Research by Subject: Genealogy
  
   Added Tips for Beginners

WVC Library Home Page > Research by Subject Menu > Genealogy > Getting Started
 
 
  Start by collecting all the information family members can give you.  Ask everyone you can think of and never assume that Uncle John doesn’t know anything.

 Genealogy is a research science; you collect data, evaluate that data and form hypothesis which you then try to prove by documentation.  If you try to streamline the process and take shortcuts you can get into trouble and off on the wrong path. Choose quality over quantity.  Learn all you can about one generation before moving back to the next.

You ALWAYS begin with yourself, your parents and your grandparents. 

It doesn't matter if you know Gr. Grandma Olson came to Michigan in 1886 don't jump backward till you have recorded and documented who comes after her.

It doesn't matter if Aunt Lucy tells you that your many great grandpa was a cousin of Abraham Lincoln.  You still start with your parents and your grandparents and work backward.
 
Get Organized - build a research binder
  Use forms – pedigree & group sheets which can be downloaded free from Ancestry at http://www.ancestry.com/charts/ancchart.aspx

Get a genealogy program for your computer. See the getting started links
http://www.wvc.edu/library/Research/gen/RBGenGettingStarted.html
for more help with software.  Most popular programs are probably PAF, Legacy, Family Tree Maker, Roots Magic, The Master Genealogist (whose learning curve is much steeper but does powerful reports) and Reunion for Mac users.

Make a list of all possible spelling variants or possibilities of misreads ie
Herrell, Harrold, Harl, Herel, Hereld,Horrel

Sanders looks like Landers in old script so check indexes for both entries

Also be aware of nicknames.  Women, particularly, have nicknames that we don't use that much anymore.  Mary becomes Molly or Polly.  Martha is Patsy.  Sarah is Sally. Nancy and Agnes become Ann. 

Learn the geography

most genealogical resources are organized by county  - but remember it may not have been the county it is today when your ancestor lived there.  The Handy Book for Genealogists is an excellent resource for giving the history of the county, what it was formed from and when.

You will want maps in your research notebook:

- a good county map
- a good map that shows towns
- a good map that shows waterways and roads.

for help in finding maps see the Finding Places page
 
Study the extended family
  It may seem like more work but as you progress backward it will provide you with many more clues.  Pay attention to siblings and uncles and aunts etc. You may get away with just a direct line focus in more modern times but the further back you go you will be pruning clues as well as family members if you do this.

Learn to recognize the girls by their married names.  Women can have especially difficult research issues.  Women were defined legally (in most cases) by the men in their lives. If you don't know who sisters married part of the family is missing.  This means finding marriages is crucial

Pay attention to the neighbors.  Especially neighbors with similar migration patterns (Grandpa was born in Iowa and is living in Oregon and his neighbor on the census shows the same pattern).  Watch migrations - People traveled together; the larger family unit migrated to the same place.  You can look for neighbors and in-laws in sites like WorldConnect for clues about their past and whether they might have known your family in the past.

IIf grandpa is born in Maryland and you discover his neighbors were all from Frederick Co. MD it may be a clue that he is from the same place.

Ask "how did he get her?" when it comes to a marriage - and remember that people usually went courting no further than 3 miles from home. Families often intermarried for generations.  There was a saying "Marry What You Know" and they did.

Particularly in pre-civil war America it is unusual for someone to be all alone. They have a network around them; they are part of a "tribe."  Genealogists call this a family's cluster.  Paying attention the the cluster keeps you from getting off on the wrong John Jones.
As you go through your group sheets make an alpha  list of anyone seen with  your family; neighbors; witnesses; people who marry into the family. (you can put a note after the person like  Hall, Tom - witness at Robert and Sarah's wedding)  Names that keep showing up are usually kinfolk of some sort. Do it in whatever software you are comfortable with - a spreadsheet, a word processing document etc.   Keep this list in your research notebook.
 
Document everything - always list your sources
  There are formal style sheets for genealogy sourcing but whatever you use the main purpose is so that you remember where you got information even if the source is "Aunt Janet" it at least tells you where you heard this.

for published sources give author, title, publishing information.

for county records something like "Nelson Co. KY Will Book A p. 42" gives you a roadmap back to the document.

If it is a website look for title, author, URL
Begin your search by looking for previously done research
  If someone has written a history of your Adams family have a look at it.  If cousins are working on your Monroe family get in contact with them.

http://www.wvc.edu/library/Research/Gen/prevresearch.htm

Many family histories have been published in the last 150 years or so.  There are a number of online collections of these such as those at HeritageQuest or Ancestry.

Also try:

Google Book Search

and the LDS Family History at Salt Lake has their catalog online - many of those books have been filmed and may be borrowed through Family History Libraries

 
Evaluate  Evaluate Evaluate
 
Solid family research is built on primary/source documents - the records generated in the lifetime of your ancestor.      http://www.wvc.edu/library/Research/Gen/sources.htm

You found an online genealogy that takes you back 5 generations. If there are no source documents to show why people believe what they have put there it doesn't mean its wrong but it does mean you NEED documentation to prove or disprove the information.

Evidence is not just for professional genealogists.  It is for everyone because without proof of family relationships a person can spend years researching a line that isn't even their family.

The internet is full of family trees with mistakes - some minor and some major. 
In the age of quick communication all genealogists publish to some degree.   Genealogist rely on networking and gedcoms, queries -   even their theories shared offline -  often end up online and sometimes in garbled form. 

Your only defense is good genealogy practices in your personal research. Prove what you think you know to the best of your ability and show why you believe it to be true.  This allows others to evaluate data based on sources and most of all helps you evaluate your research when you hit brick walls.  Do I really know what I think I know?

Some ancestors documentation may have to be helped along by indirect evidence..  They never left a birth record. The marriage record records few details.  They got buried on the family plot and the stone is gone.  You may only have one document that shows Susan as John's daughter BUT if you have watched the extended family they will help with indirect evidence because her sister's husband witnesses her land transaction; her Aunt Lucy lived next door and she is buried next to her sister.  If you can't recognize any of these people you will miss some evidence.

One of the best tools to help evaluate is building timelines.  You can make these in a word processing program or the notes field of your genealogy program.  By putting your family's events in chronological order you catch odd problems and best of all lives start to take shape in a way that makes you think of them as people instead of names on a form.   Example

Try to get  get copies of the ORIGINAL document via film or from a courthouse etc. when it is an event crucial to proving your genealogy.  In this age of databases the original may have much more information than what you found on Ancestry or it might even tell you something different because the original was misread.
 
Don’t ignore local resources
  All the answers are not online. 

Getting  involved with the local society or local genealogy libraries can help you learn HOW to do research as well as offering new resources. 

For more details check out the library & archives page  http://www.wvc.edu/library/Research/gen/RBGenArchives.html