Resource Center

HOW DO I BEGIN?

The fastest growing hobby in the world is "Genealogy."  M-W dictionary gives us the meaning as "an account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or from older forms."  The problem is that everyone really wants to know MORE than just an account of "who" our ancestors were.  We also want to know; How did they live? Where did they come from? What did I inherit from my ancestors? Thus, the hobby of genealogy is becoming, or soon to be more widely know as "Family History." 

• Get yourself organized. (refer to "Organizing your Research" in the Tips Section for more details).
• Use a Family Group Sheet (you can find some on our "Charts and Forms" page). 
• Learn the "Conventions of names, dates and places" (found in Resource Center Community).
• Make a research log, or notebook, to write down where and when, what source, documents, that you searched.  It seems unnecessary, but you will be tempted to look in the same documents if you dont do this.
  
  
• Write down what you know. Always work from the Known to the Unknown! Work backwards from today to the past.  Start with yourself, write down your vital information; birth, and marriage (if applicable), dates and places, then the same with your spouse. Next, do the same with your parents, and your grandparents, if you can.
• Contact your relatives.  Your aunts, uncles, cousins, whoever you know, for they have a wealth of information to help fill in the blanks on your sheet.  Ask them for stories that they remember, they places they lived.  (Check out the "How to write a contact letter" and "sample letters" in the tips section.)
  
  
• Get those records! It is very important to back up your information with documents. It helps "prove" the data you have. These documents will also provide clues as to the names and places of the next generation of your ancestors. Remember to "source" your documents as you are filling out your forms.  You will want to look at those documents again to seek additional clues.
• Create a timeline on your ancestor.  Graph it out, learn the history of that time period, and the history of the area  of your ancestor.  Was the ancestor involved in a war?  Was there a courthouse fire that burned records?  Was there an epidemic?
• Its easier to start with Death Records.  Those records will lead you to birth, funeral, cemetary records, obituaries, and if later then 1967, to a social security application. 
• Next common record to search are the Census Records; federal, state, special censuses.  (Samples of information found on individual Federal census records are found in Tips section.)
• Search State and County resources; court records, probates, wills, estate records, tax lists. Check the local Genealogy and History societies, newspapers.........(check the source list found in Tips section.)
• There are thousands of sites to search online that may have information on your family.  You may start searching them on our Helpful Websites.  Use them frequently, but always with caution!  Always back them up with documentation.
  
  
• Keep good records of what you information you have, and what documents you found. Every researcher has their own method of filing. Which ever way you do it, make sure you note somewhere what documents you have received, then you know what to look for!  Consider using a software program to help organize your data. Go to our section on "Genealogy Software" where you will find information on some of the programs available.
• Cite your Sources.  Cite your Source (the document, or person) as soon as you have your source in your hand.  There is a format for citing sources that is consistent for all genealogy research.  Learning  how to correctly cite your sources from the beginning will make it easier for you later.

To see examples of some of the records available, do the following:

RIGHT click on the individual links below and choose OPEN IN NEW WINDOW.

Adoption	Cemetary	Divorce	Marriage	Will
Baptism	Census	Employment	Military
Bible	Court	Immigration	Naturalization
Birth	Death	Institutional	Newspapers
Business	Directories	Land	Tax

 

Please let us know if any of the links are "broken" so we may correct them!