Where do you begin with your genealogy? (step 1)

Genealogy starts at home with you. One of the main rules of genealogy is always start with yourself and work your way back through the generations. It’s not advisable to begin several generations back and work your way forward as you might find you’ve traced the wrong family.

TOOLS…You’ll need two simple tools to help you along, a pedigree chart and family group record. Start by filling in information about yourself and immediate family (spouse/partner, children, parents, and grandparents). Don’t worry about not having every fact on these forms. The fun comes later when you begin looking for information and sources to verify (or document) what you already know and fill in what you don’t know.

READING…I’d recommend reading a book about how to do your genealogy. Check your local library or bookstore for Emily Anne Croom’s Unpuzzling Your Past: The Best Selling Guide to Genealogy. This is a simple, quick and easy read that will give you the basics for starting your research.

DOCUMENTATION…Another rule of genealogy is that you should document all of your facts. The next step is to look for documents around your home to verify the information you have thus far. Are there vital records such as birth/marriage or death certificates, deeds, wills, pictures, family bible, letters, or any other documents that relate to your family’s life experience?

Documentation is especially important when you begin to share your work with other family members or if you decide to apply for membership in a lineage society such as the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) or Sons of the American Revolution. These societies will ask that you verify and document your lineage back to an ancestor.

Not only does documentation prove the facts you have noted, it might also provide a clue to other information or records that will help you continue your research.

Don’t forget to cite your sources. Evidence! Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian by Elizabeth Shown Mills is the authoritative source for genealogists learning to cite their sources.

Starting your genealogy is easy. Just follow the steps mentioned above and you’l be on your way. I’ll continue the process in another segment.

~ by madmanofght on August 25, 2008.