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Discovering Your Family Tree |
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Table of Contents
1. Identify What You Already Know About Your Family
Use Appropriate Forms To Record Information
Recall And Record Information About Your Family
Gather Information Within Your Family
Copy Information From Family Documents Or Records
Organize Records, Documents, And Family Memorabilia
2. Decide What You Want To Learn About Your Family
Identify People For Whom There Is Insufficient Information
Choose One Person To Learn More About
Identify Questions To Answer About The Person
Select One Question As The Research Objective
Prepare A Research Log
3. Select A Record To Search
Identify Major Categories Of Records Available To Search
Select Specific Record(s) To Search
Describe The Record On A Research Log.
4. Obtain And Search The Record
Obtain The Record.
Search The Record.
Record The Results.
5. Use The Information
Evaluate The Information Found.
Transfer The Information
Organize Newly Acquired Records.
Share Your Family History With Others.
Records, The Church And Family Ties
Discovering your family tree—doing genealogy or family history research—can be an exciting experience. Many people just like you have discovered who their ancestors are. You too can gain new insights into your family and feel a sense of belonging, perhaps in a way you have never felt before.
Through family history research, you can learn about your ancestors Most often when you look at records, you will need to look closely to find the emotion—in the provisions of a will designed to ensure that young children would be cared for until they were grown, in a bold and graceful signature on a marriage license, in a simple epitaph, or in a map of farms showing a community of neighbors and relatives.
All of your ancestors had names. They all lived in specific places at certain times. They had parents and grandparents. Most had brothers and sisters, and many had children. Through family history research, you can learn their names. As you learn about their circumstances, you will begin to feel connected to them and their lives. Start now. The reward of family history research is not so much in finding out where you came from, it is in finding out who you are.
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' daily lives and feelings from records of their personal experiences. Perhaps you will be able to read of your great-great-grandmother's anticipation as she awoke on her wedding day, or of the grief—and hope—she felt when she buried a beloved child. Or maybe you will learn why ancestors born in another country left and what was happening when they arrived in their new country. You might also learn that one of your ancestors served in the military during a war. People and nations can come alive for you through the experiences of your ancestors.
[FamilySearchTM: Research Guidance
Version of Data: 6/8/2001]