For years, I have been interested in my family history but at first I had trouble getting started. So I just plodded my way through genealogy websites and books trying to find the best way to get started properly. Getting started doesn’t need to be a difficult process. In some ways, I started the same way many people got their start; I just started. However, if you are looking for a more direct approach to getting started, so that you won’t continually have to go back and clean up the mess that you made in the beginning, there are three steps to getting started on the right foot.
The first step to any genealogy project, and I think the advice of just about every genealogy expert I have ever read, is to start with what you know. Take some time and write out a brief family tree from the knowledge that you have in your head. Write down people that you have seen, and possibly their parents if you know those facts. This is the best place to start because it sets the foundation for your future research. This is the easiest part of the research, but it is also the easiest to overlook. By writing down your knowledge, you are not only refreshing your memory, but you may be helping future generations with their search for ancestors.
The next step to beginning a family tree is to go to the U.S. Census. The U.S. Census has been taken every ten years since 1790 and is made public after 75 years. Focusing on the U.S. Census is another one of the easiest ways to discover ancestors. Through many different online sources, anyone can search through the census of different years for a name and a place. These searches may not find everyone on your tree, but they will find many. If you hit a brick wall, move on. At this stage, you are just trying to get a place to start. Make sure to note all of the sibling relationships as you go through because they will help your research later. All of these names and interesting facts will begin to flesh out your family tree while exposing where the holes are that you want to fill-in.
After you have written down from your memory and have gone through the census, now it is time to begin to get deeper in your research. From this point, take the names, dates, and other facts that you have discovered and use them as a spring board to finding out more about them or as a route to finding other relatives in the area. Make sure that you list questions about the holes that are in your tree. Take these questions and begin researching them to find the answers and begin to become an expert of your family history.
Many times, the hardest part of family research is getting started. Using these three steps you can get started in a weekend and begin your lifelong journey of discovering your family story.
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