The art of genealogy has been picking up in popularity for the past few years, and it is no wonder why. Many people feel as though they are losing their roots and they are right. It use to be that one’s family tree was just a part of the family. Grandparents lived with their grandchildren, aunt and uncles live close by and second and third cousins were just another part of your family.
These days, with the ease of travel, families have become scattered across the country. Now when families meet, they are more concerned with catching up about each other’s present rather than recalling the family’s past. This has lead many people to wonder “Who am I? Where did I come from?”
Making a family tree is not so difficult, but it is a lot of work. Fortunately, with the popularity of the internet, the task is not as dusty as it use to be. Many public records are starting to become available online, so starting your family tree can be as easy as asking a few questions and booting up your computer.
The first place to start with your family tree is in your own head. Write down all the family members that you can recall. Don’t despair if you can’t get past your cousins and grandparents, you have other sources.
The next step is to talk to other family members. Ask your parents or (if you are lucky enough to still have them) your grandparents to help you fill your family tree out farther. If possible, find out where each new addition was born. You may find along with finding out about distant relatives, you also get stories about those relatives. Listen carefully to these stories. You may even want to record them. Some of these stories may give you clues to where to find other information. Some of the stories will just be for enjoyment. But either way, they are a bit of your roots, so cherish them.
Once you have gotten all you can from parents, grandparents and other family members about your family tree, move onto objects. See if you can find old photo albums, letters or documents in the attics and basements of your known family members (be sure to ask permission). If the photos are unlabeled, revisit your family members to help you name all the people in the photo. It may be that seeing a photo will jog their memories and they will be able to recall even more family.
If you follow these steps, you should be able to fill out your family tree to at least your great grandparents and second, perhaps third cousins. After you have exhausted these steps, the real work begins.
Start by looking up each of your family members on the internet. Also look up the towns, cities and counties that they either were born, died or gave birth in. Many places are now putting their public records online. From these, you should be able to fill out your family tree a little bit more.
If the locality that relates to your relative does not have their public records online you will have to make a trip out there physically to check the records. But the internet can still be useful. You can use it to find phone numbers of the town or city hall and perhaps the local historical society. Be sure to call and ask where the records are kept and if they even still exist. You would hate to make your trip, only to find out that the records were destroyed in a fire back in 1912.
Tracking down your family tree can be lots of fun and very rewarding. You never know, you may be related to nobility or to a famous mass murder. You will never know unless you make your family tree.