How Do I Start My Family Tree?

Some of you may know that my husband and I are genealogists.  It is not a profession for us, but rather, a hobby. We are passionate about it, but it can be exciting, fun and frustrating.  We only research our own families.

I began my family research in 1974; my husband began his in the early 1990’s. I research the various branches of my mother and father’s families.   My family descends from European Jews.  My husband is adopted and his family is also Jewish Europeans.

My husband’s biographical is much more exciting.  We have met and become very close with his bio family, which has been wonderful.  In my hubby’s family, there have been kings and many well-known historical figures.  In fact, we have records going back to before Christ.

So, I’ve given you a very brief overview of the work my husband and I have done.  However, I know there are many people who would like to research their own family trees but have no idea how/where to start.  So I’ll give you a few tips on how to begin.

The most important thing is, right away, today if possible, talk to your oldest relatives - your grandparents or great Aunt Susie.  I started too late, after my grandparents were gone.  Many people like to talk about their childhood and family members who have passed.  Get as many first and last names of deceased relatives, and dates if you can.  Birth and death dates are important, but so are dates of immigration, marriage dates and dates of any important events your family can remember.

I highly recommend that you record the conversation for future reference and to keep in your records.  Allow your relative to tell stories if they like.  If they fought in a war, ask them about it.  Ask the name of your grandparent’s parents, and further back if they know them. Not only can the stories be fascinating, but they can also provide lots of helpful information that you may not realize was important until later.

The next thing I recommend is to visit a Family History Center near you.  Many cities have them.  They are operated by the Mormons (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), because family research is intertwined with their beliefs.  They have millions of records on microfiche and microfilm and more still in books.  There is always a volunteer that will help you get started.  If records you want to see are not at the location, they can order them from Salt Lake City at a nominal fee.

If you cannot get to a Family History Center, a huge amount of their records is on their website https://familysearch.org/. They have literally millions of records available to see on their site.

There are many great genealogy websites.  Some charge fees, and some are free. 

·        The largest and most well-known is http://ancestry.com.  This is a paid (and rather expensive) site, but you can research a few things on the site at no charge.  Many libraries have access to ancestry and you can use their service free.

·        http://findagrave.com has helped me on many occasions.  It is free.

·        http://ellisisland.org has phenomenal immigration records that often provide a great deal of information about the individual you are researching as well as their family.  Free.

·        http://cyndislist.org is like a directory of thousands of other genealogy sites.  Free.

·        http://myheritage.com provides links to others’ records.  This site is not free.

·        http://deathsearch.org is similar to findagrave, but they each have some records not found on the other.

·        If you have Jewish ancestry, there are two fabulous sites to research.  http://jewishgen.org and http://www.yadvashem.org/, which has many records from the Holocaust.  Both of these are free.

There are probably hundreds of other genealogy websites, but these will give you a good start.

To maintain your records, you can put everything on paper and/or use genealogy software.  I use Family Tree Maker, which is not among the less expensive.  There are free programs available online that may not have all the features offered by the expensive one, but they are a good place to start.  Check with the Family History Center to get the forms to complete about family members.  I believe you can download them from their site as well https://familysearch.org/.

I hope this information is helpful for many of you considering genealogy.  I do not do anyone else’s research, but if you need help with how to research, feel free to contact me.  I hope you enjoy tracing your own family tree as much as I have with my own.

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