Genealogy is a fascinating and absorbing hobby which can take you in a number of totally different and unexpected directions. If you’re just starting in genealogy it is easy to make mistakes and get bogged down.
If you are conducting your own family genealogy tree quest or are addicted to the fascinating hobby of genealogy for any other reason you will probably make a few mistakes if you are new to this field of research. Knowing what the common mistakes are and how to avoid them can save you time and energy and you may even save some money if and when you know what you are doing.
Let’s examine a few of the more common mistakes made when searching through family history.
One of the biggest mistakes is forgetting to contact your living relatives and asking them what they know. You can uncover some interesting facts, and useful tidbits that can lead you to information that could be your big break when it comes to discovering past ancestors. It’s a good idea to have a list of questions to ask each living relatives and keep the answers in a journal or record book. Common questions include getting full names of their parents, finding out where and when they were born, other family members in their immediate and extended families, how many different places have they lived in (ask for specific city, state, county names), what schools they attended, also don’t forget to ask questions about religion and churches that were attended, ask about special family heirlooms, bibles, photos, or other family memorabilia.
Just because it is in print or found online does not mean that it is true. Also, do not take research done by another family member at face value. Anyone can make mistakes even professional genealogists. Books, and public records can also contain mistakes so to avoid these errors always look for several sources to back-up facts.
Don’t jump to conclusions when it comes to being related to someone famous, even if you do have the same last name! It is very common to want to be related to someone famous and many people fall into the trap of assuming that just because their last name is the same as yours that they must be related. To conduct a proper search, start with yourself and work backwards using both secondary and primary sources during your research.
One mistake that many people make is concentrating solely on names. Make sure you ask plenty of questions about things that will help you to really get to know your ancestors such as:
What did they look like?
Where did they live and how did they live (occupations)?
What made their lives interesting (hobbies, lifestyles, customs)?
Be very wary of mass-produced “coat of arms” or “surname books” that populate the Internet, and mailers that come to your mailbox. Most of these generic family history documents contain very general information, have names taken from the phonebook or Internet and may not even be specific names.
Don’t blindly accept family legends as fact. It is very much like the old game of “telephone” where words get passed from one person to the next and what ends up being told to you may be a different version indeed from the original, true statement.
Always, always, document your sources during your research. Document the name of the source, the location of the source and the date you obtained the information. You may find that later on you need to go back to that source for additional information and a well-documented source will save you time.
If you pay attention to these common genealogy mistakes you should avoid the more causes of delays and mistakes made along the way from others doing genealogy research before you. This will give you a better chance for finding what you are looking for in less time and perhaps by spending less money.