How to Begin Researching your Family Tree

Have you ever wondered who you came from? What were you ancestors like? What did they do? Who did they marry? Where did they live? If the answer is yes, follow these few steps to finding out about your family history!

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• family records of births, marriages, and deaths
• internet connection

1. Start with yourself as a starting point and work backwards. Collect letters, photographs, baby books, and family records.
2. Next, check obituaries (that often contain biographical data) and cemetery and tombstone inscriptions.
3. Review the U.S. Census for the last year available and work backward.
4. Military records and court records, such as wills, divorce and child custody documents all contain a wealth of information.

Tips & Warnings

• After you have done some research, check the internet. Ancestry.com and several other websites have many things to help you in your search.