How to Discover Your Roots and Trace Your Family Tree

There is not doubt that information is almost always lost over time. However, there are ways in which to uncover that information which was once lost. We might not be able to uncover the small details; however, we can come pretty close to it. Most of us only know our family tree as far back as our grandparents and if we are lucky we might actually know that of our great grandparents. Our genealogy (family history) offers a wonderful insight into who we are as individuals and for many of us, that's information we must have in order to understand ourselves better. We are in an age where we have access to resources that we have never had before. As a result, it is much easier to retrieve this information. How do you think it would influence or change your outlook on life if you knew that your ancestors came from a good stock or was royalty; a statesman even? I know for sure that it would influence my perspective on life or possibly how I live my life. In this article I will be providing some basic steps for finding out more about one's genealogy.

Ask questions of your parents, cousins, grandparents (if they are still living), aunts and uncles, about your family tree. Ask your grandparents about their parents, where they lived, where they moved or immigrated from originally, surnames and lifestyles. Look through the family albums, family heirlooms and the like. Then record dates, names and times you've been given in detail or as best you can.

Use ancestry.com to find out more information about your genealogy. First register for their services. Once you are signed up enter the names you have and it will verify it.

One can also do the same at footnote.com. It is a good resource, because it is connected to a national archive. One can find their family name in a document and tag it and those who register or are registered on the site can log in and be connected to a relative.

Familysearch.com also offers pretty much the same services. The more resources you use the greater the chances of you creating a vivid picture of your family history as far back as you like, which can be quite interesting and intriguing. One never knows what can be found when we start digging though the archives of history.

Deadfred.com is a great resource for verifying family photos or photos that you do not have a name for or clear information about.

Tips & Warnings

• 1. Do not limit yourself to one resource or only the use of the internet.
• 2. Do your research at home first.
• 3. Don't go knocking on doors before doing a thorough research first.