By Sherry Lindsay, FamilyLink.com, Inc.

It is never too early to start interviewing your relatives to record their histories, but one day it might be too late.

When I was a child I loved listening to my grandfather tell stories about his extraordinarily interesting life, and by the time I was about sixteen I had decided that I needed to start recording the stories-not necessarily audio-recordings, but some sort of written record of his experiences in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Mexico, Iran, and various places across the United States. Of course, I didn’t get going right away; then I started college 1,500 miles away from him, and, although I kept in good contact with him, I still did not work on recording the fantastic stories he told me.

During my junior year of college I took a class on writing family histories. Upon signing up for the class I knew that I would finally be writing my grandfather’s history. Unfortunately, within three weeks of my starting the class my grandfather was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and I was finally struck with the realization that I had wasted a lot of time.

Of course, on the up-side, I was extremely fortunate to have about six good months where I could call my grandfather and ask him questions about his life. As I wrote his history, though, the thought that I could have known and recorded more always lingered.

My intent in writing this is not to guilt-trip you into interrogating your elderly family members until every worthwhile personal and family history detail has been extracted from their memories. Rather, my intent is to help you realize that family histories can be written in pieces, in fits and starts if you will.

Just as you log details on your pedigree chart as you find them, you can record historic details of your family members as you hear them. Next time you get off the phone or come home from a visit with a family member (young or old-the earlier your start, the more you will accumulate) take a few moments to write down any interesting stories you may have heard. With time you will find that you have accumulated a great deal of family history data, and it will be ready for a cumulative story.

If your older family members are anything like mine, you may think that you’ve heard all the stories several times before, and if push came to shove you’d be able to record them all without the assistance of your relative. But why test the limits of your own memory? Writing down these histories in fits and starts won’t take much time at all, and it will preserve the memory of those you love for generations to come.

By Amanda Forson, WorldVitalRecords.com
Find an ancestor in the Social Security Death index on WorldVitalRecords.com by entering the first last name in the Quick Search form.

If your search yields too many results, use the Advanced Search form and specify a year (either the birth year or death year). If this does not bring up the desired ancestor�s name, remove the year and enter, instead, a location (state) where the person died. Once you find your ancestor, write down the information included in the results.

Part Two: Using the following link, http://www.socialsecurity.gov/foia/html/foia_guide.htm, you have the option of either a computerized extract of the Social Security Application or the original. For direct access to the form for requesting the originals, go to: https://s044a90.ssa.gov/apps7/efoiassa/internet/SSA711.jsp .

To purchase the originals (with the Social Security number, since you already found the SSN on day one,) the request will cost $27, equivalent to a Disney DVD.

By Amanda Forson, WorldVitalRecords.com

As a follow-up to last week’s genealogical activities for kids, this week we highlight Family Tree Magazine, Kids Edition. This online magazine involves children in genealogically-based activities, teaching at a younger age how to start. The basics are the same as for beginning adults, but written for a level that older children can understand.

General areas for activity use are Family Tree Fun, Family Detective, Junior Toolkit, and a Teachers and Parents section, all of which are geared to help begin teaching children how to do research and how to help with fundamental skill levels in the field.

Family Tree Fun focuses on projects that kids can do with little supervision. Primarily, it is crafts and word searches.

Family Detective focuses also on projects, but is more about developing skills that will help with future research, while making the activities more-geared toward real family history hunting.

Junior Toolkit is all about forms, charts, books, and the paper goods necessary to perform progressive research.

Teachers and Parents- This section aids the parent or teacher who wants to help kids interested in family history with forms, charts, websites, books, etc.

In general the Kids! Edition of the popular magazine should prove a useful resource for parents, teachers, and kids especially as it grows.

By Amanda Forson, WorldVitalRecords.com

For anyone who works with small children or wants to help children and grandchildren understand their hobby (or profession), activities of a genealogical nature are a must.

The following sites help with ideas for activities for children, and can help them discover about their past and help out Mom and Dad, or Grandpa and Grandma, too!:

USGenWeb-Kids: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgwkidz/

WorldGenWeb for Kids: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wgwkids/

Genealogy Today, Jr.: http://genealogytoday.com/junior/

Forms and Documents for Kids: http://www.kidsturncentral.com/topics/hobbies/genforms.htm

Books for Children:
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/articles/oct01/kidsbooks.html

Have fun with your family and give kids a chance to help in finding their ancestors. Had my grandmother not been open to my questions, and been willing to talk about the family, I would not be writing this column. Family history is not simply for adults. Anyone interested in the topic of family history has to start sometime, and it is easier to start when a person is young.

By Amanda Forson, WorldVitalRecords.com

While the Social Security death index available on WorldVitalRecords.com is extremely useful, it does not give the place where a relative is buried. Why is this? Burial places are not reported as part of the Social Security Master List, from which the Social Security Death Index is created. In light of this statement, what is a person to do? How is one to find the place where a relative has been laid to rest?

The following places may aid in this search:

FindAGrave- User-generated, this site often has pictures to accompany a given person’s information, at the very least of the cemetery site, and at the best, of the grave, and possibly even the person in question. FindAGrave is part of WorldVitalRecords, and easy to search as part of the Quick Search searching option.

Internment.net- This site offers cemetery searches by location, in the US and abroad. – http://www.internment.net

Cemetery Junction- http://www.daddezio.com/cemetery/

Cemeteries of the United States- http://www.kandj.net/~kim/dontknow.html

The Tombstone Transcription Project- http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cemetery/

The Political Graveyard- http://politicalgraveyard.com/
Resting places of politicians, large and small.

Hollywood Underground- http://www.hollywood-underground.com/
Final resting places for Hollywood celebrities.

Cyndi’s List- http://www.cyndislist.com/cemetery.htm
Motherload of links for cemetery listings, history, and just about anything you can think of for cemeteries and funerals.

There is no site that is all-inclusive of every cemetery in existence, or previously in existence. Many old cemeteries have been lost to underbrush or simply due to neglect. Others have been moved as the price of land became greater than the need for the cemetery to be in that exact spot. Such is the case with many older cemeteries that were previously located in Manhattan and currently located in Queens, New York.

In the age of computer information, volunteering to do transcription projects for what is local to you aids everyone. If you cannot find the exact burial by a quick Google search, or by searching these sites, then use the Social Security Death Index on WorldVitalRecords.com and call the cemeteries listed that are close to the burial place of the deceased. Further, try contacting the newspapers located near the area where a person died to see whether or not there was an obituary. Either of these options may yield good results.

By Amanda Forson, WorldVitalRecords.com

A number of WorldVitalRecords.com subscribers have caught onto a practice of keeping track of passwords that may benefit others currently left in a quandary. Most drug stores or Wal-Mart have small, inexpensive address books that can be used to keep track of site passwords.

The only down-side is keeping track of the address book. So long as it is kept in the same place, and hopefully near the normal computer being used, if a home computer, or kept in a purse or pocketbook if the computer most often used is the library, surfing the Internet should be much easier utilizing this method.

Web sites can be kept in alphabetical order, and instead of phone numbers, or other blank spaces in the address book, the passwords can be entered.

By Amanda Forson, WorldVitalRecords.com

Most of the genealogical researchers that I am currently in contact with are novices who want to help with research, or any aspect of family history for their families, but have no idea where to start. After identifying who the person is in the family who keeps the records, the next thing to do is to ask what that person wants done. Often, the main family researcher will have been doing the research either completely alone or with very little help for multiple years. Finding new information and processing is their passion, and something that they guard with sanctity, often waiting to share the information and willing to send a lot of information to new researchers.

When trying to help with research, be sure to offer services first before trying to help with actual research. Possible services include but are not limited to, data entry of what has already been researched, paying for a needed document, or even simply showing support and interest. It is not unusual for a researcher to have completed years of research without anyone else in the family being interested. Lending an ear for a few hours is a great service for those who have had no one interested to whom they could tell the family stories.

Always treat researchers with respect. They have been doing a service to you and other family members, often without any acknowledgement or consideration, and have become the family expert through often grueling and exhilarating experiences. Let them share their stories along with the stories of the family, and DO NOT expect to become their researching partner overnight.

A confident researcher will often have multiple lines that need more researching. They can’t do everything by themselves, and a division of labor will help. If assigned a person to research, delve into the world that is genealogy and welcome to the thrills that come from connecting with family members on a closer, more intimate level. IF something is found, MAKE SURE that the original researcher is notified, so that both of you can find joy in this. If interest wanes, give the original researcher everything found thus far, and be considerate in showing appreciation for what they entrusted to you.

Even if the primary researcher only allows you to do data entry, this is a right and privilege for them to extend, and something that must be graciously accepted if accepted at all. Trust and genealogy do not readily assert themselves in the same sentence. Most genealogists do not trust other’s research unless they have double-checked sources and verified the information for themselves. Although normally a very honest and well-meaning group, even being allowed to do data entry is an honor and needs to be treated as such. Try not to expect pay for services. The primary family researcher often is of an age where a fixed income does not allow for any outside expenditure. Besides, this is your family, too! As bits and pieces of family information are unfolded, be happy for what is received and look forward to the next step. There is always more to do, and good researchers will be happy for help once there is “proven interest.”

By Amanda Forson, WorldVitalRecords.com

Most genealogists are used to seeing the maiden names of wives, mothers, sisters, etc., often forgetting that (at least in Western countries where the female surname is usually dropped in favor of the male) the woman would live most of her life under her husband’s surname. This is especially true in the South and other places where women’s property belonged to her husband or oldest son.

When searching WorldVitalRecords.com for women, look for them with married names in addition to maiden names. Maiden names often only lasted for the first twenty to twenty-five years of a woman’s life. Few documents besides birth and marriage would list a woman’s maiden name otherwise. Look for married names for property transfers, obituaries, church records, etc. when searching for women’s records.