This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/QOC.2ACE/150.1.1.1 Message Board Post: From your responses, I gather you're new to genealogy? First, take a few minutes to go to Cyndi's List (http://cyndislist.com/) and click on a few links, in particular the "Are You New to Genealogy?" link. Also, go to FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org/) and visit the "How do I get started?" link. Once you've done that: - Do you know where your grandparents died? Get their death records, probably from the town/city clerk where they died. Start at USGenWeb (http://usgenweb.com/) or Canada GenWeb (http://www.rootsweb.com/~canwgw/), go to the state(s) or province(s) where they died, and look for vital records information. Death records have less or more useful information, depending on how reliable the information which was supplied to the registrar of death was. - Do you know where and when they were married? If so, same drill: order a copy of their marriage record from the locality. The information on the marriage record is more likely to be accurate because they supplied it, presumably when they were younger and of stronger mind. It could include date of birth, place of birth, present residence, place of marriage, occupation, parents' names. - Localities (towns or counties) tend to be preferable to states/provinces for these vital records, because they are a bit more likely to have the original records. This, however, varies with locality, but generally, check with the locality first. - And, since you have a pretty good idea where they were born, and know definitely when, get their birth records. Your grandmother was born before civil registration was mandatory in Nova Scotia (see http://www.genealogy.gc.ca/10/100606_e.html), so it will be hit or miss whether you'll find municipal records of her birth. You could find church records, but some are better than others. - If you don't know where they died, the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) may (http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/). (In fact, it does; I looked them up...) SSDI indexes all deaths for which a death or survivor's benefit was paid, going back at least to when the Social Security Administration computerized, and apparently before. And if you're new to genealogy, let me offer one piece of advice: ALWAYS record your sources (where you got a particular piece of information) - guaranteed in 6 months or 6 years, you'll want to go back and find where you got it again, and if you haven't recorded the source, you won't be able to. Good luck!