Genealogy, also known as family history, is one of the most popular hobbies right now. Where do you come from? How did you get here? These age old questions keep us curious, and your family history can provide some answers. Follow this guide if you don’t know where to begin in researching your family history.
Step 1: What do you already know?
Start with what you know. Download this form to start filling out your family tree. Input as much information from what you already know, such as your parent’s names, birth dates and places. Gather information from your own family records such as family trees, personal journals, family group sheets, old photo albums or family bibles. Input any vital information that you find (births, marriages, and deaths) into your family tree sheet.
Beware: You can get sucked in easily and want to go as far back as you can. Resist this urge! Just go back a couple of generations to start with. It’s easy to go down the rabbit hole and then you’re overwhelmed with dozens of ancestors and way too many questions. Start small and be patient!
Sample Pedigree Chart / Family Tree
Step 2: Interview Family Members
Asking the oldest members of your family questions about their family history is a great way to get more information for your family tree. Ask them permission to record your conversation! They're more likely to give information if you ask about things other than just birth and death dates and names. Some ideas to ask: What places did you live? What was your favorite memory or scariest memory? These types of questions not only make it more interesting for them to talk to you, but they provide significant amount of genealogical data that you can compare with what you already have. This information can lead to new discoveries as well. Be careful if they don't want to talk about certain aspects of their family, not all of our ancestors were kind people. If they seem to avoid certain topics, just move on to another topic in order to keep the information flowing.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
Step 3: Choose an Ancestor
Once you have filled in your family tree with 2-3 generations, you can begin researching. When you find a name and approximate birth and death date of an ancestor who has passed away, you can begin to extend your ancestry and fill in your family tree. Choose someone from your family tree that you would like to know more about. For example, maybe you had great-great grandparents and you would like to know how many children they had. Whatever you decide, it's better to start with one person or one research question and go from there. I recommend starting with someone who lived in the 1850s.
Step 4: Start Researching
Once you've chosen an ancestor, you're ready to start researching. I recommend starting your research online, then moving to archive centers and location research if you need more information.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
Recommended Research Websites: There are several major genealogy websites and plenty of smaller ones to use for your research.
FamilySearch.org: I recommend going to http://www.familysearch.org first. it's free to use and has many record collections to search. Sign up for a free account, then choose "Search" at the top left, then "Records". Enter in the name, birth date and place in the search fields and see what records come up.
Ancestry: Another great option for family history research is Ancestry.com. Ancestry has millions of records and the website is very easy to use. However, this is a paid subscription service.
Other sites with genealogical records include My Heritage, Find My Past, Fold3 (for military records) and Newspapers.com. Most of these require a subscription. Cyndi's List is another great resource with thousands of free genealogy websites.
Research Tips
*If your initial search results in few or no results, scale back on the information you input. For example, if you search for Thomas Kircomb, born 1805 in Litchfield County, Connecticut and have no results, make your search broader by taking out Litchfield County and expanding the range of birth years.
·*Check all spellings of the last name. Kircomb very likely has a variety of spellings such as Kirkum, Cirkum, or Kirkham.
*Research a family member of your primary individual. Often this will reveal new insights and new records to search. Try searching for a known wife, mother, father or children.
*Look through other people's family trees. These online family trees are not considered reliable information, and no serious genealogist would use these as proof. HOWEVER, they can provide real clues and leads for you as you search for your ancestor. These trees may have records that you have been unable to find. Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org have a great library of family trees as well as other websites like WikiTree.com and Geni.com.
*Don't just research online! There are many Family History Centers throughout the U.S. which often have their own record collections, microfiche, and access to copyrighted online records. These libraries are free to use and have trained family history consultants to help you find what you're looking for.
Step 4: Dig Deeper
Photo by Anthony Beck from Pexels
Location Location Location: Your initial search might reveal records with information, or you may come up empty. Deeper insights and additional records about your ancestor can be found if you locate the specific area your ancestor lived in. Research the specific area using the FamilySearch Wiki, which holds a massive amount of genealogical information on specific regions around the world. This includes historical background of the area as well as links to record collections to search for that specific area.
Location research can also reveal specific historical societies which may have the information you're looking for. For example, when I was researching Killingworth, Connecticut, I found the Killingworth Historical Society, which gives a lot of great information about the history of the town and the Killingworth Town Clerk website which actually has an index and database of Killingworth town records starting from the mid 1600s when the town was founded. Your area might have local or state archives that you can search. Many of these archives have records that are not available elsewhere.
In summary, to start your family history research follow these steps:
1. Write down what you already know
2. Gather info from family members
3. Choose an ancestor to research
4. Use a genealogy website to find records
5. Dig deeper with location research
If you are just starting out with building your family tree, these steps will put you on the right track! Family History is a fun and rewarding hobby and I hope that this guide has helped you in starting out on your journey to discover your roots.
If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below or email me directly: leavittgen at protonmail.com
Comments