I have recently started to try and find out about my family history. Unfortunately my family didn't share much of it when they were alive. I think there were too many bad feelings. If anyone knows how I would get started that would be great. I just have my grandfathers name to start with. Can it even be done?

Yes, it can be done. You've come to the right place :)

Read through this.

To be blunt, finding info on deceased people is far easier than finding info on living people... and the longer they've been deceased (to a point), the easier it is.

... so you want to start with the oldest ancestor that you know of: and "plug them in" to the sites mentioned at the above thread.

If you'll name the oldest ancestor you know of (your grandfather, if he is the oldest), where he/she was born or died, and his/her parents if you know - I'll help you get started.

PS. If he is living, then yes, it will be a bit more difficult, but not impossible. If he is living, you should ask him what the names of his parents are (including mothers maiden name).

My grandfathers name was Charles DAY
Birth Date: 25 May 1904
Death Date: Apr 1986 and he died in Lyndon Station, WI

I'm searching now. In the meantime, what is your grandmother's name? And do you know her maiden name?

My grandmothers name was mildred day. Her maiden name was prochneau? Sounds like
PROK-NOW.

And thank you!!

We start with the SSDI (public info). There is just one Charles Day listed who died in '85 or '86 in WI.
Born 25 May 1904. He died April, 1986 in zip code 53944 (Lyndon Station is the city).

Next stop; the 1910, 1920 & 1930 Censuses:

For Charles Day's, born 1904, plus/minus 1 year there are

32 in 1910, 22 in 1920 and 19 in 1930.

From here, best bet for info to add is a parent or sibling name and a birth location... even the state would do.

Do you know where he was born, or do you know either of his parents or sibling names?

Mildred died 1996 also in Lyndon Station. She was born in 1912 so not too surprising to not find her with Charles in 1930.

Both of their SSNs were issued prior to 1951 in Wisconsin, so we might guess that in 1930 they were in WI.

... so narrowing it down to WI, we find in just one Charles day born 1904 +/- 1 year in the 1930 Census: Father Charles T. mother Maud, younger (by 13 years) brother Patrick... all born in England.

Do you know if your grandfather was born in England?

Just to show you the steps:

The SSDI is public and free at Rootsweb.com

The 1930 Census is also public and free, but unless you subscribe to online service, you have to go to the library for it.

I found your grandmother in the 1930 Census: Father Charles (born about 1874), Mother Louise (born about 1880), Brother Irwin. All born in WI. Both Charles and Louise's parents were born in Germany.

From here you can get pretty far. Check out the 1880 Census at FamilySearch.org - Family History and Genealogy Records for Charles. Try the spelling Prochnow or Prochnou.

Get a bit more on your grandfather and you can go back quite a ways with him too.

Check the links and info in the sticky on this board: I'm confident that you can discover some cool stuff!

Your amazing!! I can't believe you did all that with just a name. Thank you.

You're welcome. If you want to get into this, I strongly suggest you get software to document your findings. It's easy to use and free. You can download it from here.

Thank you. One last question though. I have been trying to find out more information on people. I can now find out when someone was born and died and poss who their spouse was but how do I go about finding out sibling or parental names. How do I find out country records? Do I need to go through one of the pay sites?

For the US, the Censuses are usually my first place to check. While you do have to pay to have access to them all, and nicely indexed online, you can often find them on locality websites.

All the censuses after 1850 show every family member.

For example, there's a website I use a lot that is all related to the New River area of Virginia/North Carolina. There they have several area censuses transcribed:
census - Google Search

Cyndi's list is a good place to look for locality websites. Also, most counties have Genealogical Societies, some of which publish great stuff... so Google ________ county genealogical society to find ones in areas your rooting around in. Other good sources in the Sticky. Be sure to check that out... especially for the 1880 Census which is free and indexed.

Remember, though: Counties were added a lot - and boundaries changed - from census to census... so when searching them, be sure to keep in mind that what county your ancestor lived in may have been called something else in an early census.

For outside of the US research, googling is your best bet for freebie info. You'd be surprised what search combinations of last name city county area country genealogy will net you.

Now, have you done this yet? :) I'm not psychic, but I do know: If you dig into your family tree and don't, you will soon wish you did.

It's very easy to learn - and I'm happy to help you get started using it if you find the directions daunting. It will make the whole thing so much more enjoyable and manageable.

PS, about paying for stuff. In my experience, a huge portion of what's at Ancestry.com, for example, can be found for free if you dig deep enough. It's just nice to have it all in one place.

I think I am going to go through Ancestry since I am not sooo good at the digging. Thank you for your help. I am sending out emails to family members in hopes someone has some information I don't.

Good. "Interviewing" living family members is the best place to start. First hand accounts are often more accurate than records like censuses and other records.