Dipping your fingers into the Genealogy Pool

By Lisa

After being asked, for the umpteenth time, “If I was related to so and so”? and having no clue, I caught the genealogy bug. I decided it was time to figure things out once and for all. When I began, there were no online genealogy websites nor YouTube to provide guidance. I ventured into Genealogy with only my best guess about how to proceed. Today, I know so much about my family. However, I will never get all my files and sources organized and documented and I will redo my early research over and over because I did not create and follow research plans in the beginning. Regardless, I continue my genealogy journey because it is rewarding and satisfying each time I connect the dots and discover something new about my family.

Genealogy, the study of a family’s origins and history, can be a pastime, hobby, a passion, a calling, a vocation, a career, or a legacy. It will be a never-ending adventure!

You may wonder how far back you can trace back your family tree? It depends on many factors such as your ancestor’s social status, where they lived and what religion they followed. For most Americans, whose ancestors immigrated to the US, it is possible to find records back the 18th or 17th century, or at least after they immigrated to the US. However, there are always exceptions, if you have African American ancestors who were enslaved, it’s difficult to go back farther than the Civil War, without using DNA.

There are different methods or styles of genealogy research. If you are just beginning, I suggest you focus on direct line research (tracing just your direct ancestors). As you continue in your genealogy search, you will branch into other types of research to fill out your family tree. I suggest you start documenting your ancestors back just 2 to 4 generations.

Genealogy resources

To get a general sense about genealogy research, I suggest you watch YouTube videos, check out a library book, or buy a book about beginning genealogy and read it. Below is a list of a few “how to” genealogy resources:

• The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, by Val Greenwood.
• The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking.
• Idiot’s Guide to Genealogy, by Christine Rose and Kay Germain Ingalls.
• The “Beginners” section of Cyndi’s List
• Lisa Lisson – See Are You My Cousin? on YouTube
• Constance Knox – See GenealogyTV on YouTube

Basic first steps

Step 1: Document yourself and your immediate family

You are the beginning “twig” on your vast family tree. Start by filling out a family group sheet. Use this sheet to fill in your spouse/partner and children and show their relationships, ages, etc. Use a second family group sheet if there is a second marriage/relationship and list those children. A family group sheet can be printed from Ancestry.com Charts and Forms.

You want to obtain the four key items from the many and varied documents of recorded history: names, dates, places, and relationships. These are the tools of the family searcher. People can be identified in records by their names, the dates of events in their lives (birth, marriage, death), the places they lived, and by relationships to others, either stated or implied, in the records.

Step2: Interview and document your family

Write down and keep track of all surname spelling variations (surname = last name). Fill out a multi-generation ancestor chart with what you know. Ancestor charts can also be printed from Ancestry.com Charts and Forms

Your relatives should be your first source of information. Find out all the vital information you can about your parents, grandparents, etc., and write it down. Now, you can start looking for clues to fill in the gaps.

Search your home/ parent’s home. Look for family bibles, newspaper clippings, military certificates, birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, naturalization certificates, diaries, letters, scrapbooks, photographs, backs of photographs, baby books, etc. Your ancestor may also appear in more obscure sources, such as society minutes, school report cards or newspaper society columns.

Interview your relatives. Visit, call, or write to those people in your family who may have information. Start with your oldest living relatives/people first. Write out your questions beforehand using your research plan as a guide (see Step 3). If you have physical materials like old photos or heirlooms, consider bringing them along to jog your subject’s memory.

• Ask questions. A suggested list of questions to ask can be found on The American Ancestors website. The question why is just as important as the questions who, what, when, and where. The only dumb question is the one that was never asked.
• After you interview relatives and record their family stories, archive your interviews, and organize the information you find into a research log (see research tools section below).
• Beware, you need to take family stories with a grain of salt and fact check family stories to the best of your ability.

Step 3: Make a research plan

To get the most out of your research, it is best to sit down and consider your research goals. It is very helpful to set clear goals to structure your research time and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Setting realistic genealogy research goals can help make your work more manageable. Later, you can let your interests and experience guide your journey.

A research plan consists of a few standard questions/categories. You can create a document, or table using these headings:

• Date
• Research Question/Goal
• What you already know
• Sources to consult
• Research strategy (what to do 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., to find the answers)
• Findings/Results

Why create a research plan? Online searches generate thousands of results. Making a research plan will help you identify the record collections that are the most relevant to you and will help you stay focused. It will reduce the time you spend sorting through all those results. Make your goal specific and realistic. I suggest you start with a single person/task you want to know more about. For example: In one month, I want to find/confirm vital information (birth, marriage, and death date) for my paternal grandfather. When you research a specific person, you can complete a Worksheet on that person as you uncover information about them.

Next, write down some specific tasks you can complete to find out this information. List the sources of information you will use to find answers. Use the research tools listed below to document your research.

Once you have completed this task/ plan, create your next plan, and move on. For example: In one month, I want to find out where my paternal grandfather lived in 1940 and what he did for a living.

In general, work from present to the past

My advice to you is, do not get ahead of yourself. Go slow, do not jump back too far too fast. Always make research notes. Always prove death, marriage, and birth information, before working backwards to the previous generation. Save all information you find and treat it as a reference. It is best to always fact-check new information before adding it to your family tree, no matter where it comes from! Do not skip generations or you may miss important clues that can help you trace your family back to past generations.

Realize, all resources are NOT created equal. When and how a record was created affects reliability of the information. In general, records created closer to an event (both in time and in relationship) are more reliable than those that weren’t. For example:

• Family stories may differ from person to person. They contain some clues but may not be 100% correct.
• Tombstones (created shortly after a person’s death) are somewhat reliable resources for death information. But death certificates which were created within a couple days of a person’s death and generally required a witness are usually more reliable.
• Look out for data errors and impossibilities. Note any data that does not line up. For example, a census record with a second wife listed and a child in the household, who was born before the couple’s marriage date, or the child born when the second wife was only 13 years old. Census records are only as good as the census taker’s spelling, and notes (birth years may vary from one census to the next)

Very Helpful Genealogy Research Tools

1. Develop a consistent filing system

Create a filing system that is easy to use so you and others can understand it for storing and retrieving information. Decide how you will store paper/original documents and electronic documents. You may decide to scan all paper documents, so you have electronic copies of everything. One way to organize your files is to file by surname or locality.

Data can quickly become overwhelming, so the best approach is to document and organize things from the start! I did not and I will never catch up!

Backup your data! Set aside some time to regularly back up your genealogy data, and make sure you’ve backed it up in multiple places. For example, in addition to having your files on your computer, back them up on an external hard drive and on a cloud storage service.

2. Research and source logs

Whenever you conduct research, document it. List information such as the date of search, book/film numbers, the name of the source and name of the library or archive you found it in.

Though time-consuming, source citations lend more credibility to your research. They should contain enough information about a source so that you or another researcher can easily trace the data back to its source. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills (Genealogical Publishing Co.) will get you started. Below is a sample of what information you should include about your sources.

You should list the source even when you do not find any information. This will prevent you from checking a source twice for the same information. When you go to a library or research location, take a research log with you to keep track of what you are doing. Research log sheets can be printed from Ancestry.com Charts and Forms.

3. Research notebook

Keep a research notebook with dividers to hold any printed pedigree chart, family group sheets, research logs, maps, and any other information you will need for your current research. Take your research notebook to the library to do research.

Want to know more? Check out Lisa’s follow up page on online genealogy resources

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