Have you ever wondered about your family heritage?

Years ago my mother and I looked through a big box of documents in the basement. My grandmother had spent years collecting documents and photographs that told the story about our family lineage.  Our family history is like most in that we had many marriages and divorces over the years so following the bloodline was a bit difficult. But my grandmother was persistent and uncovered some very interesting information about our family, including a relative who fought in the American Revolution. Through her search, she was able to trace our family line all the way back to the 1600’s. It is so interesting to find out about your family history and explore your roots, ethnicity and even communicate with distant relatives around the world. Here are some great online tools you can use to learn more about your family history.

Ancestory.com

Ancestory.com allows you to explore more than 10 billion family history records, search over 30 million family trees, and even create your own free family tree. The company, Genealogy, was founded in 1983 and launched the Ancestory.com website over 17 years ago.  Since inception, they have helped their subscribers make more than six billion connections with other members who potentially share a common ancestor. You just have to fill out a form on the site with your age, name, maiden name and the side of the family you would like to search for. Make sure to find out as much information as you can ahead of time, like your parent’s birth dates, birthplace and any immediate family names. This will help speed up the search process.

MyHeritage.com

MyHeritage.com is another online site that lists over 1.4 billion family profiles and 24 million family trees. The site lists over 100 million newspaper pages from 1739 to present day, so you can browse through old newspapers from the cities in which your ancestors lived. It also includes listings of over 8,000 high school, college, and military yearbooks as well. These help give long-lost relatives’ names a face. They even list millions of tombstone inscriptions and tombstone photographs.

DNA Spectrum

DNA Spectrum is a DNA testing agency that analyzes your DNA and reports your genetic background and ancestral origins. It sounds daunting but it’s actually a simple process that is done through the mail. They offer several DNA packages to choose from with an easy, 5-minute cheek swab test that you mail back to them. For example, the $99 Basic Package is for those who want to determine whether they have any two groups in their heritage (African, Asian, Jewish, Western European, etc.). The test searches for matches in the two groups you choose and presents the results in a certificate of ethnicity. The Full Spectrum Plus Package provides the most detailed analysis of your genetic code and matches your DNA with 115,000 individual forensic records in over 400 known world populations and reveals detailed results. This is the perfect package for those who want to trace their lineage and be able to answer the question, “Where am I from?”

Each of the three services helps fill in another piece of the family history puzzle. I, for one, am very excited to try to match the names of my ancestors with their faces as well as discover the full genetic lineage of my family tree. Good luck in your search!

Posted on 10/3/2013

Written by Melissa Northway

Melissa Northway, M.S. is a children’s picture book author whose little girl was the inspiration to write Penelope the Purple Pirate who is an adventure-loving role model that teaches children to be kind to others.  Melissa is the founder and editor of the lifestyle website dandelion moms and hopes to inspire women to go after their dreams – whatever they might be! You can reach her at www.melissanorthway.com and www.dandelionmoms.com and on Twitter at @melissanorthway and @dandelionmoms.

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