Things You'll Need:
- Notebook, paper, pencil and highlighter
- Digital or tape recorder
- Computer
- Internet connection
- Access to family history website
- Family history books
- Genealogy forms listed below
- Scanner or copy machine
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Step 1
Examine family photographs and papers. Important names, dates and information are revealed in family employment and banking forms, formal correspondence and personal letters and in legal documents. Names are typed in full, frequently with addresses and dates of residence. Old photographs often have penciled names on the back. Copy any information located from these resources into the notebook.
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Step 2
Develop questions from the information found in Step #1. Write those on a separate sheet of paper and keep them with the notebook. Questions might include last names of individuals, locations of people in photographs, dates for home ownership and work history, names of sons and daughters and siblings of family members and dates of marriages.
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Step 3
Talk with family members, using the recorder to document the conversations. Ask general questions from the research book. Memories are not always foolproof, so don't challenge the recollections of interviewees. Allow the person to chat, even ramble, because important information might be revealed without prompting from the interviewer. Collect all information and place it into the notebook.
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Step 4
Research family birth and death records. Duplicate all of those and take notes concerning each person's birth mother and father. Pay special attention to the date and location of the births because that will help trace the family line. Every U.S. state has an office that will supply copies of birth and death certificates for a small fee. Use the Ancestry.com link below to locate a page with links to each state government page.
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Step 5
Fill out family tree information on genealogy forms. There are many types of family trees, and one should select the one that feels most comfortable. The forms are found on the websites listed on this page.
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Step 6
Research the extended family history. Use the U.S. Census to tract the information found in the family birth and death records. Networking with other researchers is an easy way to quickly collect information for the family line. Add information, as it is found, on the family trees.
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Step 7
Link the family name with coat of arms. This process will take some time, perhaps many years, to accomplish. The male line usually represents the family crest, so use the genealogy forms for the male head of the household. Early records will specify only the male, so this will be a clear process once the groundwork is in place. (Women were given the right to represent the family in extremely rare instances such as when a male heir was absent, so don't totally rule out all female listings.)
