Family History 101 for Beginners

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I used to love to sit around and listen to stories about my grandparents’ lives when they were young. I heard about our extended family’s war stories and how my great uncle floated adrift for 3 days before he was found. I found out I am related to the Wright Brothers from my great aunt. Now I have my own children and I am excited to pass on the stories I heard down to them. The sad part is that as we lose our loved ones, those stories are lost forever too.

A couple of years ago, I took my husband and kids up to North Carolina where my family is from. We spoke to my last living relative on my dad’s maternal side. We stocked up on interviews, took photos of gravestones and listened intently to stories. I met cousins I never knew I had. Then when I came back home, I went to town on recording it all. This is the advice I would give to anyone starting out fresh with family history.

  1. Start drawing out your family tree with the information you know. Begin with yourself then spread out. You can create a tree on familysearch.org for free. The primary information to record is the first and last names, birthdates, death dates, and locations of both. Get as much written down as you know off the top of your head.
  2. Ask questions. Interview your living relatives. Get as many facts written down as possible. Start filling in the information you aren’t sure of. Ask your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. You can also add family stories into the “Memories” tab of the individual’s page.
  3. Research online. Once you have everything recorded that is available through your own knowledge or your relatives’ recall, look at online records for more information. In each family member’s “Details” page, you can see if Family Search suggests documents that may be of help. While on the tree view, click on the person you are interested in. Next, click on their name that pops up in blue. That will bring you to the Details page. On the right hand side of that page, there is a tab that says “Research Help”. This is the spot where Family Search will give you hints about possible records. Look into these documents, if any, listed there that could be referencing your ancestors.
  4. Find duplicates. This system, like ancestry.com is a public system. Other people out there might have already been working on your family tree! On the Details page for an individual, scroll to the bottom right to see a “Tools” tab. Click on “Possible Duplicates” to see if someone else has already created this person you are looking at. They may have already created generations before this! Sometimes you hit a gold mine with this option! *Note: When you create a new individual, the Family Search system may also stop you with suggested duplicates that other people have created. Look at them to see if they already exist in the system.
  5. Use other online resources. Family Search suggests ancestry.com, findmypast.com, and myheritage.com. Some of these sites allow limited use for free or cost for a subscription. Family Search is completely free to use. I have found ancestry.com to be very helpful, with Family Search database coming in second for record availability.

Good luck! Email me at [email protected] if you need any other tips with doing family history!

The featured image includes Melyssa’s great, great, great  grandmother on the top row, 2nd from the left.