Leafing through old notes and books could unearth details you never thought existed about your own family. Do not disregard notes inserted in between pages or any notes written on them. Usuallu, diaries or journals are discovered in trunks and attics. They could also be found in bookshelves. Look through stuff Checking behind mirrors that are old and worn could also lead to unexpected family genealogy discoveries. This is because the date of birth and death is like a paper trail and this can used to get in contact with long lost relatives. Those who are unable to get that much information can try checking the online death record index or Social Security Index. After searching for a while, the individual will be able to get some vital information such as the relative s name, social security number and last known address. While some charge annual fees, there are many you can join for free or allow you free access to a limited list of resources. All you have to do is sign up and provide an email address. If the site requires email confirmation, you can start building your family tree once you've gotten past that. You can then log in as a member and start your search and communicate with other members. One is through the radical order wherein the characters are organized into radicals. A radical which consists of fewer strokes are located at the front pages while those that have numerous strokes appear last. For an instance you want to find the pine tree in the dictionary with a ? character. The first thing you need to find as the radical in this character which is the ? You can also go to your local library and courthouse, get records from the church and villages. You also don t need to go far when examining documents for your genealogy research. Family books, Bibles, letters, last will and testaments are proof of family. These also hold an advantage over other documents since these will provide you an intimate look at the relationships of your ancestors. These search engines have so many indexes that could be very useful for one s search of family names or surnames, one would just need to know how to narrow down the many search results. These are just know-hows on starting your search for that unique last name and, eventually, your family history. Make use of the free researches that are being offered while they are there.