Family History, Basics to Begin to Research and Document It

Don't lose wonderful family stories when people die or they are lost forever. They are valuable for your family to pass on to future generations. Better yet have someone audio/videotape any relative telling stories if you can, especially the elderly,

Write down names of relatives, starting with parents, grandparents, their children, and on back as far as you know. Note maiden names, dates and locations where born, died, buried, funeral homes, cemeteries. Check probate court for a will or estate package. Research the local court house or county archives where they first lived, for marriage, birth, death, property, divorce, immigration, tax, voting records, whatever you can find. You can obtain copies there.

If you put together a family history, always keep originals, give duplicates of lists, photo's and documents to relatives. Put originals away in a safe, preferably on a higher floor in case of flooding, use only copies for research. Do not put photo's in the foldover plastic albums or later you will not be able to remove them if not acid free. Best preservation is in an archival safe or acid free box bought in local hobby stores or office supply.

Note favorite foods, drinks, hobbies, jobs, pets, church attended, religion, military, organizations you or others belonged to, political leanings, nationality. You can obtain records from churches, military (Form 180, online) and private organizations.

Noting villages you know of, specific country and areas your ancestors were born in, is really important for further research. When did your ancestors arrive, name of ship, port, date and year, why did they immigrate? Are there still families in another country? Were they single or married when they arrived, what was their first destination when arrived is helpful to know for researching their local court house. Look for records of when or if they bought and sold property so you will have dates of moves and have search possibilities to possibly find neighbors.

These are just the basics but many do not know how or where to start to search and want to go back much further first, that is wrong. You need to start with the newest records such as death certificates and wills, funeral homes, cemeteries, burial information and work your way back. Do not forget the siblings and their information as you will find information you may not have or find with your parents and grandparents' limited search only., don't be afraid to expand to other family members as you will learn much more and we are all significant to each other. In my 26 years of research I am always interested in learning more as the curiosity becomes piqued the more you search, have fun!

I have written numerous genealogy books on various surnames and learned more about history
in the process than I ever did in school as I now had something to relate it to. I may write more articles on genealogy if enough interest is generated after this article. Much of my research was of my Slovenian relatives however my husband's background became the league of nations and very interesting that led to numerous books I wrote as well as writing my own family history book.