|
|
|
|
| Home |
Researching Your Family Tree
If you are a beginner, start with yourself, then work outwards from what you
do know to what you don't. Begin with finding the information to fill out a four
generation pedigree chart; from you to all your great grandparents.
Start your search at home, with a copy of your own birth certificate. Look it
over. It should give the date and place of your birth and name your parents;
possibly the names of grandparents. Your parents should have copies of their
birth certificates and their marriage license or certificate (the license says
that they may marry and the certificate says that they did). Plan to acquire,
eventually, copies of birth, death, and marriage records for your ancestors as
far back as these records exist, which depends on where they lived. Birth,
marriage, and death certificates are usually available in the Vital Records
department of the county courthouse where the event took place, possibly a
central state office as well. If you are not familiar with death certificates,
they are useful because they name the parents of the deceased and any surviving
spouse; a certificate for a great grandparent who died about 1910 should give
you information about the great great grandparents who might have been born
about 1820.
Birth certificates: These most always show parents and
sometimes other valuable information including where the parents were both born,
their occupations, etc.
Marriage licenses and certificates: These show ages, parents, witnesses
and other various pieces information including in some cases where the bride,
groom, and parents were born and their occupations, etc.
Death certificates: Of course these show death dates, birth dates,
parents, who reported the death, where the deceased person was residing and much
more info including causes of death, etc.
To record your findings, you will use two kinds of charts: Pedigree charts
and family group sheets. The easiest way today is to buy a computer genealogy
program and let it create these charts, which it will do superbly.
Next, with partially filled out family group forms in hand, talk to your older
relatives. Usually someone in the family is interested in family history. Most
older people are happy to help when younger relatives show interest in the
family. If your parents or grandparents aren't living, great aunts and older
cousins often can help you fill in some of the blanks on your charts. If family
letters or a scrapbook exist, they are a way to become acquainted with your long
dead relatives -- you can ask to copy these.
Ask family members if they have available baby and wedding books, divorce
papers, funeral cards, awards, diplomas, school yearbooks, employment records,
military records, medical records. It also could be that your family kept
journals or diaries. Check the attic.
*Next, this is VERY important, document where ALL of your verbal information comes from and keep copies of all written information, whether on paper or emails. This will prove invaluable later when you come across conflicting information.
Go to your local newspaper and get copies of obituary notices. Obituary
notices are a wealth of knowledge. Look at an obituary in today's newspaper and
you will see all the information that can be obtained from one. In the older
obituaries, longer write-ups are given on family members when they died telling
about not only the person but about their life and in some cases about when
their family line settled in a certain area of the country. Or you can search
the obituary collection at Ancestry.com.
Get church records on your family. Baptismal, Christening, Marriage, Membership,
etc. These will show as much, in some cases, as vital records.
Go to the cemeteries that you know your ancestors are buried in and look for
other family members. Write down all information off of tombstones even those
that may not necessarily apply to your current direct family members. You might
not visit this cemetery for awhile and you will have the necessary information
right in front of you for future reference.
Get Census records. Begin with the latest census available and work backwards.
Census records have been taken since 1790. Before 1790 you can use Tax Lists and
other local lists that might have been compiled according to the state you are
researching in. This will help you fill in the missing pieces and find family
members. Some libraries and historical societies such at the Church of Latter
Day Saints, have census records on microfilm at their branches. Of course, today
with the advent of the Internet and CDs, it is convenient for us to do our
research in the privacy of our own home! Check Census Records for the US from
1790 to 1930 at Ancestry.com. Census records before 1850 have very little
information but the later census listings can be very helpful.
Research Links
FamilySearch.org - Family History and Genealogy Records
A project of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
www.familysearch.org
Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com is the largest family history site online with over 4 billion names
in worldwide
historical records, family tree services and genealogy learning materials.
Census and some other areas require subscription.
www.Ancestry.com
Social Security Death Index - Ancestry.com
Contains the records of deceased persons who possessed Social Security numbers
and whose death had been
reported to the SSA.
http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet.
http://www.cyndislist.com/