How to Start a Family Genealogy Journal
A family genealogy journal is a written journal of the family and family history. According to The Free Dictionary, genealogy is defined as an "investigation of ancestry and family history" so a genealogy journal is a record that keeps track of your research. According to GeneaSearch, keeping a journal is sometimes the only record that a family has of events and family information later. A genealogy journal not only records current information, but it includes stories from parents, grandparents and other family members, providing stories that travel back in time, and then carries into the future with children and grandchildren.
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Instructions
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Open a writing journal or notebook and start writing names and facts about your family, but start with the youngest children and then the older ones. Start on a personal level; write down your name, birthday, your children, and a spouse if you are married. From there, write your parents names and facts such as their full names and birthdays. This helps organize who is in the family to start with.
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Make a list of questions for family members. Questions include name, birthdays, family facts like the number of siblings and sibling names, occupation, hobbies, interests and any other question pertinent and interesting for the journal. Ask these questions of your siblings, parents, grandparents and your spouse.
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Talk to your relatives -- parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and anyone else in the family. Ask about their lives and take notes in the journal about interesting facts and stories. Ask grandparents for their parents' names if possible, and any stories they can tell about their parents.
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Look for vital records. Vital records include marriage certificates, birth certificates, death certificates or any other information the state has on an individual. Vital records are usually available through the state and information on obtaining specific records is usually found on state websites.
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Organize the information in the notebook. Organize information according to the individual and her location within the family tree.
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Write down personal stories and thoughts of your family members. A family genealogy journal not only includes facts about the family, but also personal thoughts and current events that children and descendants can keep and read. Put important dates and thoughts about them in the journal, like a child's first words or first steps.
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Write the family stories. A family genealogy journal not only needs to have the facts, but it should give the stories about the people involved. Share the stories parents, siblings or grandparents talked about by writing them down in the journal. If you have any documents, such as letters grandparents sent during wartime ,or fliers about events taking place in the stories, include these in the journal. In the case of letters, you may want to rewrite the letter word for word, especially if it is starting to fade, or to make a digitally scanned copy or a photocopy of it.
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Type the journal into a computer. Not only does typing the journal minimize paper usage, but it also allows you to incorporate digital data to the journal and prevents fading that occurs in handwritten journals. Update the journal, adding accounts of important events and information. Get children and a spouse involved in the journal as well to get their viewpoints.
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References
- Photo Credit family image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
