Post by Robin on Mar 25, 2014 14:37:19 GMT
Newcomers to genealogy often don't know where to start. They know they want to learn more about their family and ancestry but they may not be ready to take the dive into buying an expensive Ancestry.com subscription but they don't know where else to look. Hopefully this step-by-step beginners guide along with some general tips for beginners will help.
1. Start with what you know.
You probably know your parent's names and vital data (when and where they were born, marriage and/or died), and maybe your grandparent's and great grandparent's too. Start by entering this information into a family tree platform. Personally, I recommend using either Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org to build your family tree, because these are the two biggest genealogy records databases available online. Down the line, you'll be thanking yourself for having your tree and most of your records on the same website, since it makes it much easier to add citations. Both websites are free for family tree building (Ancestry.com only costs money to access their records database). It's your choice whether you want to make your tree public or private.
2. Continue by collecting information from family members.
Ideally, you want to get as much information as you can from the oldest living members of your family. That may be your parents, grandparents, or even yourself and maybe your siblings. Even an aunt or uncle may know more than you do about your ancestors. Input everything you learn into your tree.
3. Search FamilySearch.org (and other free resources like Findagrave.com).
www.FamilySearch.org is totally free, which is why it's a great place to start, although some collections may only be an index and accessing the original documents may point you towards another website where you have to pay. www.Findagrave.com is also a free, non-regional resource which provides an online database of cemetery and gravestone listings. Most other free resources will be more regional so please check the regional sub-forums to more.
4. Get serious.
When you've exhausted FamilySearch.org as a main resource, it's time to decide whether this is something you really want to pursue or not because with some exceptions, much of what you'll need access to will now cost you some money. Ancestry.com is an excellent resource, though I recommend doing their free trial period first and make sure you're going to find a lot more records that FamilySearch.org doesn't already have (there is some overlap in collections). Additionally, you may have to order records from various organizations which have collections not available online - fees can range from a few dollar to several tens of dollars for one record request (I think the most expensive one I personally ordered was $30). If you're still on board with spending money for your research, I recommend Ancestry.com as your next step.
5. Look for local resources.
It's easy to pop names and dates into search engines of big databases and spot records that match people in our tree. The more difficult part of genealogy is seeking out records from more regional sources because you first have to figure out where to look. State issued birth and death certificates can usually be found at the state's Department of Health, marriage records are often with the county seat. Alternatively, they may be found in local archives. Look in our sub-boards for the regions you're searching within, there should be a sticky topic for resource locations for that particular region.
General tips and advice:
- In my experience, the first records that tend to pop up when you start putting names into genealogy search engines are census records. These are very useful and easy to find but keep in mind that they are quite often inaccurate or approximate. Census records were taken for demographic purposes, not identification, and therefore certain details were not of the utmost importance. Enumerators were not concerned with name spellings so be aware that just because your ancestor's names are incorrect on a census does not necessarily mean they changed their name or it's spelling. Additionally understand that the data recorded was subject to who was supplying the information. It could have been an in-law or child with little knowledge of all the household members, or a grandparent with poor memory. If no one was home, the enumerator was supposed to return later but if still no one answered, the enumerator might have asked a neighbor for their information. You may even come across genders recorded incorrectly - I suspect this happens when the enumerator hears or mishears a name and assumes the gender from it. Lastly, be aware that on most census years, the birth year is derived from the individual's age and therefore it's not unusual to be off by a year or two.
- It's not unusual for other documents to be incorrect as well, especially secondary data. Secondary data is information that is recorded well after the event occurred. So, for example, a person's place and date of birth listed on a death record is secondary information. Additionally, since the information is being supplied by someone other than the individual themselves, it is subject to error.
- So with all these possibility of errors, how do you know what's accurate? A good general rule of thumb is to confirm information with three reliable sources. Some genealogists won't even put data into their tree until they have 3 sources confirming the same information - personally, I will enter info from one source and let the one citation for it stand for itself. Data with only one source I always take with a grain of salt and am always aware it might be incorrect.
- Don't rely on other trees.
Public trees can provide other clues or starting points when you're stuck but only if they have citations for their data and only if those records cited are accurate. Sloppy genealogy is very prevalent so be careful and thoroughly exam everything before adding it to your tree.
- Along the same lines, take certain "family stories" with a grain of salt.
Until you can confirm it with documents, don't assume that family lore like "we're descended from royalty" or "we have a Native American ancestor" to be true. You'd be surprised how often these legends are false. My family claimed to be related to the man who Pike's Peak is named after, which is not true. The other side of my family claimed to be related to Queen Wilhelmina of Holland, through Anneke Jans Bogardus but I can find no evidence of that.
Hopefully, this hasn't overwhelmed you but provided a clear path for you. If you have any questions you haven't seen answered, please don't hesitate to start a new topic for it in the Beginners section.
1. Start with what you know.
You probably know your parent's names and vital data (when and where they were born, marriage and/or died), and maybe your grandparent's and great grandparent's too. Start by entering this information into a family tree platform. Personally, I recommend using either Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org to build your family tree, because these are the two biggest genealogy records databases available online. Down the line, you'll be thanking yourself for having your tree and most of your records on the same website, since it makes it much easier to add citations. Both websites are free for family tree building (Ancestry.com only costs money to access their records database). It's your choice whether you want to make your tree public or private.
2. Continue by collecting information from family members.
Ideally, you want to get as much information as you can from the oldest living members of your family. That may be your parents, grandparents, or even yourself and maybe your siblings. Even an aunt or uncle may know more than you do about your ancestors. Input everything you learn into your tree.
3. Search FamilySearch.org (and other free resources like Findagrave.com).
www.FamilySearch.org is totally free, which is why it's a great place to start, although some collections may only be an index and accessing the original documents may point you towards another website where you have to pay. www.Findagrave.com is also a free, non-regional resource which provides an online database of cemetery and gravestone listings. Most other free resources will be more regional so please check the regional sub-forums to more.
4. Get serious.
When you've exhausted FamilySearch.org as a main resource, it's time to decide whether this is something you really want to pursue or not because with some exceptions, much of what you'll need access to will now cost you some money. Ancestry.com is an excellent resource, though I recommend doing their free trial period first and make sure you're going to find a lot more records that FamilySearch.org doesn't already have (there is some overlap in collections). Additionally, you may have to order records from various organizations which have collections not available online - fees can range from a few dollar to several tens of dollars for one record request (I think the most expensive one I personally ordered was $30). If you're still on board with spending money for your research, I recommend Ancestry.com as your next step.
5. Look for local resources.
It's easy to pop names and dates into search engines of big databases and spot records that match people in our tree. The more difficult part of genealogy is seeking out records from more regional sources because you first have to figure out where to look. State issued birth and death certificates can usually be found at the state's Department of Health, marriage records are often with the county seat. Alternatively, they may be found in local archives. Look in our sub-boards for the regions you're searching within, there should be a sticky topic for resource locations for that particular region.
General tips and advice:
- In my experience, the first records that tend to pop up when you start putting names into genealogy search engines are census records. These are very useful and easy to find but keep in mind that they are quite often inaccurate or approximate. Census records were taken for demographic purposes, not identification, and therefore certain details were not of the utmost importance. Enumerators were not concerned with name spellings so be aware that just because your ancestor's names are incorrect on a census does not necessarily mean they changed their name or it's spelling. Additionally understand that the data recorded was subject to who was supplying the information. It could have been an in-law or child with little knowledge of all the household members, or a grandparent with poor memory. If no one was home, the enumerator was supposed to return later but if still no one answered, the enumerator might have asked a neighbor for their information. You may even come across genders recorded incorrectly - I suspect this happens when the enumerator hears or mishears a name and assumes the gender from it. Lastly, be aware that on most census years, the birth year is derived from the individual's age and therefore it's not unusual to be off by a year or two.
- It's not unusual for other documents to be incorrect as well, especially secondary data. Secondary data is information that is recorded well after the event occurred. So, for example, a person's place and date of birth listed on a death record is secondary information. Additionally, since the information is being supplied by someone other than the individual themselves, it is subject to error.
- So with all these possibility of errors, how do you know what's accurate? A good general rule of thumb is to confirm information with three reliable sources. Some genealogists won't even put data into their tree until they have 3 sources confirming the same information - personally, I will enter info from one source and let the one citation for it stand for itself. Data with only one source I always take with a grain of salt and am always aware it might be incorrect.
- Don't rely on other trees.
Public trees can provide other clues or starting points when you're stuck but only if they have citations for their data and only if those records cited are accurate. Sloppy genealogy is very prevalent so be careful and thoroughly exam everything before adding it to your tree.
- Along the same lines, take certain "family stories" with a grain of salt.
Until you can confirm it with documents, don't assume that family lore like "we're descended from royalty" or "we have a Native American ancestor" to be true. You'd be surprised how often these legends are false. My family claimed to be related to the man who Pike's Peak is named after, which is not true. The other side of my family claimed to be related to Queen Wilhelmina of Holland, through Anneke Jans Bogardus but I can find no evidence of that.
Hopefully, this hasn't overwhelmed you but provided a clear path for you. If you have any questions you haven't seen answered, please don't hesitate to start a new topic for it in the Beginners section.