Few hobbies anywhere offer the
reward of genealogy. The people who start their family history
soon find themselves on a journey of discovery that takes them
to places they never before imagined-including visits to their
family's homeland and learning who they really were. In this
column we will walk you, step-by-step, through this exciting
journey. You will learn how to get started, how to record the
information you already know, where to find the information you
don't know, who you can talk with to get help when the "digging"
gets tough, and even how the home computer can help you with
this fulfilling task. So walk with us along this road to
discovery, and meet some of your ancestors as we travel.
Every journey begins with a
single step. The first step in doing genealogy is to begin with
yourself. Think of your genealogy as a collection of
individuals, one of whom is you, and each of whom has had a
series of easily identified life events. These events include
the obvious such as birth, christening, education, marriage,
military service, employment, death, and burial. They are
important enough to us that we usually have some record or
evidence of their existence. This is the stuff that genealogy is
made of. Begin your project by writing down all the information
you have on your own life events. This includes recording the
important pieces of information: who is the person involved,
what was the event, where and when did the event occur, and what
evidence is there that the event actually took place (what is
the source of the information). In writing this information
down, there are some guidelines you should follow.
Gather the
Information
Who. Write the person's full name, including all middle
names and any titles that might be relevant (Rev., Capt., Dr.).
b.) Spelling does matter. The name should be spelled exactly as
it appears in the source of the information. In doing research,
it is possible that you may find a family name spelled two,
three, or even more different ways. Make note of any of these
variations; this information may prove valuable at a later time.
c.) Always write a female's name using her family or birth
name-never her married name, as this is how you will locate
information about her prior to, and after, her marriage. If you
only know her married name, then write this in parentheses, i.e.
Mary (Jones). This will serve as a visual clue that you need to
research further into her identity. d). Finally, make note of
any nicknames that your research may uncover and write these in
quotation marks. If your Uncle Billy was really named William,
you would write this information as William "Billy" Anders
Jones. Sometimes a nickname can serve as a clue to other
potential sources of information.
What. Identify the event
as clearly as possible. For example, when listing graduation as
an event in a person's life, specify which level of graduation
is being documented. b.) Use standard abbreviations for events
such as b for birth or bap for baptism. If you develop your own
abbreviations for events, make sure someone reading your work
one hundred years from now will understand what you are writing
about. Consistency in how you present your work is the important
consideration.
Where. Record as much as
you know about the location of a particular event. For example,
a birth may have occurred in a hospital. When recording the
location of this birth, name the hospital, the town or city, the
county, the state, and even the country if necessary. In
following this procedure, you will have a trail to follow to
locate related sources of information.
Remember, in most places in the
world, written records or vital records of events might exist at
any one of the levels listed above; records might also exist at
all levels listed above. Each record might provide a clue to a
further piece of information. A marriage found in one county in
1845 might lead to a census record for that county in 1850. The
where in genealogical research is one of the most important
pieces of information you can discover. b.) It is important to
remember that place names, like family names, might have changed
over a period of time. Doing genealogical research requires that
you learn as much as you can about the history of a community
and where an event might have occurred. For example Turner
(town), Androscoggin (county), Maine (state), might have been
the sight of a birth in 1822. In 1780, that same place was known
as Sylvester (town), Cumberland (county), Massachusetts (state).
The records for the latter place might be located in a
repository different from records for the former. In researching
the marriage record for the parents of the child born in 1822,
the researcher would have to look for records in both
repositories. c.) Use abbreviations for place names such as ME
for Maine or FL for Florida. Again, just be consistent; don't
use MA for one event, MASS for a second, Mass. for a third, etc.
This can be confusing to the reader.
When. As you write dates
in your family history, adopt the international method of date
entry. In this approach, you write the number for the day, then
the standard three-letter abbreviation for the month, and
conclude with all four digits for the year. Thus October 11,
1884 or 10/11/1884 should be written as 10 OCT 1884. This method
eliminates the confusion as to whether it is October 11 or
November 10 and lends consistency to your project.
Evidence. This area is
perhaps the most important, yet the most often ignored of a
family history project. As you gather information, regardless of
its source-from a conversation, a family Bible, a treasured
letter, a birth certificate, or a published family history-it is
critical that you record this source as thoroughly as possible.
This allows you to show where your evidence comes from and could
keep you from unnecessarily retracing your steps at a later
date. Documentation is also necessary for others to judge the
reliability and accuracy of your work. Early in your project you
should develop a system whereby you record the source of a
particular piece of information as a footnote to that
information. You should also maintain a list of your sources
that could serve as a bibliography for a finished project such
as a book.
Record Your
Research
Now you are ready to begin writing what you already know,
beginning with yourself. In genealogy, there are some forms that
are basic to the hobby and it is important that you become
familiar with these forms early in your project. It is on these
forms that you will record all of the pieces of information you
gather.
1. 3 x 5 cards can be a wonderful
means of recording the information on the individuals in your
project. Refer to the sample below for a suggested method of
recording this data. By organizing your data on cards, you will
also make the transition to a computer easier if and when you
decide to do so. The important point is to record as much
information as you can find. In the example above, the *
indicates that there is evidence to support the event listed on
the back of the card or on another card.
2. The pedigree chart is one of
the most easily recognized forms used by genealogists. On this
chart you can show relationships between multiple generations of
a family and trace your ancestry by following back in time along
a particular family line. The most common pedigree displays five
generations of family data on a single page. The first
individual named on the left of the page starts the chart. In
preparing your own family history, you should place yourself as
person number one on your first pedigree chart. The chart then
branches in two to show your parents, then in fourths to show
your grandparents, and so forth. This chart only shows your
ancestors-those people from whom you are descended by blood. You
will notice there is no room on a pedigree chart for siblings,
multiple marriages, or social family connections. This
information appears on the next form.
3. The family group sheet or
family group record allows you to enter all the individuals
connected to a particular family. At the top there is space for
the names and vital information on the husband (or father) and
wife (or mother). Included in this area is space for the names
of the parents of husband (father) and wife (mother). Below, is
space for the names of all the children born to the union of the
two people named at the top, their birth and death information,
and the name or names of their spouses. Should either of the two
individuals named on the top have been married another time,
that data would appear on a separate family group sheet. The
proper procedure is to complete a family group sheet for every
couple you discover in your family history research, and place
an asterisk (*) near the name of the child in that family from
whom you descend. On the back of the sheet, you can enter a
citation for any source materials you used and/or record any
anecdotal information you may have discovered in your research.
4. A research log can prove to be
the most valuable form you work on. It is here that you record
the sources you have consulted and the information you were
seeking. By being diligent in working on this form, you will
save yourself countless hours retracing your steps. It is wise
to keep a log for each person you are researching-one that notes
what you were looking for, where you have looked, and what you
have found. While it may seem overwhelming at first, it soon
becomes second nature. These forms are available in most
libraries, local genealogical societies, family history centers,
on-line, or from a genealogy specialty company. Once you have
them, find a good pencil (ink is difficult to erase), gather
some note cards, a pedigree chart, a family group sheet, and a
research log and sit down in a quiet and comfortable place and
begin to write. From your own memory, write all of the
information you can recall about yourself, your parents, your
grandparents, etc. You have embarked on a journey that could
prove to be the most memorable you have ever undertaken.
