This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Vandewater, Craft, Sargent, Johansson Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/lRB.2ACE/444.3.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Ed, The best place to start is with you and your siblilings. Then your parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. With each tier of information, you may want to pull or request documents for your files. I use a notebook. I usually request marriage, military, birth and death certificates for immediate family. If you know a relative lived in a particular location, you can search census records.You can also post on the message boards and hope that another distant family member is researching the same family. I like to do a little historical research with each tier. With the living parents or grandparents, you may want to tape record their family history. These can be notes that you add to your book.