Family Research – Begin with what you know
There are three ways you can get started with family research. Chose a person that you know is in your ancestral line and work towards yourself or pick two people and connect them together. Or simply begin with what you know, which is the one I recommend for the fastest family research.
Collect and record your own genealogical information, birth date and place, marriage, occupation etc. Do the same for your spouse and children and then work backwards through all living relatives, recording full names, dates and places of birth, marriage and death, going as far back as you can. Your family history includes more than names and dates. Family stories and biographical information will add life to the branches of your family tree.
When you have exhausted your own knowledge start interviewing all living relatives for clues and family stories. You could interview people in person, over the telephone, by letter, e-mail, using a tape recorder or video camera. Bear in mind that not all family stories will necessarily be accurate.
Ask relatives for any useful material, which may provide clues or verify stories. This might include; photographs, letters, diaries, school records, books with inscriptions and dates, maybe family trees created by other relatives, obituaries, wills, deeds, military records, passports, or even addresses of other relatives to contact. Birth, death and marriage certificates will help verify your research, but any information containing family names, marriages, births, deaths, locations and relationships will all be helpful.
Don’t worry if you haven’t got a huge amount of information to start with. Remember it is important to start with what you know, be that a little or a lot.
Genealogy seems to a hobby for the older generations. So it’s quite possible that Aunts and Uncles are no long with us… and for some, our parents are gone. Do the best you can recording the family history of those that are living.
Record Keeping of Your Family Research
As you collect all of this new information it becomes painfully obvious an organize method of recording the data is required. Many preprinted charts are available for you assistance. Start with the Pedigree Chart to organize your family research.