Getting Started

After I looked back over my first post, I decided or realized that I had not said enough about how to actually get started on your own genealogy search. Initially I had thought to use this blog to inspire someone to start this facinating hobby and to use my own experiences to spark that interest.

Not that I have found anything in my family history that would interest anyone but myself. I can't encourage you to start your quest and site my exciting findings as the reason that you should start yours. I did not find kings or lords in my family. No rich folks, so far. I found a possible murderer. I love to study and read American history. That is what is exciting to me. For the most part, I found common ordinary people living their lives and helping to settle this country. I found that my son has, to date, 6 great-great-great grandfathers who fought in the Civil War. When I had assembled enough information about my family genealogy to combine it with an American history time line, that is when I became truly passionate about this hobby.

I had said that you should start today or as soon as possible but I had not been clear about how to start. There is no right or wrong way. Well, not exactly, the wrong way would be to not start at all. Or to wait until it is too late to have any living relatives to interview. Genealogy is said to be the number #2 hobby (behind I don't know what) in the world today. The internet has made your genealogy effort unbelievably exciting but much easier. Much easier than it was when I first started and much faster than traveling and spending time in courthouses and libraries. It would be impossible to begin to site all of the free genealogy resources available. Actually, I am still overwhelmed at times when I look at all of the genealogy databases and resources available. Now, might be a good time to mention "focus". I have spent many long and late night hours alone at the computer crying after finding or verifying new information. Tears of joy and sadness. I have cried alone in dusty courthouses, also. The joy because I was able to verify a small detail that mother had mentioned, and sadness that she is not here to share it with me.

So how do you start?

You start with yourself, of course.

Write down all of your own personal information. Then ask your parents for every small item that they can remember about their own birth details. Where, when, aunts, uncles and then go to your grandparents and then great grandparents. Try to get your ancestor's full name (first, middle and late), date of birth and where they were born. And be sure to ask about nicknames. In my own research I have found that knowing your ancestors siblings names have been very helpful at times, so be sure to include these names from the beginning. This will help you discover if your are researching the right family. And if you find that your family has the tendency to hand down male names over and over again, having sibling names is very helpful. In my case my great grandparents' female siblings married names (whew) gave me other lines to look at and corroborate lines.

The first genealogy charts that I used were printed Pedigree charts and Family Group Sheets. I think that these are two of the most basic forms used by genealogists to record ancestral information. These standard forms are usually recognized by genealogists around the world and will help you keep track of your information in an easy to read format. LEGACY FAMILY TREE uses these standard format forms and will print out or display the information that you enter into this genealogy software.

The Pedigree chart usually covers four generations and will give you space for names and dates and places of birth, and death and marriage information for each indivicual. An Ancestral Chart is very siilar to a Pedigree chart but gives you room for more generations and they are larger that the standard 8 1/2 by 11 format. In your first Pedigree chart, YOU will, of course, be your first entry and you will be number #1. Your father will be number #2 and the male line follows the upper portion of the chart. Your mother is number #3 and her female line will follow the bottom track portion of the chart.

The Familly Group sheet focuses on the family unit. This Standard form has spaces for the couple's names,. their children's names, birth record, death dates and burial place. Most family group sheets also have spaces for each child's spouse and a section for comments and sources. Please learn to record or note all of your sources as you compile. I cannot stress enough that you should learn to always note your souces. You will forget and making source notes will save you many hours of "searchin" back through your research.

The Family Group sheet gives you the opportunity to record your ancestor's siblings and spouses. These are called your collateral lines. Often you may have difficulty locating your direct line's birth records but you may be able to bridge that gap through the birth records of a brother or sister. For example, I was unsure of my son's father's great grandfather. I determined that I was on the right track by comparing his siblings names.

Pedigree charts and Family group sheets are designed to work together. You prepare a Family Group sheet for each marriage that you have proved on your Pedigree Chart.

So start slowly. It is very easy to get overwhelmed. This genealogy hobby will no be free, be prepared for it to cost you some money. But start by doing the things that I have talked about here. Your first task when getting started with family history should be organizing what you already know about your family. Then when you have these items completed, consider LEGACY FAMILY TREE. This is my favorite genealogy software program.