Genealogy: A Brief Primer on Tracking Down Your Roots

Genealogy is the most popular hobby in the United States. Tracing downs one roots can help people understand where they are been and where they are going. Unfortunately, many people start their genealogy later in life. The best time to start in the opinion of one Northumberland County courthouse clerk is when you are younger. There is a good reason for this assessment. When you are younger the people you need to speak to are still living. Grandfathers and older aunts and uncles can be good sources of information about who your ancestors were. Generally speaking, they may also already have compiled the information you need to know.

While the Bible may speak out against genealogies, other than the one used to trace the lineage of Jesus, some religions, such as the Mormons maintain a large genealogical database for religious purposes. If you wish to track down your ancestors,the local Mormon church will often have a library filled with computers and a few copies of courthouse records the local church has been able to obtain. Once you know who you are looking for however, it is easy to trace your family roots back for several generations, typically until they came into this country. If you are tied to royalty, odds are you will be able to trace your lineage back to Adam and Eve, however, it should be noted that the farther back genealogies go the more likely they are to be fictitious.

For those who do not want to use the resources of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, such people will likely have to spend many hours tracking down courthouse records of birth certificates. The issue gets more complicated the further in history you go back as counties often get formed by being split off of other counties that were formed earlier in the history of your state. At least this is the case in Pennsylvania. Unless you can find the records online, which will be extremely unlikely especially for the older handwritten ones, you will have to make long trips in order to find out exactly who you were descended from

While there are online sites like ancestors.com, I have been unimpressed with them since they told me my real life last name was Scottish. Unfortunately, as I have done my genealogy having grown up in the Mormon church, I hoping to know that the earliest ancestors bearing my real life surname came from Switzerland in the 1790s. However, ancestors.com was not the site responsible and I believe they have a greater commitment to accuracy than that.

Tracking down your ancestors may take time but it tells you something about who you are and helps you develop and idea of where your family has been. If you can find the medical records it may also help you track down medical problems although this is usually not why most people try to track down their roots