How to Create an Ancestry Tree for Your Family

So you want to find out where you came from. You are pregnant and are wondering what do you tell your children or maybe it is pure curiosity. In any case the results and research can be eye opening and often frustrating puzzles that may take a lifetime just to put together. Be prepared to become addicted to something that is more of a hobby than a quick run to the market to find out your history.

The first issue is that most Americans have little to go on in relation to actual information and events. This means we need to do some "Surface Scanning" as I call it. You need to make contact with the oldest generations of the family still living and ask questions. Get old pictures and dates, birth dates, death dates, and all the corresponding persons you can link to the individuals.

At this point I would expect you to employ a filing system of sorts. A small portable file folder system is great for assembling printed information and notes on family members. I am certain a specific method can be employed to get all the information in the right files; but I am not so organized. I simply make a file for each individual and place all the information and notes in the respective file.

Once you have as much background as possible it is time to head to the web. I recommend a first try on Google; a simple search with a name and a place. In the search bar we want to put something like this: "John Doe + April 28, 1952." This will most likely give us a number of tidbits, but we are looking for specifics. Sometimes we may get very lucky and someone elsewhere may have your relative in their online documentation; this would be the breakthrough of a lifetime. Until you get there I can only suggest you do this search repeatedly with differing information to get the best possible matches.

I am certain at this point you have located at least someone with a similar name, maybe even a place. What you will need to do now is begin to print that info and place it in the folders you have created. In my case I found the first time through I got so excited that I began bouncing from person to person in my tree; do not do this, stay focused! Pick one person and work on them and maybe go to one or two other who share a relationship.

Always remember the male influence when it comes to family names. The female typically carries the males name; hence if Mr. M married Ms. J, she is now Mrs. M. This is always very important to keep in your head so as to not go off looking for an entirely wrong person. Organization and focus are going to be your most difficult tasks to manage and will require your greatest concentration.

Ok - Now you are accumulating records and want to start putting it all together; you have interviewed all your eldest living relatives for pictures and records; you have search Google and others online information without paying a dime; you have filed away everything so far; and now you are ready to go electronic. This is where your computer and some good software come into play.

Genealogy software can help you assemble the entirety of your tree and I have tried many. I will give you my favorite and long standing best software - "Family Tree Maker." This software will not only help you organize your paper records; it will keep virtual hardcopies online and on your hard drive. The software gives you hints as to how to locate more records and is connected to Ancestry.com to provide you with greater success.

Ancestry.com offers a vast amount of records on the web. These records are from files all over the world that are now in a holding system in Utah; as I have come to understand. Regardless of where the information is, the information is going to connect a number of the dots and help you assemble the puzzle even faster. I would like to present a warning tough; beware of those with unfinished or personal misguided trees. Ancestry not only offers actual documentation, but they also offer access to others family tree's; these can sometimes contain the wrong information.

As you begin to put all the information into the genealogy software you will begin to see connections developing. These connections will leave little leaves on your tree; this is an indication that you have a hint. I would suggest that you enter as much information as you can from your prepared paper files before you get into the leaves. This is simply because once you get into making connections in this software you will forget about all those important facts you dug up early on.

From this point you will make all the important cross references; dates, times, places. Each individual will begin to come to life; you will place in your own notes and interesting factoids and soon will have the makings of a good book. In fact, ancestry.com allows you to produce a personal tree or you can choose from any of the numerous designs they offer and have them print them professionally for you.

Ultimately it will be an ongoing journey of enjoyment and information that you can pass on from this generation to all those who come after you. It will immortalize you as the one who explored the past and gave to the future of your family. Once this is settled I believe we can all move towards our future without hanging on to our memories; genealogy allows us to free us to our futures.

www.ancestry.com

www.familytreemaker.com