How to get started tracing your family tree. It tells you who you can talk to and what smoe of the questions are that you should ask.
One fact of life is certain-you have two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, and so on. Most likely, you know who your parents are, and who your grandparents are. You probably know where they came from. But, who are your great-great grandparents? Do you know who your ancestors in the 17th century were?
People have been asking these questions for thousands of years. The studies of families and their relationships are called genealogy. The record of such relationships is also called a genealogy or family tree.
Today there are more and more people studying genealogy. Some people are even doing it as a profession. They actually are earning a living tracing family trees for other people. They are what are known as genealogists. Many geologists belong to the American Society of Genealogists, which was founded in 1940. Some go on to be elected into the National Geological Society. Many non-professionals join organizations such as Sons of the American Revolution. There is also another organization called the Colonial Dames of America.
It is not always easy to trace your ancestors. It can be a great deal of work that is at times very discouraging. Put on your detective hat and look for clues. Make sure you follow up on each and every one.
If you do decide to trace your own family tree, the best thing to do would be to start at home. Talk to your relatives. Ask for facts-birth dates, names of parent, places where they lived, anything you can think of that would tell you something about them. It might be a good idea to start a fact sheet about each relative. The following is an example of the one that I use:
MY ANCESTORS
Name of Person
Relationship to me
Birth date
Place
Fathers name
Mothers name
Brothers and sisters names
Schools attended
Occupations
Where he/she lived
Spouses name
Marriage Date
Children: How many?
Name
Birth date
It will probably take some time to fill in all of the information. It is important to start a sheet even if all you have is a name. That makes him or her "real" to you. As you begin to gather your information, the number of ancestors you have will begin to quickly increase.
Write down the stories that your relatives tell you. They may tell you about what school was like when they went. You may hear about what games they liked to play. Some other things you might hear about are:What kind of pets did they have? How did the wars affect them? What were the big events of their time?
You may find that your relatives did some pretty neat stuff. They may have even been famous. Many of your relatives may be from out of town. Write to tem and tell them about what you are doing. Send them copies of your fact sheets and ask them to fill in what they can.
Ask your parents and other relatives if you can look at scrapbooks, family Bibles, birth and death certificates, letters, passports, diaries, and marriage licenses. These can prove to be very useful to you.
After you have asked your family everything you possible can, it is time to move on to public records. This is where things begin to get difficult. Regular record keeping was not common in many countries until very recently.
Even when records did exist, they may be incorrect and incomplete. Records maybe incomplete because the people who kept them made careless mistakes. They were most likely unintentional. An example would be in names; people could tell a record keeper what their name was, but many times could not spell it. The record keeper would then have to guess what the correct spelling was. It is therefore possible for people with somewhat different last names to actually be related. Sometimes records are lost or burned. People may have even changed their names.
Black people in America can have special problems in trying to trace their ancestors. Before the civil war, most blacks in the United States were slaves. No one kept tract of them. Most times, when records were kept, only age and sex were recorded. After the war, many of the slaves took on their last master's names.
If you are fortunate, you will find those public records are available for many of you ancestors. They could include such things as land deals, census records, military records, or even wills.
Churches and graveyards can also be good sources of information. Churches can provide you with records of birth, marriages, and deaths. They may also may be able to help with other sources of information.
Public libraries have many books that tell you how to trace your family tree. There are many historical societies, genealogical societies, and other groups that would be great sources of information. Some of these include:
Genealogical Department of the Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Salt Lake City
New England Genealogical Society
New York Genealogical and Biological Society
