Beginning Family History and Genealogy Research

To the beginner, Family history or genealogy research may seem like an overwhelming task, but beginning research does not have to be difficult. If you’re a beginner, try the following general research principles, which apply no matter where your ancestors lived. A beginner, who gets off to a good start by following proven research steps, is likely to find greater success in their overalll family history research.

1. Choose a family or individual to learn about.

2. Identify what you already know. Using a family group sheet and pedigree chart, write down what you know about the person or family. Though your information may be minimal, record what you know, with accuracy.

• Find out what records you have in your home. Collect records such as birth, marriage, and death certificates and announcements, family bibles, scrapbooks, diaries, church certificates, letters, photographs, obituaries and funeral programs, wills, deeds, military records, newspaper clippings, passports, citizenship documents, school records, military records, and deeds.
• As a beginner, your records may not be well-organized, yet, so set up a box somewhere in your home where you will see it often. As you locate family records, put them in the box, and then organize those family documents, when you have them all together.

3. Beginning research may require the help of others, so find out what others in your family know. To help produce valuable information, contact and interview other family members, i.e. parents, grandparents, distant relatives, cousins, or old family friends. Doing so will help prevent duplicating effort. Have them write down the information, or if possible, record the interview on audio or video tape, or with a digital camera.

If you cannot interview your relatives, in person, your options are still fairly unlimited. You could write a letter, send an e-mail, place a phone call, or do an online chat, although personal visits are often most effective.

As you continue in your research, be sure to obtain a copy of the records that your family members have gathered. Find out what others may know about these people; older family members, and even distant relatives, can be interviewed, to help produce valuable information.

It’s a good idea to prepare genealogy interview questions before the interview. Also, make sure that you establish open-ended questions (ones that will produce more than a “yes” or “no” answer). Genealogy questions that begin with who, what, when, where, why, or how are often the best. If you’re nervous about the interview, try role playing with a close family member first.

• Birth or christening information
• Marriage information
• Death or burial information
• Parents names
• Children or descendants
• Spouse
• Education, occupation, military service
• Where they lived and about their lifestyle
• Other

When beginning your genealogy research, it is usually best to work from the most recent event in an ancestor’s life and work back in time. Although you may be looking for birth or christening information on an ancestor, you may find this information in a death, obituary, or cemetery record.

5. As you research, learn something about the area where the ancestor lived. If you know the name of the village, county, state, parish, or diocese where a person lived, it will be much easier to find records to use in your search. A topographical dictionary or gazetteer is a good place to start learning about an area. Using an online search engine will likely produce many good sources.

6. Obtain and search the record(s) that may contain the information you want to learn. You may be able to do this at a family history center, local library, or archive.

7. Use the research information you have found. Evaluate the material by asking questions about how the new information fits with what you already know.

• Did you find the information, for which you were looking?
• Is the information complete?
• Does it conflict with information you already have?

8. Share what you find. As you begin collecting information about your family, you should consider sharing it with relatives. Often, you can help other family members with their research, and often those family members will reciprocate, by sending you needed genealogical information.