Genealogy - How to Find Your Ancestors, Revised Edition (Paperback, Rev ed.)

Would you like to research your family tree but are not sure where or how to start? Or did you already start on your family history but now find yourself stuck? Help is on its way. Paul Drake and Margaret Grove Driscoll, veteran genealogists with more than sixty years of combined experience, teachers and published authors, know just what you need. Based upon years of classroom experiences, this how-to book will guide you from your first interview of relatives through exploring cemeteries, churches and your local library, to discovering the treasures hidden in courthouses and the National Archives. A new chapter about using the Internet has been added to this latest edition. In his own unique style the Tennessee-based author, Paul Drake, will alert you to the true value of your data, teach you how to weigh your information, and warn you of the pitfalls you may encounter. Suggestions are woven throughout the text by Margaret Driskill. This large-format book is illustrated with no less than thirty documents from the author's collection which will familiarize you with the kind of documents you are likely to encounter in your own research. (There is a special section on how to read early English which explains the typical flourishes of which those early scribes were so fond.) Topping it all off are three appendices and a glossary. Appendix 1 includes a pedigree chart, a family unit chart and the census forms you need to get started. Appendix 2 provides all the information you need to access the National Archives without wasting time. Appendix 3 includes the names and addresses of some of the most popular and respected genealogical societies, periodicals and directories. The glossary explains more than one hundred twenty-five genealogical terms. This is the most user-friendly beginner's guide on the market-an excellent textbook and a great gift