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Begin by writing down everything you know about your family, including the names of people, their locations and the dates of their births, marriages and deaths. You may want to devote one page per person. If certain information is missing, leave a blank that you can fill in later.
Send copies of this initial document to all your relatives with a request for them to enter as much information as possible. Encourage them to add pages for individuals who are familiar to them but unknown to you. Use this as a chance to connect with older relatives by visiting them personally and interviewing them for useful family information. Most will be delighted to show you old family photographs and mementos. -
After you've gathered sufficient information, enter the details into a family tree application so you can see the relationships between members. You can start with a free online website such as FamilyEcho.com. Though not as fully featured as some stand-alone programs, you can record basic biographical details and automatically produce a chart.
For something more robust, try a commercial program such as Family Tree Maker, which is linked under Resources. Not only can you create a variety of ancestor and descendant charts, you can add multimedia and citations for each person and compile everything into a family book that you create on your printer or have produced professionally. -
Continue your research by entering relatives' names into your favorite search engine. Individuals may pop up in social sites, websites or old newspaper articles. Record the source of each piece of information you unearth in case you need to return later for further exploration.
If you live near any one of The National Archives branches listed under Resources, you can research public records such as the U.S. Census and state government documents. As a bonus, the branches have several pamphlets and frequently hold lectures and seminars on compiling your family tree. All these resources are free, though there is a charge if you need to make copies.
Public records, including births, deaths, marriages, wills and property transfers, are available at county offices and also may be available at your public library.
For convenience, nothing beats the resources of Ancestry.com, which has computerized several government and private family records from around the world, including the U.S. Census, immigration passenger lists and military records. A robust search feature lets you locate people instantly. Though it does require a monthly subscription, a 14-day free trial is available.
