Advice from Long Island genealogists on charting your family tree

Jeanne D’Brant had heard that she descended from the Mayflower Pilgrims since she was young. But was it just fanciful family lore?

Sparked by that mystery, D’Brant set out on a decades-long journey to uncover her roots — and discovered more than she’d ever imagined.

“The Mayflower story wasn’t true, but the truth was just as mind-blowing,” said D’Brant, 77, a Northport resident and professor of physiology and genetics at NYIT in Old Westbury and Nassau Community College.

Using online ancestry sites, social media and library resources, she learned that one ancestor was among the first colonists who landed in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1633, and that her grandmother descended from the ancient MacDougall and Fraser clans of Scotland. Her research took her back to the 12th century.

Researching your roots can take a few afternoons or a lifetime. Step one: Talk with family members and gather names, dates and places, advised genealogist April Lynne Earle, a library faculty member at Farmingdale State College. 

Next, organize the info using online genealogical forms and start exploring on sites like Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org (some sites are free, others not). “You can find an enormous amount of fascinating historical documents online, including wills, land deeds and vital records such as birth, marriage and death certificates,” Earle said.

Take advantage of the free resources and expertise available at many local libraries, including Patchogue-Medford Library, where genealogy librarian Jessica Brown gives workshops and even helps patrons in one-on-one appointments.

“We have a large genealogy research collection that’s open to everyone,” said Brown. “It includes beginner guides as well as resources on immigration, military history, DNA, adoptions and more.” Patrons also have free access to databases like MyHeritage.com, Ancestry.com and FindMyPast.com with their Suffolk library card. (In Nassau, ask at libraries for similar services.)

D’Brant discovered that, in her travels before her research began, she had visited many spots connected to her roots, including the Callanish Standing Stones on Scotland’s Isle of Lewis — an island her ancestors had owned five centuries earlier. “I was always drawn to ancient megalithic monuments and stone circles, and those connections were in my bloodline,” she said.