Family Information

Family Information:

When beginning genenealogy research one of the first things that a researcher should do is to interview relatives to obtain as much information about the family as possible. Research should begin with the researcher's generation, including the researcher's siblings (brothers and sisters) and first cousins. Each additional generation will be researched to fill in the information and ask additional questions. The second generation researched should be the parent's generation, including the parents and their siblings and their first cousins. The third generation researched should be the grandparent's generation, including their siblings and their first cousins. The research should continue with previous generations and their descendents.

cont. African American Genealogy 101

It is important to know when doing genealogical research that most African Americans whose ancestors were in the United States when slavery ended are at least 7th cousins. During the early years of U.S. history approximately 400,000-600,000 Africans were brought to the United States as slaves. Only about one-half (or 200,000-300,000) of those enslaved Africans ever had children. So most African Americans are possibly 7th cousins. During the enslavement era most (or 90%) of the African Americans were enslaved and most lived in the southern part of the United States.

African American Genealogy 101

African American Genealogy 101 exists to provide information concerning researching genealogy as it relates to African Americans. Our genealogy is very important and it varies from the research of other races and ethnic groups. Much of the research from 1930 back to 1870 is similar to that of other Americans however the names during the late 1800s and early 1900s may change or be spelled in various ways. We must remember that 80-85% of African Americans were enslaved until the Civil War and did not offficially have last names, so they had to give themselves last names, sometimes the names of the slave owners and other times names of famous persons or names that they liked.