How do you do your family genealogy?

Answer 1

Start with http://www.familysearch.org/

This site is a must for all who wish to do family History Research, however it must be pointed out that some of the information supplied may not always be correct and further research may be required if there is any doubt.

Another helpful payed for site is Genes Reunited where you will have access to many family trees. A downside to this site are the large amount of questions you will be asked from other contributers to the site. None the less it is well worth investigating.

The first step is to figure out what you (and other relatives) already know about your family and a good way to do this is to organize names, dates, and places on pedigree charts and family group records. You can learn more about these and print out blank forms at the website mentioned above. You can also download a free program called "Personal Ancestral File" from FamilySearch.org which will help you organize what you know in a database format. The next step is to decide what you want to learn about your family. Take it one step at a time, working backwards from what you already know. Choose a specific goal for one family and work on that instead of trying to find out everything about everyone all at once. Once you've identified your research goal, you will need to find resources that might provide the information you are looking for. For example, if you're looking for a death date, a death certificate or obituary might be of help. If you're looking for when your grandparents arrived in the United States, naturalization papers or ship passenger lists might be the key. The "help" sections at FamilySearch.org can assist you in identifying the types of records you might need and figuring out where to locate them. Also, consider checking out some how-to books for the specific countries you're interested in from your local library. Other "must-visit" websites include http://www.rootsweb.com/ and http://www.cyndislist.com/

Answer 2

Materials needed to research your family tree include:

• one thick spiral notebook
• two or three thinner notebooks
• several sharp pencils
• several ink pens
• a package of post-it notes
• sticky tabs (ones you can use to mark pages

Compiling your Family Tree

The very first step in compiling your family tree is to buy a spiral notebook (with pages that you can rip out if you need to start over.

Second, decide on a simple format to begin writing down information. An easy format is to use columns for each item about a person. The beginning items you need about every person in your family tree is the person's (1). name (2). birth date (3) death date (if deceased).

** On each page, try to leave at least several blank lines after each family you document.

Third, to begin the process, start With What You Know - yourself. Write down your full name, and your birth date.

• Skip a line and, if you are married, write down your spouse's name and birth date.
• Skip a line and write your marriage date.
• Skip a line and write the names of your children (if you have any), one child to each line. Write the birth date for each one.

Fourth, on the next page, write down where you went to grade school, high school, college, and other details about yourself (see below to get more ideas).

Fifth, after you finish *your* information, you need to work backwards. That means the next page will be your parents. IMPORTANT - Each "tree" has a maternal (your mother) and a paternal (your father) side. You must choose which "side" you will do, and follow only that side. You can do the other side in new notebooks.

• Whichever "side" you do first should always be on the top line. So, if you are following your father's side, his name should go first.
• There are instances when following one "side" that you'll cross from one gender in one generation, to the opposite gender in the next generation. It depends on who had what child and how that child-now-grown is related to you in your ancestry.

Sixth, let's say you are doing your father's side first. On the top line, write:

My Dad's Full Name Dad's Birth Date Dad's death date (if deceased)

Mom's Full Name Mom's birth date Mom's death date (if deceased)

Skip a line

Write their full marriage date, if they married. *Note: These should be your biological parents. You can do a supplemental page if you had a step-parent.

Skip another line.

Write in a numbered list, from oldest to youngest, all of your siblings. Use as many lines as you need. Put their birth dates, and death dates if any have died. *Note: These should be your biological brothers and sisters born from your parents. All step-siblings will be put on a supplemental page.

*If any sibling was adopted, list them as children of the parents who adopted them, but put that child's biological history on a separate page as well.

Seventh, here is where you need to start paying close attention to which "side" you are documenting this time. We were doing your father's side, so your next pages will simply ignore your mother and her side of the family -- for now.

• Write down the names of your father's parents (your paternal grandparents), birth dates, death dates (if deceased). *You must document each family "related unit". So if a grandparent was re-married, that will go on a separate page.
• Write the full date when your grandparents married.
• Skip a line and using birth order, numbered, write down all of their children including your father. Include the birth and death dates for all the children.
• Place a star next to your grandfather's name (top of that page).
• Put a star next to your dad's name (your grandfather) in the sibling list.
• The stars indicate the "line" you are "tracing" or documenting.

Eighth, now you must do the same for your grandfather's parents (your great grandparents). Think carefully about "the line".... make sure to follow the surname, even if the gender changes as you move to the next generation back. To make it simple here, we'll assume your line stays with the male gender for a while.

• Write down the names of your grandfather's parents (your paternal great-grandparents), birth dates, death dates (if deceased). *You must document each family "related unit". So if a great--grandparent was re-married, that will go on a separate page.
• Write the full date when your great-grandparents married.
• Skip a line and using birth order, numbered, write down all of their children including your father. Include the birth and death dates for all the children.
• Place a star next to your great-grandfather's name (top of that page).
• You now should have a star next to your father on 2 pages (his marriage page, and his parents page), a star on your grandfather's marriage page and on his parents' page), and a star next to your great-grandfather on his marriage page.

Ninth, again, start with a fresh page and now write down the same information for your great-grandfather's parents. Every "section" (one to two pages) represents a single family unit. Every section should have the male line starred, to make it easy to see at a glance who you are following (in this case we are only following the paternal side and for this explanation we have assumed the line only goes from male to male.

Tenth, at some point, you will start having blank spaces for information you need, but don't know or don't have. These "blanks" is where "genealogy research" begins.

Genealogy Research - Asking Questions - "Interviews"

At some point, you'll need to ask questions of your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or any "family historian". Ask if you can see documents like birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce certificates and ask if they will make Xerox copies of all of these. If you can't Xerox the documents, write down every bit of information given on the document. If your mother's name is Lulu Catherine Surname but her birth certificate says Lulu Katherine Surname, write that down even if you or she thinks it is "wrong". The misspelling may appear in other records, so you'll need that clue. You'll be collecting facts from each person, but be aware that facts are not always true. Just like a misspelling of Katherine versus Catherine, a child may have been raised using a middle name as a first name...or a birth happened before the parents married (very common throughout history)...

Clues - Clues come in 2 forms (1) Things that don't make complete sense to you but are seen on documents or someone tells you something that doesn't fit right. For example, if you were searching the 1860 Census for a gr-gr-gr-grandmother and you find her as being age 8 in 1860, but someone in your family tells you that girl had a baby in 1862, your antenna should go up (babies aren't born to 10 year olds.... maybe to 13 yr olds but not 10 yr olds). (2) Clues come from missing pieces, family stories, family lore, and unanswered questions.

Facts - Facts may only be half-truths. But generally, facts are the bits of information you can prove through a "document" or "documented source". Sources include things like: original birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce records, court records, Court House Records.... BUT... even these primary sources can simply be---wrong. Your job as a family historian is to analyse each piece of data, each source, determine what kind of proof you have (where did the info come from), and whether that proof is reliable. For example, a person could assume "My Aunt should know her correct marriage date" and most of the time, that is true. But if the Aunt now has Dementia, her recollection may be flawed and you would need to verify the dates through another source or sources.

Pieces of Information You Need or Might Want to Ask (not in any kind of order)

There are many pieces to a person's life. Each piece gives facts and clues that you can use to continue your family tree research. Try to be as detailed as possible. Here are some bits of information you should try to learn for each person:

• Full names
• Complete dates for birth and death
• Where was each person born (city, State, Country
• Born at home? in a hospital?
• Baptized? Where? Church name, location. Who did the Baptism?
• Were they raised by someone who was not a biological parent? Where
• Where was their primary childhood home? Describe it
• What were all the places (townships, counties, towns, States) they ever lived? what years?
• What games did they play as kids?
• Who were their childhood "best friends"?
• Attended grade school? Name of school, location
• Attended high school? Name of school, location
• What date/year did they graduate?
• Did they have a nickname as a child? teen? now?
• Did they like /dislike school? (personal background, just to know the person better)
• Did they earn any awards, special achievements in school?
• Did or does the person play a musical instrument? sing in a choral group?
• Any other special talents?
• If they did not complete school, what was last grade completed? (what year was that?)
• Why did they drop out or end school? (example: enlisted WWI)
• First job? where? what did they do at the job?
• other jobs they did
• Primary (lifelong) occupation - where? what did they doat the job?
• Did they / do they receive any kind of work related disability money? For example, coal miners often get Black Lung Benefits.
• Who did they marry first?
• Where did they first meet the person they married?
• Where did they marry? Church name, location, city, state, country... justice of the peace? where?
• Date of this marriage
• Children to this marriage - names, dates, etc. - Also write down any deceased children and death date for each. If you are asking about someone's deceased child, be respectful and gentle.
• (Also Note: Some people now want to include a baby they miscarried or aborted; some named their babies. I don't see anything wrong with including a stillborn, miscarried or aborted child's name IF the mother wants to include her child. You do NOT have to write the details---ASK the mother HOW she wants the information listed. For example, you don't have to violate the mom's privacy by writing 'aborted child' in your family tree--just list the baby's info and ask if you can write 'miscarried' so that future generations won't look for a birth-death certificate.)
• Did they divorce? when? where? Sometimes you can ask why, but be respectful and gentle; sometimes life events still carry a lot of pain.
• Did they re-marry? when? where? who officiated?
• If a person is deceased, when did they die? where buried? which funeral home? Look for a newspaper obituary.
• For every deceased person, including deceased children, try to ask about cause of death. This will give you a "medical family tree" for many generations. You'd keep this "tree" separate from the genealogy tree.
• Ask every living person if they'd tell you if they have any major medical problem? heart, lungs, kidneys, Diabetes, high blood pressure, or any known hereditary disease -- again, it only is written in a medical family tree, not to be shared with the public.
• Ask every living person to tell you a "favorite story" about each of their parents, or about who raised them.
• What are your own memories of that person? Example: My grandmother used the middles of new paper plates to write notes. She sent me the center of a paper plate, folded in half, that said, "I love you, Grandmother".
• For each person - what do they most enjoy doing now; what are their hobbies? (examples: reading; dancing; crocheting; Bowling)
• What dreams did they have during life?
• What dreams/plans do they hold for their future?
• What family stories do they recall?
• Did the person know their grandparents? Stories?
• Who was the "oldest member of the family" that this person met or knew? Ask for stories
• Ask "Who in the family might have a family Bible, the family tree written down, old records?

The list can be endless. My "Interview Pages" were 4 pages long and I got replies from at least 98% of my family.

What's next?

As you continue to write down pieces of information in your notebook, you'll want to start verifying dates, proving the unproven info, and start to make sense of your family. You'll likely need to use resources at some point, including:

• The US Federal Census or Another Country's census
• The library closest to where your family lived.
• County History books or other resources
• The County Court House.
• The County's Historical Society
• The newspaper where your family lived - many are on microfilm
• Visiting cemeteries / finding burial sites
• Contacting funeral homes who handled your family's burials
• Locating family photos
• Using online "family trees"
• Using online Message Boards and Mailing Lists
• Using "subscription only" (for a fee) newsletters, magazines, or online databases

Note: I mentioned it is possible to follow the surname but have to cross to the opposite gender. In my family for my maternal side's surname, backwards it would be: me, my mother, my grandmother, my great-grandmother (Jane), my great-great-grandfather (James), then his father, then his father... etc. So I had to cross to the other gender to follow the surname on my maternal side.

Answer 3

I use Mygenealogy.com it's some what free, and there's some stuff that's not.