How Does a Beginner Start A Family Tree?
How Does a Beginner Start A Family Tree?
How Does a Beginner Start A Family Tree?
As a beginner genealogist, you may be asking yourself just that question. But you may be asking yourself many other questions too. What cool people will I end up being will I find in my family tree? Kings, Queens, Saints, Knights? Or perhaps the opposite end of things bank robbers, or other criminals? Will the stories that have been handed down from generation to generation end up being true? How far back in time will I be able to go? Where do I start? How do I manage all the names I'll find?
Naturally, the first place that any budding genealogist goes is to their family. Older relatives can be a good place to start, but don't neglect cousins that may have already done some digging. Look through attics and old boxes of photos. Often there is information on the back of them. Family bibles are also great places to find the names of your relatives. Once you've finished talking to all your relatives where do you go?
Don't worry. These days it is easier than ever to complete your family tree from the comfort of your home. A quick Google search will net you 34,100,000 results. I know . . . . that's a lot, but don't be intimidated. I'm going to tell you the best ones and save you a lot of time. The top three sites are: Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com and Rootsweb.com. Each site has its benefits and drawbacks, but at all sites you can search for birth and death certificates, marriage certificates, immigration records, census records and more. These are great places to start the online part of your research.
Don't forget to just do a Google search of your surname. This will often bring up the website of another person who shares your ancestry. Many people post their family tree online. If you are lucky enough to find one of these sites, it can save you a lot of time. Be sure to put quotation marks around any name you want to search. This will help narrow the results to just ones that have the first and last name together instead of anyone with that first name and anyone with that last name not necessarily together. Don't be shy about contacting the person who owns the website. You can share information with them and sometimes help them find a branch of the family they had yet to discover.
Be sure to avoid sites that are clearly "selling" information about your name's history. They are typically of very low true value because they are too generic. Once you really get into it, you'll need to keep very careful records.
Families often kept using the same or similar first names so things can get very confusing quite quickly if you do not keep the date of birth/death next to all names that you collect. Be open to alternate spellings as well. I know of one family that kept spelling their last name differently all within a very short period of time.
Also keep in mind that you'll be looking at a lot of very old records and you'll need some patience and a magnifying glass to figure out what some of these records actually say. I love the magnifying feature that Ancestry.com offers. This is especially useful when looking at the census records.
Another great site is Cyndi's list. I've watched this list grow extensively over the years with a lot of great information added regularly. There a lot of specialty sites that she has listed so there's something for everyone.
Eventually, you'll want to get out into the sunshine and off your computer. When that happens, it's time to take a road trip to visit old churches, graveyards, funeral homes and local court houses in the areas that your family lived. This can be a great way to involve other members of your family especially younger children.
All and all, genealogy is a great hobby that can go on for years and years. There are many things to consider though. Record keeping alone can become a nightmare getting wildly out of control if you are not careful. I've put together a lot more information on my website: www.mygenealogysecrets.com that will help you build your family tree more easily than you thought possible.
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