Researching the Family Tree: A Personal Story

I started researching my family tree in April 2004, just a month before I found out I was pregnant. I guess that little voice inside me saying that I needed to find my roots was my biological clock telling me I was going to have know this stuff sooner than I thought.

Through using free trial memberships at Ancestry.com and other websites such as FamilySearch.org, I was able to find a lot of information that my family members had forgotten. The best place to start though, is always with direct family members. When you reach a road block with them, try aunts, uncles, cousins, and the like, because chances are they may remember something that your mom, dad, or grandparents did not.

I am a lucky one when it comes to family tree research though, because my family is all from where I live, or the surrounding area. If your family loved to move around, you may experience more issues than others, because you'll have more places to search for records.

Because of an adoption in my family that occurred so long ago before records were kept and the adopted member of the family being deceased, I will never be able to go beyond my great great grandfather on my father's side of the family. It breaks my heart because I have been able to go so far back as 14 generations beyond me on nearly every other side.

My best advice to those who are just starting this journey:

-Keep paper and electronic record of everything. Make notes of who you've talked to and who you still need to talk to.

-Do not waste money on expensive software, there are free ones out there. Save that money for records searches or copies of records from your Register of Deeds.

-You're going to hit road blocks. Do not let that get you down. Move onto another branch of the family for awhile before coming back to it.

-Make use of the free family tree communities. You may run into a relative you didn't know existed. In 2004, I posted a question about my paternal great great grandparents. In 2008, a second cousin of mine, that I've never met (who lives in the same town, by the way) responded and was able to fill that blank for me. It took some time, but I didn't spend a dime!

It took years to build your family, and it will take years to build the record of your family. Remember that, and you'll do just fine. Take time to make note of funny family stories, or anything interesting in your family as you go, because there will be someone later on in your family, doing the same thing you are doing now. Make it a little easier for them.