Finding Your Ancestors

Interested in learning about your ancestors? Ever wondered if you might have a famous (or infamous) person in your family tree?

The upcoming holidays may be the perfect opportunity to do a little family research. Asking family members about great grandparents and great-great grandparents and other family members they remember is a great place to start. With that information and some research, you can work your way back through time finding ancestors along the way. GALILEO offers several great genealogy and local history resources that can help as well.

First, get your GALILEO password from your public library or log in through your PINES account, and you will be able to access HeritageQuest Online from home to see census records and family histories. You will need to go to the library to be able to search Ancestry Library Edition for census records; military records; immigration records; birth, marriage and death records; and more. Also, check with the staff at your public library for books and other print items that they may have that can help you with your research.

Don’t forget that the Georgia history resources are a great source of family history, particularly the historical Georgia newspapers in the Digital Library of Georgia.

Check out the Genealogy and Georgia History and Culture sections of GALILEO for a list of resources. And, read this article in MasterFILE Premier for tips on getting started with genealogy research and see some tips we have offered previously for genealogy research.

Happy Researching!

Image from Vanishing Georgia, a collection of the Digital Library of Georgia