Make the challenge of genealogy work easier for future generations by starting a genealogy journal. Here are some places to begin.
Many times someone working on genealogy will say "if I could only spend an hour with my ancestor! If I could only ask some questions!" Well, it is of course, too late for us to be able to do that in most cases, but it is not too late to start a genealogy journal that will help future generations to find answers to the kinds of raw data that puzzle current researchers.
There are various ways to start such a journal. The easiest way is by asking questions of older family members and filling out the answers for them if necessary. You will want to fill out the same questions for yourself as well. Someone in coming decades might be very happy to find such a treasure.
So what kinds of questions should be asked of family members? First, you will want to make sure to have a list so that you will not be missing anything important during the interview. Basic questions about their family and their lives are always a good place at which to start.
How many siblings did they grow up with? What were their names? What are or were the names of their parents? Who were their aunts, uncles, and grandparents?
When all of the basic facts are established, the data that actually gets written into the record first, you can start asking about specific memories. These would include asking for recollections or stories about things like their wedding, the most memorable Christmas when they were a kid, or most memorable holiday if it is a family that doesn't celebrate Christmas, and stories of their grandparents. This is also a good time to ask about any family traditions or family recipes that may have gotten lost over the years. If they can remember a certain tradition that is now lost, it might be a good time to start it again for the present day family members.
Ask about what their day to day lives involved when they were a child. Often older people will want to hold back on certain things, thinking that no one will be interested to hear things they consider "boring." You may have to speak with them about this while asking the journal questions, so that you are sure to get every detail, and not miss those facts and stories that your interviewee may feel no one else would care to hear.
From where did their immigrant ancestors come? Do they remember stories from their grandparents? Are there any family legends that have been passed down from generation to generation? What did the family do for fun after a hard day of work? What jobs or careers were held over the years? Did any family members have nicknames?
If you want to have a more extensive journal, you will want to collect things like family recipes and pictures. For the recipes, be sure to take note of which family member's recipe it was originally. Photographs should have as much detail as possible about where, when, and who is in the picture.
It is a good idea to ask other family members for their memories of the interviewee, too. Someone might remember some important facts that had been forgotten by the person being interviewed for the genealogy journal.
Remember that this is not just for the elderly family members, although starting with them is always a good idea. It is for every family member to contribute their information. It is being done for the future generations that will be eventually searching for this information that is being provided.
When the interviews and fact gathering is completed, you will have to decide what you want to do with the information. One good idea is putting it all into loose leaf notebooks with pockets. You will want more than one copy, and if there is a way to get one genealogy journal to each family household, that would be the ideal way to spread the information. Yes, it is a lot of work at the onset, but saving future generations of your descendants the frustrations of brick walls when doing family heritage work will have been well worth it.
