How to Conduct Genealogy
The basics of genealogy start with yourself. Discovering your own history and learning where your family came from is exciting. You never know if you'll discover a scientist, artist, politician or a pioneer. You can also learn vital medical history through causes of death listed on death certificates. Expanding your genealogy from your immediate family to your ancestors gives you a sense of connection with history. Those people become more real the more you learn about them. The purpose of genealogy isn't just to record the stale facts but to create the world in which your ancestors lived.
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Instructions
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Record full names, dates, places, times and situations in a notebook or genealogy logbook for your immediate family. Extend to your grandparents, aunts and uncles.
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Ask relatives for copies of birth and death certificates, wedding invitations, divorce and adoption papers, and military discharge papers. Check with county and state records departments to obtain records your family members don't have on hand.
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Check for old letters in attics or cedar chests. Treasures such as birth announcements, newspaper clippings, old ticket stubs or night-on-the-town programs can unveil more details about your family.
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Check the back of family pictures or picture frames for a name, date or place where the picture was taken.
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Visit your local library's special collections on local and national genealogy. Genealogical information is available through online databases that often are accessible through your local library or online with your library card. Search for newspaper archives, family histories, naturalization papers, death and birth certificates, obituaries, land and probate records, and U.S., state and local census records.
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Tips & Warnings
Confirm dates and places with official documents. Don't rely on family memory for accurate information.
Record where you found your facts.
Use caution when you find conflicting information in an official document such as a census. An entry with identical names and places but with different children isn't always the ancestor you are searching for.
References
Resources
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