Getting Started 2

If you do not have grandparents, other older family members can often help. Aunts and uncles can be useful in answering questions about other family members. I have an older cousin, my father's niece. She has been able to give me information that help me in my search.

Getting Started

When you start your journey into genealogy, it is always a good idea to start with yourself and work back. Look at some of the documents that you have on yourself. Birth certificates, your parents names and dates of births, marriage dates, your siblings dates of birth. Ask your grandparents questions about where they were born and what they know about their parents and grandparents.

My Paternal Grandmother

This is a picture of my grandmother

Mary Abrams Lawton.

Finding Female Decendants

Trying to trace female lines can be difficult. Without knowing their maiden name, what can you do?
One thing that has helped me is look at the childern's middle names.  Sometimes families would give the mother's maiden name as a middle name for their child. It isn't foolproof and doesn't happen every time, but it does occur and makes it worthwhile to look into it.

My mother's family

My grandparents on my mother's side were Stanley E. Batchelor and Myrtle N. Hunter. They were married on December 31, 1936 in Gloucester City, N.J. They had 3 children, Hazel N. born Oct 30, 1938 , Victor S. born Feb. 8, 1940, and Stanley E., born Apr. 5, 1944.  Victor and Stanley both died as young children, Victor in 1943 and Stanley in 1945. My grandfather was born on Apr. 30, 1913 in Clayton, N.J. He died Aug. 14, 1959, when I was 8 mos.  My grandmother was born on Jan. 24, 1913 in Newfield, N.J. She died on June 15, 1998, 6 mos. after my mother.