Showing posts with label family tree. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family tree. Show all posts
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Family Tree Search: How To Find Your Ancestors
Are you planning on making your family tree? Are you curious to find where you come from and uncover your family's history throughout the years? You must know that it's not an easy task and you will need time and effort to create a complete family tree. You have to be organized and patient. But when you're done the feeling you get is really unique. So let's start.
I will try to give you some basic tips to get you started but you must remember that you need to research a lot unless there's already some kind of family tree created by some of your ancestors.
If you are serious, invest on a family tree software that will organize all the information you find. Paperwork may become overwhelming as you will notice.
You will need a lot of paper.
Use a single sheet of paper for every person/ancestor in your family. Then make small family groups of ancestors. You will write information you find for every person in the single piece of paper that belongs to that person. And you will write a summary of the information from all persons who belong to a family group to the sheet of paper that belongs to a certain family group. For example for your family group (e.g. you, your spouse and your 3 children), use 6 sheets of paper one for every member of the family and one for the family group (5 members and 1 family group).
In the ancestor sheet of paper you will write all kinds of information you find about that particular person: Date Born, Birthplace, Marriage Date, Date of Death, Father's Name, Mother's Name, Spouse Name and all other information you decide is worth mentioning in the family tree.
In the family group sheet of paper you will write a summary of the information you have gathered from all persons who belong to that family group: Number of members, Husband, Wife, Children and other kind of information you might find and want to include.
Now it's time to work and research. Start with yourself and your family. Gather information from your parents and their children. Then your grandparents and their children. Remember to keep track of the family groups and the sheets of paper that belong to each ancestor. As you go back in time you may need to contact other relatives, family friends or even researchers. Ask them to help you fill the information on your sheets of paper. Tell them you are creating a family tree for your entire family.
It's a good idea to keep a family tree log of your actions. For example when you find a birth certificate update your family tree log writing the date that you found that death certificate and the person that death certificate belongs to.
Check out if there's already someone who has created a family tree for a certain family group. Use that information to save time but verify if the information you find is correct. Look for wedding books, divorce papers, birth or death certificates, funeral cards, awards, diplomas, school books, employment records, military records, medical records and anything that you might find useful. You can obtain a lot of information from such papers like dates, ages, parents, witnesses etc. If you are really motivated and determined to create a family tree, this journey to the past will be fascinating.
And now let's move on to the fun part. After you have gathered all the information you need, it's time to design your family tree. You may want to use paper and fill the information so that it is organized and easy to access. But I'm sure after all that paperwork you will definitely need help from a family tree software that will save you a lot of time.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
15 Resources For Tracing Your Family Ancestry
If you're like me, when you were young, looking beyond your mother and father to find out where you came from just wasn't important.
Well, I've found that the older you get, the more important your ancestry becomes. I'm not sure why. Maybe I have a broader perspective on things now. Maybe I'm just curious as to whether there was nobility in my family. Perhaps I'm looking for some closet skeletons.
Whatever my reasons, I do find tracing my ancestry fascinating. It is so interesting to learn about other people--how they lived, what they did, who they knew. But I've also learned along the way that most people haven't a clue what resources are available to them beyond the usual - interviewing family, checking birth certificates and newspapers, etc.
So here I've compiled a list of 25 resources you should take advantage of if you're really serious about finding out "where you came from."
1.The obvious, of course, is interviewing family members; not only mom and dad, but aunts, uncles, distant cousins. Start by drawing a quick family tree going back just two generations and start making calls or sending mail or emails. Here are some of the basic things you'll want to know:
Complete names (married and maiden names)
Addresses throughout their live
Birth records
Military service (when and where)
Marriage records (even attendants, if possible)
Property records (state and county)
Burial records (where)
Old pictures, especially if they have names and dates
2.Family bibles. While it doesn't seem to be such a common practice these days, in the past, families kept their bible forever, often keeping record of family members, births, marriages, and deaths on pages within the bible.
3.Old family letters. Once again, with technology, we've all but lost the art of letter writing (what will our own children and grand children have to look back on in years to come?). But older generations tended to preserve letters of importance. These letters can oftentimes be of great value in tracing your ancestry. They may contain important dates, facts, and places that will be of help. Check return addresses and postmarks for information.
4.Legal documents are a great resource. Such documents include deeds (property addresses), wills (names of kin you may not have known about), marriage licenses (note the witnesses), birth certificates, voter registration, adoption records, and even judgements. Your search for these documents should begin with state and county records.
5.What about associations your ancestors may have belonged to? These would include churches, clubs, veterans groups and lodges, all of which may be able to provide background information for your search.
6.Census data. After 1840 the Census collected age, place of birth, occupation, personal wealth, education, spouse, children, hired hands, and even immigration information. Copies of the original decennial census forms from 1790 through 1930 are available on microfilm for research at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC (http://www.archives.gov/), at Archives regional centers, and at select Federal depository libraries throughout the United States.
7.Naturalizations records.
For Pre-1906 Naturalizations:
Contact the State Archives for the state where the naturalization occurred to request a search of state, county, and local courts records.
Contact the NARA regional facility that serves the state where naturalization occurred to request a search of Federal court records.
For Naturalizations After 1906:
After 1906, the courts forwarded copies of naturalizations to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Naturalizations from Federal Courts are held in the NARA's regional facilities for the Federal courts for their area. Learn more: http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/naturalization/
8.Grave sites. Headstones will give dates and possible family names.
9.Libraries. Here you'll find newspaper articles (look for obituaries, and birth and marriage announcements) and books on local history (what was taking place during their life). Many libraries can be accessed online. You will also find genealogy information in several libraries, the Allen County Public Library in Indiana having the second largest genealogical collection in the US. Another good source is the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT.
10.Genealogy message boards. Google "genealogy message boards" and join in--you'll find a wealth of information available!
11.Military records. You'll find several sources online, including NARA (http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/).
12.High school and college yearbooks. These sources can help locate a relative or provide other resources for your search. Check online.
13.Family pedigrees. These are family groups already linked in a computer system. Accessing an individual's family group sheet in a linked pedigree will also give you access to all of the records that are linked to that individual. Two great sources are Kindred Connections (http://www.kindredkonnections.com/index.html) and the Family History Library (http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHL/frameset_library.asp).
14.U.S. Immigration records. Two great sources are Ellis Island Records (http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/) and Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/default.aspx?rt=40)
15.Social Security Death Index. This is a database of people whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA) beginning about 1962. The best source is RootsWeb.com (http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/?o_xid=0028727949&o_lid=0028727949&o_xt=41534187).
Now that you're all grown up and interested in finding your "roots", these 15 resources should get you well on your way. It'll be a fun and rewarding adventure.
Well, I've found that the older you get, the more important your ancestry becomes. I'm not sure why. Maybe I have a broader perspective on things now. Maybe I'm just curious as to whether there was nobility in my family. Perhaps I'm looking for some closet skeletons.
Whatever my reasons, I do find tracing my ancestry fascinating. It is so interesting to learn about other people--how they lived, what they did, who they knew. But I've also learned along the way that most people haven't a clue what resources are available to them beyond the usual - interviewing family, checking birth certificates and newspapers, etc.
So here I've compiled a list of 25 resources you should take advantage of if you're really serious about finding out "where you came from."
1.The obvious, of course, is interviewing family members; not only mom and dad, but aunts, uncles, distant cousins. Start by drawing a quick family tree going back just two generations and start making calls or sending mail or emails. Here are some of the basic things you'll want to know:
2.Family bibles. While it doesn't seem to be such a common practice these days, in the past, families kept their bible forever, often keeping record of family members, births, marriages, and deaths on pages within the bible.
3.Old family letters. Once again, with technology, we've all but lost the art of letter writing (what will our own children and grand children have to look back on in years to come?). But older generations tended to preserve letters of importance. These letters can oftentimes be of great value in tracing your ancestry. They may contain important dates, facts, and places that will be of help. Check return addresses and postmarks for information.
4.Legal documents are a great resource. Such documents include deeds (property addresses), wills (names of kin you may not have known about), marriage licenses (note the witnesses), birth certificates, voter registration, adoption records, and even judgements. Your search for these documents should begin with state and county records.
5.What about associations your ancestors may have belonged to? These would include churches, clubs, veterans groups and lodges, all of which may be able to provide background information for your search.
6.Census data. After 1840 the Census collected age, place of birth, occupation, personal wealth, education, spouse, children, hired hands, and even immigration information. Copies of the original decennial census forms from 1790 through 1930 are available on microfilm for research at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC (http://www.archives.gov/), at Archives regional centers, and at select Federal depository libraries throughout the United States.
7.Naturalizations records.
For Pre-1906 Naturalizations:
Contact the State Archives for the state where the naturalization occurred to request a search of state, county, and local courts records.
Contact the NARA regional facility that serves the state where naturalization occurred to request a search of Federal court records.
For Naturalizations After 1906:
After 1906, the courts forwarded copies of naturalizations to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Naturalizations from Federal Courts are held in the NARA's regional facilities for the Federal courts for their area. Learn more: http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/naturalization/
8.Grave sites. Headstones will give dates and possible family names.
9.Libraries. Here you'll find newspaper articles (look for obituaries, and birth and marriage announcements) and books on local history (what was taking place during their life). Many libraries can be accessed online. You will also find genealogy information in several libraries, the Allen County Public Library in Indiana having the second largest genealogical collection in the US. Another good source is the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT.
10.Genealogy message boards. Google "genealogy message boards" and join in--you'll find a wealth of information available!
11.Military records. You'll find several sources online, including NARA (http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/).
12.High school and college yearbooks. These sources can help locate a relative or provide other resources for your search. Check online.
13.Family pedigrees. These are family groups already linked in a computer system. Accessing an individual's family group sheet in a linked pedigree will also give you access to all of the records that are linked to that individual. Two great sources are Kindred Connections (http://www.kindredkonnections.com/index.html) and the Family History Library (http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHL/frameset_library.asp).
14.U.S. Immigration records. Two great sources are Ellis Island Records (http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/) and Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/default.aspx?rt=40)
15.Social Security Death Index. This is a database of people whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA) beginning about 1962. The best source is RootsWeb.com (http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/?o_xid=0028727949&o_lid=0028727949&o_xt=41534187).
Now that you're all grown up and interested in finding your "roots", these 15 resources should get you well on your way. It'll be a fun and rewarding adventure.
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