Begin Your Genealogy Quest

User:Ccsmith/sandbox/wiki' 'User:Ccsmith/sandbox/beginners Back to Main Page Just Getting Started?

Step One: What do you know?

 * Start by recording what you know about your family tree. Get a Pedigree Chart and fill it in as best as you can.


 * If you would like to put you material into a computer, click on the “Computer software” tab for sources of free and commercial genealogy software programs.


 * On the example Pedigree Chart notice how the names, dates and places were recorded.
 * Use full names when recording names. Put nick names in parentheses.
 * Record only the maiden names for all females.
 * Record the dates as done in Europe. The day, month and year.
 * When recording places, start from the smallest entity to the largest: city, county, state, country. In the USA it will be for example: Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA.  If a person was not born in a city, it might be: Cook, Illinois, state, USA.  If you only know the state, it might be: Illinois, USA.
 * In other parts of the world, locations may be: City, Province, Country. For example: Chester, Cheshire, England or Acapuloc, Guerrero, Mexico.
 * Pay close attention to where events in your ancestors lives took place. Many times the place where a birth may have taken place is in a different county today or even in a different country.

Step One: What do you know?

 * Start by recording what you know about your family tree. Get a Pedigree Chart and fill it in as best you can.
 * If you would like to put your Pedigree Chart into a computer, you might try using some of the available computer software instead. There are many commercial software products on the market, but you can start with a free program called PAF (Family Ancestral File) which you can download here.
 * There are many commercial genealogical programs on the market which have more features than PAF, but PAF will get you started. And if you should decide to purchase a commercial program, your PAF files can be readily transferred to them.

Recording Names
Use full names when recording names on the Pedigree or Family Group Sheet. Put nick names in parentheses. Be sure to only record the maiden names of all females.

Recording Dates
Record the dates as is done in Europe. The day, month and year, for example: 24 April 1841. Spell out the month as well.

Recording Places
When recording places, start from the small entity to the largest: city, county, state, country. For example: Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA; Chester, Cheshire, England; Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico. Be aware that boundaries of counties, states and countries for that matter have changed greatly over the years. Pay close attention to where the event took place but know that it might be in a different county, state, province or even a different country today.

Step Two: Around the house

 * As you fill out the Pedigree Chart, there will be some blank spaces.
 * The information may be somewhere in your home or in the possession of other family members.
 * Get a box and begin to collect any information that will help you fill the blank spots such as:
 * Certificates - Birth, Marriage, and Death
 * Bibles
 * Letters
 * Photos
 * Diaries, Journals
 * Obituaries, Newspaper articles
 * Anything else that might contain family information

Step Three: Family Group Sheet

 * For each couple on your Pedigree Chart you need to create a Family Group Record
 * Here you record not only the names for you direct ancestors but all their children which will be your cousins, aunts and uncles.

1. Record our sources of information
With every fact you record on the Pedigree Chart or Family Group Sheet, it is important to record your sources of the information:


 * For example, is the birth date of Aunt Betty you wrote down from personal knowledge or did you get it from a record in a family bible or was it given to you by a family member's personal knowledge?
 * You can be sure that one day, someone or you will wonder where you got you information because someone else has something different.
 * Recording sources is a science almost in and of itself. Check out Cite Your Sources.

2. Create a "To Do List
Rather than carry your forms around with you when you go look for information, you might create a “To Do List.


 * Here you will list in detail what information you are specifically looking for. For example: What is the birthday of Aunt Betty? Then you will write down where you might find that information such as: Ask my cousin George the birth date of his mother.
 * Again record what you are trying to find out and where you plan to search to find out what you are wanting to know. Here is a sample of a

To Do List


 * An additional benefit is when asking a family member for a specific bit of information such as a birth, it almost always seems to bring other facts connected to the event. This may not happen if you ask a general question such as: "tell me all you know about Aunt Betty. It is very important to be very precise in your questions and only ask for one fact at a time!. Ask for such things like when was she born, where was she born, when did she die, etc.

3. Research Logs
Because you will probably look through thousands of sources over the years it is important to keep track of what you have researched and your results.


 * If you researched the US Census looking for your Great Grand Father John Smith and did not find him, make a note so you won't waste time looking at it again because you can't remember if you have already looked in it. You can download an example here of a Research Logs or

Keeping a Research Log.

Step Four: Family and Friends
Next step in the actual research is going to family and friends to fill in the blanks. While you’re at it you might gather any photographs of family members and ancestors for you own collection.

Can the Research Wiki Help
See Research Checklist for possible place to search. 

Additional Resources

 * Beginners_Grin_and_Dare_It
 * Tips_for_Beginners
 * Family_History_for_Beginners
 * Classes_-_Family_History_in_the_21st_Century
 * Family_Group_Record_Analysis:_How_to_Guess_Where_to_Start
 * Barn_Raising_on_FamilySearch_Wiki
 * How_to_Begin_a_Search_for_Your_Ancestor
 * Rookie_Mistakes
 * Introduction_to_Family_History
 * Overview_of_Family_History_Research_Procedures
 * Getting_Started/Intro
 * Begining_family_history_research
 * A_Guide_to_Research
 * Flummoxed_-_Early_Period
 * How_to_Guess_Where_to_Start
 * Family_History_for_the_Flummoxed