Guide

The Beginners Guide

Starting my Family Tree

Here area few tips on starting your family tree

1. Talk to all family members.
Write down all those stories "Uncle Pete" tells on Thanksgiving. First, those stories will become precious to generations that never knew "uncle Pete". Second, often in those stories there are leads for your research.

Ask more than once. A lot of times people will remember different things at different times. Talk about the new things you've discovered...this may spark someones memory.

Tape recorder / Video camera. Do interviews. You don't lose info this way.

2. Records on Hand.

Check around for old obits, marriage records, newspaper articles, etc... This can give you a wealth of info & often you don't even have to leave your house to get it.

3. I've done that...now what?

Are your ancestors only to 1880, 1900, 1910 or 1920? Get thee to the library. Usually the head library in your county will keep a microfilm machine(s). Some even have a good amount of census records on microfilm rolls. If not, they at least have your own state. If you need other rolls that aren't available there then ask them to order them from another library. They will do this. Usually these rolls will be on loan for 2 weeks. You don't live by a library with microfilm machines? Well, what about a local Latter Day Saints Church? Some have a family history section which has microfilm machines & you may put an order in for certain rolls. You don't know if your local Latter Day Saints Church has one? Call. They will be happy to point you in the right direction. Still no luck? There are researchers who will (for a fee) look up your ancestor or you may order a copy from National Archives..unless you are lucky enough to live by a local branch. Then just go on in there yourself.

What's on the census? It varies from year to year. It is your best source of info other than wills and family Bibles. From 1850-1920 you have the head of household, & dependents, ages, race, type of occupation, where they were born. Later ones include if they can read & write and where your ancestors parents were born. The census is arranged by state & county. Before 1850 it only list the head of household by name and the rest of the family by grouped ages and gender.

I have no idea where my ancestors were from except the state.

NO problem. The soundex is what you want. They are rolls that list the census by last names (available in 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920) in each state. Actually they group them together by the sound of a last name. You must know your surname code or soundex code. Anywhere that has the soundex has a soundex book which tells the codes. If not, there are MANY places on-line that will convert a name into the soundex code for you. The soundex has head of household, dependents, ages, birthplace, plus where you can find them in the census.

Before the Soundex.

Check the library in your area that houses a genealogical section. They may have the census index. It covers 1790-1870 in most states. It will tell you where all the people with a certain surname were living in that state & year. It gives the page # where you can find them in the census.

4. Records, records, records...

It is important to document your research with things such as: Marriage records
Wills
Obits
Birth Certificates
Death Certificates
Land Deeds
Tax List
You need to approach your research like a court case. You are trying to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was your ancestor. The best 2 pieces of advice I can give a beginner is not everyone with your surname is related to you and that often you will find an ancestor that will at first be confused with another relative. This is why you must build a strong case. In the long run this will save you a vast amount of time.

5. Subscribe to a good genealogy magazine. I suggest NGS Magazine.

6. What is gedcom? It is a program that converts your pedigree into a format that can be read by others across the net & via snail mail.

7. There are so many Genealogical Programs.... I suggest starting with Family Tree Maker.

Part II: CRUISING THE INTERNET

Tell me what I need to know to get started with my genealogy online!

1. Leaving a query. When you leave a query online try to give the most important infomormation so that the reader gets a general idea but doesn't get bogged down by unnecessary facts. Dates & places are VERY important to a query. Update your queries when you get new info. It might be just the thing to connect you & another researcher.

2. Finding good links. To start you might just want to begin with a search engine like Yahoo or Google & type Genealogy. This will call up many pages with good links. Some of my favorites are Cyndi's List Of Genealogical Sites.

3. Mailing List. What are they? A mailing list is when people with the same surname, interest, or state communicate through email. When you email anything on this list it will be sent to all on the list. It is a good way to talk to people with the same surname. Also, a great way to get a lot of mail .

4. All I see are highlighted names... Ok, run your mouse over ANYTHING that is highlighted or in some cases the pictures. If it changes from the arrow to the poinnter this means it's a link. You can press the highlighted area & it will take you to that place.

5. Is there anywhere with searchable databases? A few. The FamilySearch Catalog, a few marriage indexes, but not much. If you hunt around though you will find that people have placed in info dealing with certain places or people on the web. Such as: On a county UsGenWeb page you might find marriages between 1815-1820 for that county or you might find Native American information. Just scour the internet. Something new pops up everyday. Try different search words everytime. Who knows what valuable pages you will come up with?!

6. I've seen where people will do look-ups for me...is this any good? Yep, Yes, Oui. Look-ups are great. Two of the biggest source of look-ups come from Books We Own page & UsGenWeb counties. When writing the volunteers to do a look-up for you be kind & limit your request to two people and thank them for their time. Some volunteers are quick & some take a while, but be patient..they'll get back to you.

7. Well, I've always wondered...can the UsGenWeb County Coordinator's do research for me? Nope. Some of are based in different states other than our counties...plus we simply do not have time. Many coordinator's have more than one county & it is hard just doing our jobs much less if we tried to indivdual research.