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Treat any family trees that show up on ancestry as items of interest, but not necessarily accurate ones.
The best thing to do is start with what you know and work backwards through time using census records & marriage, death, & birth records to substantiate names & dates found in censuses. Go slowly & methodically on each census and record all the info including the neighbors & their info. There are printable blank forms on ancestry for each census...print those out & fill them in--in addition to saving them to the family member you are researching.
I have new researchers draw out a rough family tree & write in names & dates & locations on large piece of white butcher paper with waxed back (cheap, can be rolled up, unlikely to rip). You can use computer programs or the family tree function on Ancestry.com to build a tree & save info, but it is easier to see & plan next course of action if it's sketched out on a big piece of paper.
If you want assistance, post excactly what you know about the ancestor & researchers here will look.
1950 - The Korean War draft calls up men between the ages of eighteen-and-a-half and 35 for
terms of duty averaging two years. Men who served in World War II do not have to sign up
Gave up. Ordered the AncestryDNA for both health and genetic history for wife and I.
That's not going to build your tree for you. The ethnicity test is only an estimate and shouldn't be taken literally. While the DNA matches can be useful, it still takes work in combination with records research. The DNA test is not a shortcut to building your tree.
That's not going to build your tree for you. The ethnicity test is only an estimate and shouldn't be taken literally. While the DNA matches can be useful, it still takes work in combination with records research. The DNA test is not a shortcut to building your tree.
If the OP is lucky they'll have cousin matches that know the history
Quote:
Originally Posted by victimofGM
Gave up. Ordered the AncestryDNA for both health and genetic history for wife and I.
You should have read PA2UK's review before buying ancestry health
Quote:
Originally Posted by PA2UK
My AncestryHealth Core results are in... unsurprisingly, there's not many reports yet (only 13) but of course if they're really sticking to this subscription idea, it means my results will stay this way unless I subscribe, which I won't because no other company requires that.
Just opened up my Ancestry account. I’m a bit concerned. Myself, my dad, and my grandfather all served in the military. Only military records that came up was my grandfather’s draft card. My grandfather served in the Army in WW2 in France because he spoke Cajun French. My dad served in the Navy in Vietnam. I served in the Navy in Desert Storm and Bosnia. My grandfather died young (57) and I was hoping to learn more about him and his military service. My family tree stops at my great grandparents. Is this pretty normal for Ancestry? I wonder if the effects of the US Civil War effected local historical records creating some gaps locally? I’m a Cajun in south Louisiana. I was hoping to eventually trace my ancestry to Canada and then France as well as potential Native American branch.
After your DNA comes back upload to the free sites, my heritage and FTDNA. Note that FTDNA allows law enforcement to upload crime DNA, you have to shut it off in your settings.
If the OP is lucky they'll have cousin matches that know the history
You should have read PA2UK's review before buying ancestry health
After your DNA comes back upload to the free sites, my heritage and FTDNA. Note that FTDNA allows law enforcement to upload crime DNA, you have to shut it off in your settings.
My DNA is already on record from my time in the military. The other thing I’m interested in is how much Native American heritage I have. Some of my relatives look like they could be members of local area tribes. My wife is also taking the test when it comes in. She’s always been curious how much French, Spanish, and other nationalities she has in her family. Would not be surprised if there’s a GT of sub-Sahara African in my ancestry. One of my mom’s brothers looked creole enough that he could pass for black. Funny family story. He and his younger brother use to smoke a lot of weed. The younger brother had red curly hair and freckles. The older of the two was the one they always sent to buy weed. They learned the dealers charged a higher price for white guys than for black guys. The older brother passed enough for black that he paid the discount price.
My DNA is already on record from my time in the military. The other thing I’m interested in is how much Native American heritage I have. Some of my relatives look like they could be members of local area tribes. My wife is also taking the test when it comes in. She’s always been curious how much French, Spanish, and other nationalities she has in her family.
The ethnicity report is only an estimate - it's primarily reliable on a continental level, so your Native American results will be accurate, but the break down of French, Spanish, etc is not very reliable. If that's your wife's only reason for taking the test, it's going to be a waste of money.
You're confusing the draft with selective service. They are not exactly the same thing.
What's more, the National Archives maintains draft records, but not selective service records, which were maintained in St Louis. A fire destroyed a large number of pre-1960 records, roughly 80% for the Army and 75% for the Air Force (including Army Air Corps records which had been transferred to the Air Force upon its creation in 1948).
If I'm not mistaken, since 1980 it is the Social Security Administration that maintains selective service records.
You're confusing the draft with selective service. They are not exactly the same thing.
What's more, the National Archives maintains draft records, but not selective service records, which were maintained in St Louis. A fire destroyed a large number of pre-1960 records, roughly 80% for the Army and 75% for the Air Force (including Army Air Corps records which had been transferred to the Air Force upon its creation in 1948).
If I'm not mistaken, since 1980 it is the Social Security Administration that maintains selective service records.
I did not find my Dad's Draft card on Ancestry. Thought that very strange since I know he served and have his discharge papers which had information on his unit and countries where he fought.
I did a search on Family Search and came up with a lot of information, which I never knew. Dad had joined the Army National Guard in the years up to WW2. Family Search also showed that he had enlisted, not drafted, in the Army when War broke out. That gave the date of his enlistment and where.
Where did Family Search get this information? Was it just luck that he was in that 20% of records not destroyed? Maybe enlistee Army records were kept separate from draftees?
At any rate very grateful for the additional information, and Family Search Free searching.
You're confusing the draft with selective service. They are not exactly the same thing.
What are you talking about? Do you think it is different because they use the word conscription?
The SSS is the organization that collects the data for when they have/need a draft. It is still mandatory to register with the SSS even when there isn't a draft.
Not all records are available online, let alone at Ancestry.com. Particularly more recent records (especially on living or recently living people) are usually not available due to privacy reasons. Additionally, there was a fire in 1973 that destroyed many personnel files: https://www.archives.gov/personnel-r...nter/fire-1973
Ancestry.com doesn't have a huge amount of military records - Fold3 have a lot more (which are owned by Ancestry.com but operate independently), but generally the best way to get as much as you can on military service is to contact NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) and request it.
There are always what we call "brick walls" that we come up against in genealogy, for various reason. It's difficult to say why you're not finding more information beyond your great grandparents without more information. It's common for that to happen if they were immigrants (Ancestry.com has more US records than anywhere else but they should have a lot of Canadian records too), but there can be other reasons. There are other resources online beyond Ancestry.com too - FamilySearch have a lot of records and it's entirely free, but some of those records require more advanced searching.
Would you happen to have blogged about how to use the card catalog or know of a good kindergarten type instruction on how to do it? I tried a few years ago but never had luck.
Quote:
Originally Posted by victimofGM
My DNA is already on record from my time in the military. The other thing I’m interested in is how much Native American heritage I have. Some of my relatives look like they could be members of local area tribes. My wife is also taking the test when it comes in. She’s always been curious how much French, Spanish, and other nationalities she has in her family. Would not be surprised if there’s a GT of sub-Sahara African in my ancestry. One of my mom’s brothers looked creole enough that he could pass for black. Funny family story. He and his younger brother use to smoke a lot of weed. The younger brother had red curly hair and freckles. The older of the two was the one they always sent to buy weed. They learned the dealers charged a higher price for white guys than for black guys. The older brother passed enough for black that he paid the discount price.
Law enforcement are not allowed to just search military DNA.
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