Hello Helen, Thanks for all the good advice. I've gone through step one and thanks to my cousin, I've got a running start on step two, but I will get a GOOD genealogy program! Thanks again for your time and the trouble to help me. Regards, Emily E. > Emily, > > There is nothing dumb about your question. > We all had to start somewhere, and five years > ago, I would have asked the same question, as would many others on this > list, I'm sure. > > Step One > For the sake of future generations, start with > yourself, your husband, and children. Acquire > for each: birth certificate, marriage license, and > death certificate. Where possible, add property > deeds. > > Step Two. > Buy a GOOD genealogy program: forget the > freebies My personal favorite is Family Tree Maker, > for I particularly like the amount and type of > information it permits for each person, as well > as the various formats in which one can display > data. > > Step Two. > Work backwards Generation-by-Generation: i.e. > document your grandparents births, marriages, > and deaths before researching your great grandparents. > > Step Three. > Attend a course on construction family trees. > Join local organizations that focus on history. > Join appropriate surname and geographic mail > lists; these may be able to give you specific > guidance, but in worse cases, you will learn a lot > about researching areas where your ancestors lived. > > A Note on Personal Experience with Mail Lists: > When I first got on Internet, seven years ago, I joined > a Rootsweb mail list for my maiden name, and I posted > what little I knew about my grandparents. I didn't even > know my great grandfather's first name. To make a long > story short, the next day, I had a reply from a person who > was writing a book on the surname, and he sent me all > of my father's ancestors back to 1713. > > This did not mean that I had completed my work; but > rather, that it was just beginning, but what a start! Now > I knew the names for which I needed birth certificates, > etc. > > Best wishes for your success, > Helen > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <favreoaks@comcast.net> > To: <PLANTAGENET-DESCENDANTS-PROJECT-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2004 11:45 AM > Subject: [PDP] Proof of descendancy? > > > > Hello, > > I am fairly new to family history research and very new to research on > this branch of my family, so I hope you will forgive what may be a "dumb" > question. > > > > First some background. About 40 years ago my mother was given a family > history by my cousin, her nephew. At the time, I was a young wife and mother > and thought it was interesting but I had no time to indulge in further > explorations or explanations. Now that I am old, I am vitally interested and > would like to know how I should go about authenticating the family history > my cousin compiled. > > The cousin is deceased and there are no sources listed for most of the > information, only occasionally is there reference to a source document. > > > > In the history my cousin states, "Col. Thomas Ligon was born in England > and came to VA abt. 1641. He died in 1675. He married Mary Harris and Mary > is descended from Edward III, King of England, and thus from William the > Conqueror, through Lionel Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence and his daughter > Phllippe, who m. Edward Mortimer, Earl of March, and their daughter > Elizabeth, who m. Sir Henry Percy, (Hotspur of Shakespeare's 'Henry IV'). We > descended through the Percy and later the Harris lines for 12 generations, > etc., etc." > > > > Can anyone tell me how I should proceed? > > Any help or advice will be appreciated, > > Emily Elstrott in Washington State > > > > > > ============================== > > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > > > > > > > > > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 >