Starting your genealogy project: a basic tip sheet
Posted on July 19, 2007 in Genealogy by DM
Earlier this week I promised a beginner’s tip sheet on launching a genealogy project. Remember that genealogy is both the search for documentation about family members as well as the gathering of recollections and stories. Larry Lehmer has much better advice than I on the latter, so I’ll focus on the basic tools of gathering and organizing documentation here.
(Note: I began my search with no computer software. I did eventually purchase Family Tree Maker, which I love and highly recommend.)
Here’s how I set up my initial project, which continues to this day. It is not the only way to begin, but it has kept me somewhat organized over the years.
Step 1. Make it your goal (or at least a pledge) to collect as much actual documentation as you can. It’s not likely you’ll ever need to present your research in any kind of formal or academic way, but people can remember things incorrectly and you’ll want documents that give you the facts as well as people who give you the legends. I work toward getting a birth, marriage and death certificate for every direct ancestor. It’s perfectly fine - encouraged! - to collect them for non-direct ancestors too, such as aunts, uncles and cousins.
Birth, marriage and death certificates are generally available from the county in which the event took place, or that state’s archive. This makes acquiring them sound a lot easier than it actually is, but that’s partly what makes this hobby addictive.
Step 2. With your documentation goal in mind, gather two 3-ring notebooks of 3-4 inch capacity, a set of 3 tab dividers for each notebook, and a box of 100 clear plastic page protectors. Label each notebook with the surname of one of your parents, if known. (Adoptees and those with step-parents will have a special and intensely personal decision to make here in as to whether to research adoptive, step, and/or or biological families.)
For the tab dividers, one set of three per notebook labeled “Direct Ancestors,” “Non-Direct Ancestors” (these are your aunts, cousins, etc.) and “Unknown” have worked well for me. Put a supply of page protectors in each tab - you’re going to start filling them with documentation!
Step 3. Gather the following information, as much as is applicable, about you and each of your parents: birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate. Using your computer software (or paper templates if you want to do it the old-fashioned way), start with yourself: create an entry giving as much information as you can based on your own knowledge, others’ recollections, and the documentation.
What’s neat about the software is that when you enter a new person into the system, it automatically asks you for that person’s parents’ info as well. It will therefore quickly become obvious that your task is never-ending. This “auto-create” feature is actually endearing at first… but later it can begin to feel like a bit of a nag - “Yes yes, I know you need Susannah Huffman’s parents - but until I can get to Bedfordshire to look at the Parish records, you’re just going to have to wait.”)
Step 4. With information about you and your parents now entered, add some sibling information if applicable. Then click around in your software a little and note how the program automatically assigns relationships among individuals (based on your input), building Family Group Sheets for heads of households and other useful lists and charts. You’ll immediately appreciate the automation of those tasks, especially once you get past, say, the second generation.
That’s really all there is to it. With these simple tools and tasks assembled and completed, your journey has begun. Hopefully you also have a few stories already collected that you’ve been able to preserve.
You’ll now notice that you suddenly have many lifetimes of new information to gather as you answer the perpetual genealogical question: “That’s nice, dear, but who were her parents?”
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2 comments to “Starting your genealogy project: a basic tip sheet”
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I have often thought that if someone runs for office, commits a heinous crime or does something on those lines, the task of finding out their genealogy will be done by a few enterprising reporters. Of course, the information that they dig up may be no more accurate than what would be found in The Globe, The Star or the National Enquirer . . . (Ask a Kennedy. lol)
Joel, I think you’re right - reporters are indeed likely to pursue at least a generation or two of “family tree” on a public/famous/infamous person, if only because they think the public will want to know that person’s background. (And, of course, they’re trying to uncover some family secrets to fuel the fire.) But, they’re not too likely to acquire that info by systematically studying birth, death and marriage certificates, because it’s too time-consuming and news media today is too immediate. More likely, they’ll just ask the subject themselves, or the neighbors, for the info - which, as you point out, may or may not be accurate. A true study of a public/famous/infamous person’s actual family history requires a lot more work than most reporters can justify in their day-to-day job.