Genealogy Research: First Steps to Finding Your Roots

Knowing more about your family history can be an exciting adventure. To get you started, here are the first steps to finding your roots.

Start with what you have
Important details such as names, nicknames, photos, documents and official records can be found conveniently at home. Ask the names of your relatives, your father’s siblings, your grandfather’s parents, etc. Old photos and even postcards can possess clues about your family. Older folks are more willing to tell stories. Wills, land deeds and immigration records can lead you to specific locations where your family originates.

Research on vital statistics
Dates of birth, places of birth, marriages and deaths are the most important statistics you should have right away. You can get these by asking your relatives or looking over official records and family bible.

Interview relatives
Take note of the important dates, places, and names of family members. The stories of your family history allow you to understand family traditions and legends which will prove to be very helpful as you go several generations back. They may have some exaggerations but family stories have a factual basis, giving clues for additional research.

Focus on one area
Once you have gathered important details and family testimonies, you can now pick your focus of study. You may choose to learn more about a specific ancestor or an ancestor you were named after, the descendant of your father’s grand parent or your mother’s family line. The point is keeping your research in a manageable level and not on favoring a particular family line. This can be a very complicated project so it is important to keep it as simple as possible.

Visit places where your family lived
Cemeteries, churches, courthouses, etc. hold records of your family. The internet can be a good source of valuable information too.

Keep a record
No matter how big your family is or how deep you want to go on your research, keeping track of your progress should not be reduced as an option. Records gathered from interviews, results from web search and documents from courthouses and books should be indexed and documented properly for quick reference. You can use downloadable blank genealogy charts, genealogy software program, family group sheet and pedigree charts to help keep track of your progress.

Verify newly found information
Errors, whether intentional or unintentional, can happen during your research so before making any final note, gather as much information as you can and test it against each other to rule out any possible errors and affirm assumptions, theories and hypothesis.

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