Things You'll Need:
- Sources to track ancestry - books, Web sources
- Patience
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Step 1
Look into both lineages. It's not likely your family tree will run directly into the President himself. It will probably overlap at a sibling or a distant cousin.
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Step 2
Pay attention to location. The names on your family trees may start to overlap, but if it's a fairly common name, you may be mistaken. You're most likely to be related to a President if your ancestors were New Englanders or Quakers.
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Step 3
Don't ignore the other side of the family. You may share a last name with a former President, but it doesn't rule out your mother's lineage. You might just be surprised!
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Step 4
Examine all sources. Books may be more reliable in some instances than the Internet, and each U.S. President has genealogy, biographical data, and details on ancestors and decedents published somewhere. The best place to start may be Presidential libraries dedicated to your alleged relative.
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Step 5
Keep digging. If you really want to find a connection, you may have to go as far back as the 1700s.
Comments
artzie08 said
on 1/4/2008 Camille, your right on target. Your article was well
researched. By personal experience I know the map you have drown for finding out if I had a U.S. President in my family tree.
I advise those who enjoy genealogy to follow your instructions and/or maybe find on Ancestry.com that someone else has all ready done the research.
It is so exciting .
Artzie08
artzie08 said
on 1/4/2008 Camille, I give your article A+. You did your research
very well. I know from experience that if someone want's to find if they are related to a President...follow your map so to speak and/or just go to ancestry.com like I did and other's may have already done the research. It has been well worth it for me!