This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/Xgk.2ACEB/5949.1.1.1.1.1.2.2.1 Message Board Post: Shirley - In researching the Jackson surname for some 30 years, I have found very few who HAVEN'T indicated that from family tradition they were of Native American ancestry and related to Andrew Jackson and/or Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson. (even handed down within my ownline). I have proven my Andrew Jackson (1770-1858), but it wasn't the President, as well as my Native American heritage, not once but twice and possibly a third time by marriage - Andrew married a Native American as did his father. DNA substantiated the findings with my Jackson line as 75% Indo European; 25% Native American (which is high); 0% Asian and 0% African. The Native American ancestry of my Jackson line had to come by marriage. I have gone back to some of your earlier postings and found where you stated "my grandfather, Walter E. Jackson, died in 1945....in Grayslake, Ill. #1 Tip - Always find out within what county your ancestor. In checking it out for you I found out it's Gray Lake (part of Avon twshp), located in Lake County, Illinois. #2 Tip - Write to the County Clerk of said county or to the State of Illinois (addresses below) requesting a birth and/or death certificate of your grandfather. You will need to provide specific information i.e. date of death, date of birth if known, his wife's name, county in which he died (if contacting the state), etc. His death certificate COULD (not always) give his parents name as well as his place of birth. This could give you informaiton for the next step - searching for your g.g.grandfather. Knowing that he died in Lake County, Illinois, read the 1930 census if you know he was there within that particular census year - the census information will tell you not only what state he was born, but also the state in which each of his parents were born. Lake County Illinois was created in 1839 from McHenry County, Ill. The County Clerk has birth records from 1877; marriage records from 1839 and death records from 1877. He could have been born within the county where he died, but I've found very few who stayed within the same "spot" from birth to death (unless they were children). Write to Lake County, County Clerk; 18 North County St. Waukegan, Illinois 60085-4399 (this may be an old address, so you might want to call to check) If you contact the state- contact the Office of Vital Records, State Department of Public Health, 605 West Jefferson Street; Springfield, IL 62702 (to verify current fees call 217-782-6553 - again these are old addresses & phone # - call info & confirm same) Tip #3 - With your grandfather's death being in 1945, he may have been a WW II veteran - Contact The Department of Veterans Affairs; 208 West Cook St., Springfield, IL 62706 - they have files with names of about 600,000 veterans buried in Illinois, in alphabetical order by war. A cemetery listing, by county,lists veteran burials. Soldiers' discharge records are available at county courthouses. To prove by primary documentation (birth/death records, wills, Bible Records, court records, census records (be sure you read the images [printed census returns help a lot, but they don't give full data on your ancestor], etc) of your relation to your goal of Andrew Jackson and/or Thomas Jonathan Jackson, you're going to have to prove each generation going back to their individual time periods. Tip #4 Check with your local library to see if they have a statewide link to Heritage Quest - usually provided by a State Library & Archives for use by patrons of local libraries. We have such in Texas. All census years are available, but your state may not have them all indexed. Texas is still in the process of indexing the 1830, 1840, 1850 and 1880. Remember, the 1890 federal census was lost (except for a few isolated pages). The LDS has the free 1880 online, and Ancestry.com has most of the others. Ancestry.com requires a membership. Tip #5 the US state/county GenWeb sites will become most helpful to you via online information. Some sites are more in depth than others. Nothing will take the place of on-site research of county courthouses, visiting cemeteries, and good ole book research at a large library. Genealogy is one fantastic hobby - you will be so proud of each generation you find, and will look forward to finding the next generation. Your greatest challenge will be getting past the 1840, 1830, 1820, 1810, and 1800 census readings. You learn along the way who, what, when to look for. You'll hit a stump or two - you could find what you might call a big brick wall along the way, but always remember - it's a wall, in time, you'll be able to crawl over, around or under - but you WILL get past it! As you proceed, always collect cemetery information, marriage records, birth/death records will avail, Bible Records when found, etc. etc. on each generation - something that will prove beyond a shadow of any doubt that you are correct that the person found connects to your previous ancestor. Along the way, you will "meet" wonderful sharing persons who will help along the way, and you in turn will be able to help others - that's the name of the game. Do your research and pat yourself on the back all along the way - you and your family will be soooo proud of you. Good luck with your research, take it slow & easy, but with a steady speed - the speed limit will increase little by little. Evyonne