How to Research Ancestry
Researching your ancestry and finding out more about your heritage is enlightening and fun. Looking up ancestors has become a popular hobby in recent years. If you have a knack for research and digging up information, you will love the process of discovering your family tree.
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Instructions
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Choose a surname. You have two families that you can start with: your mother's and father's. Pick one to begin your research.
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Interview your family. Talk to everyone: your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It might be best to start with your parents. They can tell you things about your grandparents and great-grandparents. Get names, dates and places. As you talk to family members, more information will be revealed. Be sure to take notes with your pen and paper as you conduct the interview. Use a micro recorder during the interview so no information is lost.
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Look through memorabilia. When you visit family members, ask them to show you photographs, letters, diaries, birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, wills and any other records pertinent to your family. Birth, marriage and death certificates can aid your research.
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Visit the library. Often libraries have genealogy records. Look for church papers that would contain birth and baptismal records. You also may be able to find city directories, family histories and tax records.
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Go online. While at the library, get on a computer. Visit rootsweb.com first. This site helps people find others who are also conducting research and enables them to share findings. There is an extensive library of information that can help you search. Also visit Family Search at familysearch.org. This site offers free family history searches along with birth, marriage and death certificates. It also offers many other online resources. Visit ancestry.com. This site is where you will find U.S. census records.
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Visit courthouses. At the courthouse you can obtain property records, wills, marriage and death certificates. There may be a nominal fee charged to get copies.
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Record data. Use your notebook faithfully by taking it wherever you go. Write down and keep all the notes and research you have gathered. Your notebook is a goldmine of information and a something you can always refer to.
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Tips & Warnings
Be patient throughout the process of finding information about your ancestors. Sometimes you may seem to hit dead ends or need to travel in order to get more information. Most everything can be traced, however. Remain diligent and stay optimistic.
