How to Figure Out Your Ancestry

With time and effort you can figure out your ancestry.

In a mobile society, it can be easy to lose ties with your past. Yet, at some point, you may begin to wonder about your family history, what sort of people you came from, and where they came from. You may wish to learn about the accomplishments of individuals in your family's past, or you may want to research family traits for important medical information. You can start your search by talking to relatives and then continue the process by searching in online databases.

Instructions

1. Create a chart. Start with the information you already know about your family. Using whatever rough system you desire at this stage, start with you and, with lines, arrows, or boxes, draw a chart of siblings, parents, grandparents, and cousins that shows how everyone is related. As you figure out more of your ancestry, add more information.

2. Visit members of the family. Either in person, through letters or online, talk to family members. Ask about family history. Get any names they know about relatives. Add to your information birth and death dates. Ask about marriages and married names, children, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and more. Ask when people immigrated to the United States or when and where they moved within the U.S. Jot down any information you receive. Be aware that memories aren't always perfect. Dates, names and events can be incorrect. Still, this is a good place to begin after you've noted everything you, yourself, know.

3. Read letters, diaries and journals. Ask permission to read anything family members have left behind in the way of information. You may get little, or you may find a treasure trove of letters, diaries and journals. Documents such as immigration, birth, baptism, confirmation, military, marriage and death certificates can help you figure out your ancestry. Even bills and financial information may provide clues as to names and addresses. Check family Bibles. Treat all material with care. With permission, copy relevant material, and return any material from family members in at least the same shape as you received it.

4. Check legal documents and records. These include military and immigration records. While many legal documents and records are available online, others are archived in small towns, churches, cemeteries and schools. For this information, you may need to make contact by phone and/or visit in person. Any information you have helps you take one more step.

5. Join local and online genealogy organizations. Joining genealogy organizations helps you gain knowledge in how to find ancestry information and in charting the information you collect. Online genealogy organizations may also provide access to others doing research who wish to network with you to exchange information. The key is to use what information you have to find the next bit of information, and the next, until you unlock your family history.

Tips & Warnings

• At some point you will want to use a program, either online or one you download onto your computer, to figure out all the relationships and to add notes containing other important information. Be sure to save the information on a secure server so no matter what happens to your computer, you will not lose months, even years, of research. Also make sure other family members have access or copies, so your painstaking research will not be lost should something happen to you.

References

• My Heritage: Genealogy
• FamilyBMD.com: First Steps
• Genealogy.com: How Do I Start?

Resources

• U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
• FamilySearch: Learning Resources
• Rootsweb: Finding Our Roots Together