How I got started

I want to share with everyone how to research their family history. It takes time and patience to pour over documents but so much is available online now, that it is possible for almost anyone, who has the desire, to do their own family research to achive a lot! 

I started doing my research back in the 70’s. I’d work till noon on Friday’s, grab a quick sandwich and head for the downtown library. I would stay until late afternoon when my kids were due home from school. My time was spent in the genealogy department, combing through all the catalog files and books looking for anything on the names I was researching. I made copies of all types of documents and stories. Anything that looked interesting or that might be of use in my quest! I would spend my weekend nights, sitting on the living room floor, pouring over my treasures. Knowing that I had the one piece of information, if I could put my hands on it, that would open all my locked doors!

In the 90’s genealogy data started becoming available online and that has changed everything. Yes, you still have to send for documents via the mail and wait for their return but, so much can be obtained online. You can narrow down where “grandpa joe” was in 1900 in a matter of minutes instead of weeks. The Internet can be a great time saver and can cut down your search areas in addition to being a fantastic source of networking!

I’m not saying that everything is online or that you will be able to trace your family back to 100 a.d. but things are so much better now. Many sites are free and the subscription sites are even more affordable too.

Research takes time and patience  and a “can’t quit” attitude. Brick walls can become frustrating and may never be resolved and that you just have to live with, at least for the time being!

Everyday, more and more data is becoming available on the Internet which makes doing family research easier and more enjoyable!

Getting Started

Are you ready to get started on your research but don’t know where or how to start. Well,  start with yourself and then work your way back. Take it one step at a time.

There are two forms, a Pedigree and Family Group Record, that are very helpful to use in your research and can be downloaded free from the  LDS Family Search.  Just use the index to locate,  download and print both forms. Be sure to make spare copies of each, as they will be needed later. These forms are readily available on the Internet at other places and you certainly, do not have to use the ones I’ve linked to. Also, the Family Search forms have listed places for “Endowed, Sealed to Parents, Sealed to Spouse” etc., these sections can be ignored and are not a requirement.

The Pedigree Chart shows your direct family ancestors, you, your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, etc. Fill out the Pedigree with as much information as you know. List full names, dates of birth and death; locations of birth and death. Put your name on line 1, your father on line 2, your mother on line 3. Your father’s parents on lines 4 & 5 and so on. Your mother’s parents on lines 6 & 7. The male side is listed on the top line and the corresponding female side on the line just underneath. When you have filled in what you can, move on to the Family Group Record. 

The Family Group Record is for recording information about a specific individual family that includes all the details about the parents and their children. Fill out one record for each direct family line. One for your parents, your grandparents etc. 

Once you have filled in what you know, stop and take a look at what you are missing. Think about who can help fill in the missing information. Talk to your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, anyone that can help with details. The more information you can get, the better it is!

When it comes to doing research,  everything is not always black and white. You have to think about everything with an open mind. Names we know our relatives by could be nicknames not their given names, birth locations could be where they lived, not born and surname spelling could have changed over the years. You have to think out of the box sometimes. 

I am going to start adding links to some really great sites for research, some will be free and others  will be by subscription. They are all great sites and well worth checking out.

That’s it for today. This should get you going off to a pretty good start. Till next time–

State & Country Resources

I’ve added some great sites for researching but there is so much more too! There are hundreds of sites devoted to genealogy in one form or another. Needless to say it can become overwhelming.

Every state has it’s own Genweb and within is each county. As an example, I do a lot of research in Arkansas and in several different counties and townships. To find the Genweb, just do a search for ”Arkansas Genweb” or another state might be ”Pennsylvania Genweb”. You can also search for the specific county genweb by searching for “Yell County Arkansas Genweb”. These sites are usually the first ones in the listing.

Once you get the state that you want, then click on the county link or on the map. The maps are really a big help as many county borders changed over the years and when searching a county for infomation, it is usually helpful to look at the adjoining counties too.

Within the counties you will find listings for Biographies;  Churches;   Cemeteries;  Family Pages; History; Newspaper Articles; Birth, Marriage and Death reocrds;  Queries and Look-ups, just to name a few. This listing varies by each county. Some states and counties have considerably more records than others.

When I do research, I always start with the census records and go from there. I can obtain so much information from the census records that can be very beneficial in researching and locating a family.  I pull all the census records from 1930 to 1790, in addition to pulling  as many other documents as I can, such as death certificates, obituary notices and so on.  

The census records can provide a wealth of information, such as, age, race, relationship to head, birth location, children, marital status, occupation, some veteran information and of course, immigration just to name a few and you might find an elderly parent living with a child too. Sometimes, you can find a family in 1920 but not in 1910, search for the children’s names. People used different names, Mary one time, Polly the next or even initials. Check different surname spellings. Smith could be spelled Smyth, Smythe etc. People spelled phonetically and when you add the various accents around the country and possible transcription errors, it all  just addes to the mix.

Hope this helps–