Table of Contents

Introduction
1 What Is Genealogy?
2 How Do I Get Started?
3 Balance Traditional and Electronic Research
4 Gather Information at Home
5 Place Your Ancestors into Context and Locate Vital Records
6 Use Census Schedules and Records to Locate Your Ancestors
7 Extend Your Research with Advanced Record Types
8 Locate and Use the Wide Variety of Military Records
9 Understand and Use Land and Property Records
10 Locate and Use Immigration and Naturalization Records
11 Discover Where to Locate Documents about Your Family
12 Learn How to Assess Internet Websites to MoreSuccessfully Research Your Ancestors
13 Research and Verify Your Ancestors Using Genetic Genealogy (DNA)
14 Use Alternate Research Strategies to Locate Difficult Ancestors
15 Incorporate Social Networking into Your Genealogy Research

About the Author

George G. Morgan is president of Aha! Seminars, Inc. In addition to his extensive responsibilities with Aha! Seminars, Inc., George is an avid genealogist. His interest began at age ten when he and his paternal grandmother and aunt divulged his paternal history extending back before the American Revolution. In the years since then, Georges genealogical research has expanded to include all the branches of his family tree and he has investigated leads in materials in all sorts of places. Libraries, archives, and courthouses are among his favorite haunts, but he will leave no stone unturned, even to the point of tracking down the original 1914 newspapers containing his great-grandparents obituaries in a records retention facility owned by a county board of education. He is a master in working with and understanding all types of genealogical record types in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. With the advent of electronic research materials, he has become an recognized expert in using software programs, databases, Internet resources, online databases, Internet genealogical mailing lists and message boards, search engines, directories, subscription databases, and all the major online services around the world.George is the author of seven landmark genealogy books. These include: The Genealogy Forum on America Online: The Official Users Guide; the award winning Your Family Reunion: How to Plan It, Organize It, and Enjoy It, both published by Ancestry Publishing. His award-wining book, How to Do Everything with Your Genealogy, published by McGraw Hill as part of the highly successful How to Do Everything series, is now available in its fourth edition. This book is one of the best-selling genealogy how-to genealogy books published in the last 20 years! George has also written the first and second editions of The Official Guide to Ancestry.com. His Genealogical Research in the Major Repositories of London, published through Lulu.com, has sold hundreds of copies.George is a prolific writer in other areas as well. He began in 1996 by writing the award-winning weekly online genealogy column, Along Those Lines that appeared first in the Genealogy Forum on America Online and then exclusively at the Ancestry.com web site from January 2000 to March 2006, and additional columns for Ancestry Daily News. He also appears weekly in the Plus Edition of Eastmans Online Weekly Newsletter, at the bi-monthly electronic genealogy magazine Digital Genealogist, in the Ancestry Weekly Journal at Ancestry.com, and at other online venues. He has written literally hundreds of articles for genealogy print magazines: Ancestry Magazine, The Association of Genealogists Quarterly, Discovering Family History, Evertons GenealogicalHelper, Family Chronicle Magazine, Family Tree Magazine, The Federation of Genealogical Societies FORUM, Genealogical Computing (published by Ancestry Publishing), Heritage Quest Magazine, Internet Genealogy, The NGS News Magazine, and Southern Queries Magazine. His other online venues over the last decade have included Sony Communications Emazing.com Genealogy Tip of the Day and a stint with ChineseRoots.com. George is a popular speaker at international genealogical conferences and has presented all across the United States in national, state, and local conference. He also has presented in Canada, in the U.K., and on several international genealogical cruises. His range of genealogical interests and speaking topics is among the most diverse among the genealogical speaking community.