There are many reasons to learn about your ancestry, but the basic techniques for genealogical research are the same. You may choose to focus on tracing your ancestors to a certain point in time if, for example, you wish to join a lineage society such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, the National Huguenot Society, or the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.
On the other hand, you may want to learn more about the daily lives of ancestors who lived during a particular time period, or are simply interesting to you. Other genealogists will want to learn everything there is about a particular family, including both straightforward descent, as well as more in-depth family history.
Start With What You Know
What do you know, and what do you have? Do you already have documents, letters, certificates, or pictures from older family members? Get them out and look at them. Gather information from relatives. Interview older members of your family and ask questions. (Consider videotaping the interview.) Ask to see any old documents, letters, and pictures. Make copies of everything.
Professionals will enter information into a genealogy software program, and you can, too, but you might prefer to start with paper pedigree charts, family group sheets, etc., and fill in all the forms. You might not think that every detail of address, city, county, and state is important now, but you will later. For example, there are at least 14 Madison Counties in the United States, so be sure to note the state.
Document Everything You Learn
A good genealogist documents everything. It’s not enough to simply record a person’s birth date and location – you need to be able to prove it, by having a copy of the birth certificate or other document. Acquiring documents may not seem to matter if you’re just creating a simple family tree, but think about this: It’s going to take quite a bit of work to gather the sources you’ll need to create the tree.
If you’re like many of us, you’ll start out small, get hooked on genealogy, and then keep on going. If so, you’ll be glad later that you don’t have to go back and find the documents again. Or suppose a few years down the road your grandson takes up genealogy. If he’s serious about it, he’ll need the source documents, and if you don’t have them, he’ll have to do the search all over again.
Where to Find Genealogy Records
Types of records to look for: birth records, death certificates, marriage documents, census listings, obituaries, published biographies and family histories, Bibles, tombstones, military records, wills, deeds, court transactions, Social Security Death IndexTo find records, askrelatives, and look in basements, attics, and old dresser drawers. Look online – there are many databases and genealogy programs available. Don’t stop there – you may need to go to courthouses, churches, newspapers, libraries, and genealogical and historical societies.
Share Your Research
There are lots of ways to share what you learn, and one excellent reason to do so: people will be much more apt to give you information if you offer to share yours. You can create charts, reports, databases, or spreadsheets to exchange with other researchers either by mail, online, or in person. You can write a family history and make copies for your immediate family or for a wider distribution, and you can build a family website, either public or private. Just be sure to protect the privacy of living people and do not post anything about them without permission.
Keep Learning
Professionals are always learning. They attend conferences and genealogical society workshops, enroll in classes, read genealogical publications, complete online tutorials, and so can you. The National Genealogical Society (NGS) runs a four-day conference each May, where you’ll find lots of informative sessions for all levels of researchers. There’s also a vendor’s hall, where you can buy or look at all kinds of books, software, maps, and other items useful to genealogists.
NGS also has some inexpensive online courses and an excellent home study course on American Genealogy. Many regional and ethnic genealogical societies also plan yearly conferences with a variety of educational speakers and vendor displays. The Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, (IGHR) at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, offers one-week classes each July, with sessions for beginning, intermediate, and advanced researchers.
Check the schedules for local community colleges, libraries, and senior centers, too, as they may offer workshops at various levels. And try Cyndi’s List, the compendium of everything Genealogical on the Internet, for online genealogy tutorials.
Start Your Genealogical Search Now
There’s one piece of advice that every professional will offer to a newcomer to the field of genealogy, and I’m going to say it now: Start Now. Old documents go missing, memories fade, and relatives die, so there’s never a better time to get started in genealogy than right now.
Katharine Garstka - Katharine Garstka specializes in genealogical research and in historical and genealogical writing.
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