The purpose of this site is to coordinate genealogical research on the Iseli Family. Information sources, publications, and raw data sets will be provided for the use of any Family researcher. This is a Surname Genealogy. That is, we are tracing primarily the paternal line of descent, although many allied families are included in our records. If there is an Iseli in your family tree, we want to know about it!

The phases of the project

Initially, one of the phase aimed to publish a unified family genealogy by 2001. This date has long passed, so here's a new roadmap.

1. In 1996-1997 we focused on gathering as much information from old family trees as possible and typing them in the computer. The main source for this were the genealogies compiled by Julius Billeter, which we found on LDS microfilms (mormons). In the mean time however, we heard that the quality of his work was not always very high, so we will have to go through our data again and double check the entries.
2. The resulting family tree is now online. Errors can be fixed and blanks can be filled out by any family member who registered and was approved. This way, we will be able to fill in the currently living persons and try to link them to existing branches.
3. Once we have our data and enough volunteers, we can go back to the archives and check the individuals, try to find the mising links and families.
4. Our final goal remains to produce a unified genealogy which will be published in print. However, we are still very far away from this goal.

Volunteers Wanted!

Interested in genealogy research? It's easy - we're doing it, so it has to be! Want to contribute to this web site? Here's a few ways to help out:

• Fill in your local Family genealogy. Find out the date of birth, death and marriage for as many family members as possible, along with the names and dates of their marriage partners. Occupations would also be nice, but are not critical. Just the excuse you needed to call that great aunt...
• Share the oral history of your local family with the rest of us. Got a "gem" of history to share? Send it to me and I'll put it up on the Web
• Drop in at your local library and see if there are any family records. Be sure to send us the citation if there is!
• Send us your OLD family photos, historic documents, etc. to be placed on the web or as a data file for other Family researchers to enjoy and use. Conversion to a computer graphic file would be appreciated.
• Start your own family internet home page. We will link to it with pleasure. Add some photos and put some flesh on the names listed in our genealogy!
• Find email addresses for any spelling of the Family name anywhere in the world and send them to us. If you have access to local databases - such as university and corporate systems - check them for Family spellings. Expanding our network of contacts is the VERY best way to expand our knowledge!
• Come up with your own ideas. We're new at this and open to any novel use of the web site....

If you want to make a more substantial contribution, the Family site could use...

• German, French, Dutch and Afrikaans translators: we want to expand this website in all these languages so that all family members will feel comfortable. More than translating the pages, we would like to make each language section of this website more specific to the readers.
• Genealogists: Contribution are always welcomed. We especially need assistance tracing the maternal lines of descent within the Allied Families.
• Swiss researchers needed: The documents needed to expand our knowledge of our Family origins are in Switzerland. Anyone living in Switzerland can help - no experience needed! Americans planning to visit Switzerland, please check in with the editor for a couple of special assignments while you're there...
• Washington DC researchers needed: Every Iseli in America started as an immigrant, and their records are on file in Washington. Anyone willing to do some record research in Washington would make a major contribution to our Family research effort.