Are you new this week? Come introduce yourself!

+23 votes
1.1k views
Hi WikiTreers,

Come say hi if you're a new member this week! Tell us a bit about yourself, meet some new genealogists, share what you've been researching lately. How has your time at WikiTree been so far? Have you made any interesting connections?
in The Tree House by Erin Breen G2G6 Pilot (334k points)
Hi Everybody....

I'm really excited to get more of my family tree sorted out. Have been on ancestry, but haven't gotten very far.....
Hi, I am very happy to have found out so much information already, great website. I am from the Coates family and have managed to get back to my great great Grandfather, still need to update lots of information I have found. My Great grandfather was born in Danbury,Conneticut  and his wife was American as well. I have lots of research ahead to find out more. i have had information updated very kindly by Ray, looks like we may have a connection :-)
Hi: I have been researching my family tree, and also have started researching my husbands.  I love really digging into the research and finding new ancestors.

Family names: Brown, Dineen, Bruderle, Krahm, Donniacuo, Polito, Hill, Rockwood, Pienciak, Galayda, and Kukoy.

As you can probably tell from the names, there were a lot of immigrants in the family.  Many of them lived in New York City.

Hello everyone, I started my research back in the days before internet was accessable, no email just hard work visiting libraries, cemeteries, churches and any event which might produce a clue. My best find was finding school work from the 1800's for a family member quite randomly on a display at a school museum open day, always keep your eyes peeled is my top tip. I now cant wait to get all those sheets of paper out of the suitcases and shared on wiki tree. I collected so much information on my travels and i am happy to help anyone, its so exciting helping find family members for people. I have so much to share and cant wait to get back to it. I can help with Dalrymples from Fife, mariners from Fife, and general fife, Scotland information and also similiar with related names in the family. I shall keep adding and feel free to keep asking if you have anything i can help with, I don't know everything but if you dont ask.....can't wait to meet everyone and cross paths, good luck all, Much love Sharonsmiley

Hi 

Magnus Sälgö Stockholm Sweden. The plan is to start move my tree to Wikitree as I feel this is the way forward. 

I am doing a Geneaology book reading circle right now of Mastering Genealogy Proof see our Google Group  https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/115430907880666315174

My Genealogy profile you will find on 
minancestry.blogspot.se/2014/06/resurser.html

Hello to everyone. My name is Ian Cruickshank and I retired in 2006. I'd all but given up finding any info on my grandparents, until now. I am excited to find a better way to search for my grandparents. Whenever I asked my mother about here parents she always replied, we dont talk about those things. Wikitree will help me find the answers I am looking for.
Hi Marco and Welkomen. With your Dutch ancestry you will find Wikitree a lot of fun. Most of the Dutch genealogy sites are free and there is usually lots of info to cross reference making sure you've got the person you think you have. Enjoy.
Hi, I was reading some article about some guy trying to show he was related to everyone, and followed a link here. I thought it was a neat idea, but after filling in information on my immediate family, I realized that in many cases this is impossible.

I'm from the United States, and my ancestors all came from Europe, and I would guess most or all of them are traceable. My wife is from Cambodia, and written records from before approximately 1980 simply don't exist, as they were all destroyed during the Democratic Kampuchea regime under Pol Pot. After that period, many records (birth certificates and family registries) were recreated from memory. But from what I can tell, most records, then and now, have been falsified in some way - changing birth dates and moving children from one set of parents to another are both extremely common in Cambodia.

For example, my daughter was born in Phnom Penh in 2010, but the birth certificate says she was born in Stung Treng (my wife's home town), about 400 km away. I tried to get this corrected, but for some reason that could not be explained (I'm guessing there is something political where they are trying to inflate the population of Stung Treng), nobody involved (including my wife) wanted to change it. My wife's birth certificate says she was born 2 or 3 years (she doesn't even remember exactly) after her actual birth.

Anyway, I will try to find what information I can on my wife's side of the family, but it will basically all be heresay. My side should be easier. My father's family was from Poland/Germany (borders have changed... it was a Polish-speaking section of Germany at the time) and my mother's family was from Italy (Sicily) and Hungary/Romania (borders have also changed... a Hungarian-speaking section of what is now Romania, I am told). I don't know anything about finding records in those countries, but I guess I'll find out.

I think my mother is interested in this sort of thing, so I will see if I can get her to join too.

Hello, I am new to not only Wikitree but to  genieology in genrail. I will help all I can and appreciate  all help given.  

Hello all. I have been using myheritage.com to create my family tree. This has proven to be inadequate, due to the fact that I can't afford to pay the premium rate, and am almost maxed out on the free tree builder. I found this site through them, and look forward to being able to continue to build on my ancestry knowledge.

21 Answers

+16 votes
Hi - I am a homeschooling momma that loves history, and loves to teach history. I think personal stories make history come alive, and I want the next generation to learn wisdom from previous generations...both alive and passed on.
by Steph Howerton G2G Crew (680 points)
Hi Steph, welcome to WikiTree!  Thanks for telling us a little about yourself and I so agree, the stories really are what make people spark to life. Photos too.
+13 votes
Thanks for the warm welcome!

I'm a 68 year old retired engineer and I'm trying to get what I know of my family history collected in one place for my 6-year-old granddaughter.

I heard the NPR piece where Christ Whitten and A.J. Jacobs were participants and then a friend told my more about WikiTree, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

All four of my grandparents came to the US from - well, let's call it "Eastern Europe." Two from Russia, one from Lithuania and one from Ukraine. The two couples met here and married. A friend of ours who is WAY more conversant in genealogy than I am found a bunch of really interesting documents about my grandparents on-line and sent us pdfs. It's fascinating.

So here I am!
by Larry Rosenfeld G2G Crew (590 points)
Welcome to WikiTree, Larry!
+11 votes
Hi everyone. I look forward to helping in whatever way I can.

Lots to learn in how WikiTree works but I know there is lots of help too.

Best regards, Ted.
by Ted O'Malley G2G Crew (530 points)
Hi Ted, welcome to WikiTree! I hope you have a great experience here :)
+10 votes
Thanks for the welcome.  I am quite new to the wiki tree system.  I was very disappointed when I learned that I could not download my files from my FTM.   I have been working on genealogy since 1981 and have a lot of info and sources for my findings.  I have worked with some DNA for the Barr family and have added a lot of photos and family attachments at FAG.  I have a number of families back to the original settler but very few back to their original countries.  Look forward to sharing my info but it will take a lot of extra work.
by Living Baran G2G Crew (490 points)
Welcome

I have 40+ years work of data collected. It's tough starting it over, re-inputing all that information, but I've been able to look at things again, find new and better sourcing, and reorganize my thoughts. So what I'm turning out here is a lot better than my original work.

FTM doesn't support gedcom creation?

Bill, you can export a gedcom from FTM very easily, Check out the HELP index under gedcoms smiley

Bill and Anne:

Check the links in my answer to Laurie for step-by-step screen shots of how to get your data from Family Tree Maker into gedcom format. I use FTM too and it works great. One thing I keep forgetting is to use the drop-down menu in the FTM screen from the default output to Family Tree Maker, and make it to GEDCOM 5.5, so sometimes I have to do it again:0

Anne, you make a good point about revisiting the data, finding new and better sourcing, etc. I have had the same experience with my work here at WikiTree.
+9 votes
Hi, I joined WikiTree in August and uploaded my Gedcom from ancestry.com. I was really excited to join because the concept  is great, but right now I'm totally confused. Apparently my data is useful here because I and others can review it for links to one another, but I have to enter my data here again to build my tree, is that correct? I guess I'll have to take the suggestion from Anne B that I'll get a better product in my re-do here. I certainly still want to be part of this history-making web event.

I'm working on the histories of both my ancestors (Scotland, England, Germany) and my husband's (Russia, Ukraine). I have a lot of photos of my family which are very cool and I look forward to sharing them with others who might be related and therefore interested in seeing them.  Thanks to all who have volunteered to work on this tree! Laurie
by Laurie Anderson G2G Crew (470 points)

HI Laurie,

I'm not sure from your comment if you have "uploaded a gedcom match (a "gedmatch") or if you have "imported your gedcom file".

In the case of a gedmatch, you find out who in your tree is already in a profile on WikiTree.

When you import your gedcom, your profiles appear on WikiTree and should include all the sources you entered in your tree before making the gedcom. All you need to do after importing your gedcom is review each profile and remove any computer-generated data that is not relevant, such as extra data in sources and entries like 'image' (images don't transfew in a gedcom).

If I misunderstood, please excuse me. Some members like to enter their entire tree 'by hand', one profile at a time and not use a gedcom. But if you use a gedcom, it should arrive with all that you had in it before the transfer.

Here are a couple of links if you want more information.

Step by step process includes screenshots.

WikiTree help pages give lots of information about the process. 

I hope you find this helpful.

Thank you so much; I now see where I became confused. I have done the Gedmatch; I don't think the site would allow mme to do more than that until I was vetted. I will certain;y look at your links tomorrow and appreciate your reply! Laurie
Yes, it is true, any guest may upload a gedmatch but only members may import a gedcom.

Very glad you have joined WikiTree and can now add your data!

Welcome Laurie!
+8 votes
Hello!

I found this site attempting to find out more about my ancestry, and was excited to see the multi-DNA information that is being accumulated from multiple sources.  Really glad to be here!
by Lee Walters G2G Crew (620 points)
Hi Lee!  Welcome to WikiTree - glad you found us! :)
+7 votes
Hello!

Thanks Erin and Thanks Mags! I just found the site last night. I've toyed off and on with the idea of researching the past, I was excited to come across this site last night. I'm still very green. Haven't quite figured out what to click when or where yet, but hope to dive into more of the FAQ's.  Last night I was excited to type in what I already knew, and already found a potential merge. After an hour. That's SO COOL!

Thanks again for the welcomes!
by Toph Bryant G2G Crew (410 points)
+7 votes

Hi

My father spent quite a bit of time researching his and his wife's family tree. I helped him create a website  The Genealogy of Some Nimlos and Sauer Lines and would like to find a way to integrate his work into Wikitree.

by Mark Nimlos G2G Crew (410 points)
edited by April Dauenhauer

Your website is very easy to read and navigate, and the history of each surname is interesting. If the information on individuals on the website is in your computer in a genealogy program, see the links posted in this thread for Laurie.

If you want to create pages that look like your website, I think the answer would be to create Free Space pages, which then can be added to the help category index so people can find them.

P.S. To make a link in a comment, Type the title you want for it, hit the 'Link' button - top right - and paste the link address in the pop-up window.

+6 votes
Thanks for the Welcome aboard. I am retired, but have been trying to spend as much time as I can on my families!

CULBREATH - from VA/TN/TX

OVERBY - from NC/VA area

ROBERTS - from NC/TN/TX

HINTONS - VA/TN

It's fun, but sure does keep you on your toes, lol!!!
by Anonymous Anonymous G2G Crew (380 points)
+5 votes
Hello all, I'm another newbee who once tried building his own family tree using PowerPoint .... This is WAY easier! With family spread from Scandinavia to Australia and reaching back to the really dark parts of the Dark Ages, I have my work cut out trying to make links ... Your help - and the effort you've already put in - will make connecting branches a lot easier. All I have to do now is figure out what all these new widgets do :o)

best wishes,

Graham
by anonymous G2G Crew (350 points)
+5 votes

I was fortunate to have relatives on both my mother's and father's side who did family history in the "pre-Internet" period. After I retired in 2009 from a career in computer software research and development, I scanned all the family photographs I could find, joined Ancestry.com, attempted to enter all the information I had from the family histories, and then started doing more research. I recently took the AncestryDNA test, and then learned how to download my raw DNA data, upload it to the free GEDmatch.com, pay to have it transferred to FamilyTreeDNA, etc. As I started conversations with people whose DNA matches mine, I learned about Wikitree.com, and I like the idea of cooperating on a single shared tree. I'm interested in all branches of my family, and I love hearing the stories that come up when I talk to distant cousins. I'm especially interested in exploring my father's father's family: he changed his last name from Jones to McJones in 1903, and we only know a little about his father and father's father, but no further back.

 

Paul McJones

by Paul McJones G2G1 (1.3k points)
+5 votes
I am new to WikiTree.  So far so good.  I've still got a lot of work to do to complete my tree.  I have about 1/3 of it done so far.  

So far I've not found any connections with other members.  I am hoping that I will soon.  I'm trying to get other family members involved in this projecct.  But so far I'm getting some likes on my Facebook account but no real help as of yet.  

I would find it a major accomplishment if I can find out who Peter Mingus's (7th gen) family were and where they were from.  

Another thing that makes my tree interesting is that my mother is Japanese.  So I am looking to complete that side of the tree.  It'll be tough as my mother recently passed away and she was estranged from her family.  

I also want to do this as I will be the last of Mingus name.  I have a younger brother and cousin and it is not likely that any of us will have any children to carry on the name.  I had a daughter.  My brother had 2 daughters.  And my cousin is a confirmed bachelor.  

About me...I live in Florida and recently retired from my local police department.  I am married and have 1 child from a previous marriage.  I am an Army vet and a former Navy brat.  I am also an avid cyclist and I love to cook.  

I am looking forward to being a contributing member.
by Living Mingus G2G Crew (350 points)
+5 votes

Hi, I'm new this week and just starting into genealogy in earnest for the first time.  I had piddled around on another site that constantly nagged me to pay for just about anything I wanted to do, so I searched for an alternative and ended up here!  So far, so good. smiley

Just concentrating on Logsdon and Gibbons surnames in Illinois for now.

by Scott Gibbons G2G1 (1.2k points)
+5 votes
Hello to everybody.  I really enjoy this site, I have been using MyHeritage but not getting much that I have not already found.  I'm really hoping to get more information on the Newells (my fathers side) and the Cambells (my mom's).  I've found that both names are fairly common so finding my direct line is a bit of a challenge.  Especially getting to my ancesters in Ireland and Scotland.  Well back to work and loving it.
by Living Newell G2G Crew (350 points)
+5 votes

Howdy,  New here. Leanred of this via MyHeritage smart matches.  Looking forward to fleshing out my family while helping flesh out the family tree.

Cheers,

Rch

by Richard Schuerger G2G6 (7.8k points)
+6 votes

Hi everyone and greetings from Finland! I just joined the site and I really like the idea of a free genealogy site. I will be copying my other site information over to Wikitree and when continuing my research, I will keep this one updated only. I have to agree, that all family tree data should be available for everyone and not only for the who can afford to pay a monthly fee for years.

Well. I am from Kainuu area of Finland, and most of my family have always lived approximately 100 km´s  away from where I am currently. You would think its an easy task to find everyone then, but it is not. We also have lots of family, that left to the USA in the late 1800´s and in the beginning of 1900 so I am looking forward in to digging up those family members and relatives.

by Minna Nelson G2G Crew (510 points)
+6 votes
Hi everyone,
I am looking for help with researching my Jewish ancestors - I keep running into brick walls, particularly with females, for whom I don't know their maiden name.  The surnames I am researching are: Ogust (Lithuania and Belarus), Wagner (Galicia), Winters (Galicia), Mayerson, Martz (Galicia).
by Lynne August G2G Crew (380 points)
You've got my sympathy on the Galicians. Those family members are my brickwalls, too!
+4 votes

Hi Everyone,

I have been doing genealogy for over 30 years. I started quite young since I am only 51, mother of four, grandmother of one and step grandmother of another one. I am here for two reasons. 1st - I hate inaccuracies on family trees, especially the kind that seems to be copied from one tree to another. I am hoping that by having one huge collaboration tree will reduce inaccuracies and help to find the real truth. The 2nd reason – I love genealogy especially when it is done with documentation and sourcing. I look forward to working with everyone to our final goals.

I am researching not only my family, but my husbands and my half-silbings families too. Too many names to mentioned. My mother was adopted and I have no idea who her biological father is. (My big black hole in my family tree).

by Charlene Filipiak G2G Crew (850 points)
+3 votes
Hello all, I'm new here, new to geneaology and fairly new to computers. I am astounded at what I see. I don't use my computer daily, don't have time to. I'll keep comming back when I have time. This place and the work people do is fascinating! I want to be apart of the one great big tree.
by
+3 votes

Hi all, I've been researching my family off and on for a few years but I'm new to this site.

Right now I'm focusing on the WARD family in Scioto and Pike, Ohio in the 1800s. And the SHILLITO family in Cincinnatio, Ohio in the 1900s.

by Andrew Ward G2G1 (1.1k points)

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