Ok. I need some help. I want to track my family on my dad's side. Unfortunately, his dad is dead and thats really the part I wanted to know. All I really want to disclose right now unless one of you is a genealogist or knows one.
Our last name is West and we (more like I) am part Cherokee indian. From my studies it looks like while traveling the Trail of Tears we strayed upward towards Indiana while passing through Kentucky.
So PM me if you can help. I dont exactly want to pay but will if I have to. I really want to know my genealogy and pass it down because I have a feeling I am the last one with a spark to learn about my family genealogy.
You've probably visited these sites already but I think most cost about $20 p/m for casual membership & you do your own research
Having done this for my own family across 2 countries, I believe the best thing you can do is talk to your family. The small clues (if you're lucky enough) will often be the most valuable
Local records office is usually a good place to look too, that should contain info on births/ deaths/ marriages etc that should prove useful, but it depends if you can gain access- in the UK you cant look up info on people still alive it seems, though pre-1900 the info is pretty much freely available.
If you want to PM me your info, my wife does lots of geneology stuff. (and has subscriptions to all the web sites I've ever heard of)
Her disclaimers "I don't know you, so I won't put hours and hours into it unless it's interesting... and I can't make any promises, especially since I've never looked at anything for native americans"
The more info you have, the easier to find things... birth dates, death dates, parents names, siblings, grandparents, etc.