a research request form, available at their website http://www.diopitt.org/archives/arcinfo.htm and the fee of $15 which covers one hour of research and includes as many people or records as can be researched in that one hour.  They will bill you for any additional time.  They advise you not to send more than the initial $15.

I often find an email address with the cemetery websites and send an email to learn what the next step is to get more information on my relatives.  I received a reply from a Catholic cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio, today and for just $6 and a letter requesting information on specific names, I can get that information sent to me.  I also inquired about a listing of all those buried there in case there are other surnames I am not aware of yet.

Everyone is so nice and helpful.  I am discovering cousins across the country, too.  It is nice to feel like you have roots going so far back.  Have fun!

Search Google for your Family Tree!

Well, I looked and looked on ancestry.com with no luck, for the parents and siblings of my great-grandfather.  Ancestry.com has been great for finding a lot of relatives and details, just not always the ones that I have no information at all on.  Then, I tried a search on google, just listing names and birth dates of the few I knew and found not only a long post on all his family and siblings and birth and death dates and locations, but also found the same wealth of information on the family of a friend's great-grandfather. 

This also worked for another family I was searching for.  About 25 years ago, I went to a local auction in a nearby town, here in Central Kansas and bought a box of interesting stuff.  In that box I found a very unique wooden tube that looked solid, but I found that the end could twist off and the inside was hollow and, stuffed inside, were some rolled up family records.  The records were written in pencil on yellowed, crumbling, lined note paper and listed births of the children of Patrick Hogan, born in 1835 in Ireland, and his wife, Mary Ann Ryan Hogan.  Some deaths were also listed and the most crumbly paper was the Pastor's handwritten page documenting their marriage.  I wanted to find descendants of this family who would like to have this family treasure, but could find very little.  Then, I did a google search and found Patrick's obituary which listed dates, surviving children, spouses' names, where they lived, and more.  It was a bonanza of information.  So, remember to try plain old search engines like google.  I always have the best luck with google so I seldom bother with any others.  Often, newspaper stories and obituaries will come up with a google search.