I used Ancestry.com and got as far back as the late 1400s with my husband's family but they were from the UK, York to be exact. My own family came to the USA in the 50s and I haven't been able to find more on my Belgian side of the family. I'm still trying to gather up names and correct spellings lol!

One of the golden rules in genealogy is to always start with what you know (and can prove) .. then bit by bit work your way backwards in time. So for your 1900 arrivals, I'd suggest pulling out a blank sheet of paper. If you're using genealogy software, use that as a reference point - but for now - consider this sheet your "where am I" visual aid. lol Make a std tree chart on one side. Make individual TIMELINES on the other .. for each individual so you can see what you do and don't have .. do and don't know. Which individuals? Read on! :) There's you. Ok, now your parents. (are they still living? Do you have place/date/proof of their births, marriages and deaths (if no longer living)? Who are the 1900 arrivals in relation to you? Parents? Grandparents? gr=Grandparents? Do the above for each generation (indiv by indiv) you need to til you get to "those people" .. ie ... your immigrants born in another country. Now .. what else do you know of any of those people you can add to their timelines? Cemetery? Have you tried the census records at Ancestry? We can get up as far as 1930 in the US now. How about military? Any WWI or WWII records at Ancestry for your people? How about Social Security Death Index? Much of how you proceed will depend on what your WHITE PAPER looks like ... where your "holes" are .. and thus, what research steps make the most sense for next steps. I'll add that in addition to your own research, you can simultaneously link up with others on one of the two major genealogy query methods online .. ie .. Rootsweb surname, locality or topic mailing lists and message boards - or - GenForum surname, locality or topic message boards. Others may be searching the same people, localities or record types you are. What they share - and you do - can be rich and varied. Worth exploring. 30,000 of them at: http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ Not sure how many, but again a LOT at: http://genforum.genealogy.com/ Both are hosted by the Generations Network and both are free. Birth records in the original country may be easy or difficult depending on the where and when. So other record types may be worth exploring. Would need more specific info. Feel free to share what you know .. and what you don't .. and perhaps I (and others) can suggest research directions for you. :)