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| Branches of a Cherry Tree - Photo by CraftyCraftingMama |
Researching your family tree really shouldn’t be such a daunting
task. Yes, it is time consuming. Yes, it requires patience. However, if you enjoy a good puzzle or
mystery, it can be so very enjoyable and possibly even a very addicting hobby.
The first step to beginning the research into your family
history is to identify yourself. As
silly as it may seem you should always begin with the most recent person. Record your own information. It really is easy enough:
·
Your First, Middle, and Last name.
·
Your date of birth
·
City, County, and State (or Province and Country)
of birth
If you are married record the same type of information that
you recorded for yourself with two additional details – marriage date and
location of marriage. Some people like
to record even more details such as the name of a church in which they were
married. For the sake of simplicity, I
will call these “The Basic Demographics” since they are the basic part of what
you need to know about each family member.The second step to starting your research will be interviews. Interview every one you are related to! Ask questions. Really, anything you want to know about them, ask them. Don’t just ask the technical questions such as the above information for yourself – although you will need that information. Family stories are just as valuable to a family history as are names, dates, and places. I have found the following information to be incredibly helpful during my own interviews.
·
The Basic Demographics
·
Names of any and all relatives remembered –
Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, etc.
·
You may be surprised to find out that the name
you’ve been calling your Aunt Bea your entire life isn’t even her actual given
name. I have found so many relatives who
have used either their middle names or nicknames as their preferred name. So when you do your interviews ask two
specific questions regarding names:
o
What is your full given name?
o
How is that name spelled?
·
How many children did you have?
o
What are their names?
o
When and where were they born?
·
Ask for locations. The more information you can receive
regarding where family members lived, the better. You will find this is important information
if you start researching census records.
o
Where were you born?
o
How often did you move and to where if at all?
Get approximate dates.
·
What are your favorite memories of…
o
Your summers.
o
School.
o
Times at your grandparent’s house.
·
What are your favorite family traditions?
The above information helped me, but you may find you have
more or entirely different questions you want to ask.
I had found one particular tool useful when I interviewed my paternal grandparents, I took a video
camera with me so I could focus on listening and not having to write anything
down. For me it was more of a personal
experience that way. I was able to later
view, rewind, and play that video over and over again so that I had all of the
information which I needed for my personal ancestry records. Videos also make for nice records on their own. I highly suggest either a video or audio
recorder during your interviews. You
will hopefully find it as helpful as I have.
While you may feel like the first two steps that I’ve
provided for you do not seem like a lot of information, you will find that it is
the ground work to your beginning research.
I will be providing you more steps and giving you tips on what has
helped me so far in my own research. If
you have any questions please feel free to comment and I will be happy to answer
them to the best of my knowledge or try to at least point you in the direction to
get you your answers.
Next time: What do
you do with all of that information you have collected?
