There are as many ways to begin the search for your family history as there are leaves on a family tree. One way is to start with what you know.

Consider Your Goals 

For example, you might want primarily to

• Learn about your forefathers and mothers
  
• Solve a family mystery
  
• Find your place in the world
  
• Preserve a legacy for your children and grandchildren
  

Your goals will probably change over time, but right now you’re setting goals as a reminder of why you are doing this.

Start collecting

Collect everything you can think of: photos, videos, Family bibles, documents. Contact relatives that are alive and collect as many memories and physical objects as you can find.

Pro tip! — Don’t forget to check with your family‘s neighbors. Sometimes they have info your relatives never had time to collect.

Cite Sources

We don’t want to go any further before talking about citing your sources. This basically means “how will I find where this information is when I need to find it again– and I will need to find it again.”

Every piece of your puzzle should include a citation with who, what, where, when, what page, you found it and any other information that is applicable. “ I found it on Ancestry” isn’t enough. A good citation should look something like this.

I also note when I found the info, because  I might want to re-mine this source for additional info later.

Pro tip! — You’ll also want to track where you didn’t find information that you expected to find. This in itself could be a clue. For example, if your great grandfather’s birth certificate can’t be located in the town you think he was born in, maybe he wasn’t born there.

Chart your family tree

Online vs Local Computer vs Paper

Online	Your Computer	Paper and Pen, Hard copies, Binders
Examples: Ancestry WikiTree 23andme Findmypast My Heritage	Examples: Roots Magic FamilyTreeMaker Mac Family Tree Family Tree Builder	Examples: Pedigree charts Word Templates Photocopies Photos albums
Advantages: Networking with other users Easy access of tons of information AI can assist you GEDCOM files can port information to your PC or other platforms DNA tests can connect you to other relatives	Advantages: You own the data Easier to search than paper Takes up little space Can be replicated “in the cloud” or on other media	Advantages: Not on computer You may have more context Extra information than a computer search can yield
Disadvantages: Can be expensive The company owns the data Programming changes out of your control Companies can go out of business Information can be misused, stolen or hacked You can easily replicate others’ mistakes or inaccurate information	Disadvantages: You are responsible for backup Subject to loss due to changes in technology (floppy disc, anyone?)	Disadvantages: Hard to organize and search Takes up space and can be heavy Can be destroyed by water, fire, in physical moving, rodents

You will probably find that using all three, in different ways, can bring the best results!

Pro tip! — Keeping a copy of your tree with you (perhaps on your phone) at all times. You never know when you’ll come across a clue to your family history. You may need to know the name and birthday of your great great grandmother!

Cyndi’s list is a wonderful resource for templates and forms that can help you, such as:

• additional family tree styles
• family group forms
• research plans
• spreadsheets
• timelines
• to do lists

…. and many more!

Add Details

Now the hard detective work begins. Also all the fun. 

Fill in all the details you can find about the people, places and things that make up your family history.

Locate Vital Records

Vital records (birth, marriage, death) from the town where the records for the event are stored. (This may not be the place where it occurred.)

Evaluate Conflicting and Erroneous information

You’re going to find it. The aunt who is sure your great grandparent is a full-blood Cherokee. (DNA says, no way.) The death certificate with the wrong birth date because the person filling it out was stressed or wrong. The three generations of John or Mary Smith (Or Johann and Marie Smythe) with no way to figure out who is who. The two brothers with the same name because one died in infancy.

You’ll want to carefully evaluate all of the information you find.

DNA?

Do you need to use it? Of course not. Will you want to? It can open doors that can’t be opened any other way. It can lead you to “cousins” that may hold the information you have been searching for. It can clear up mysteries. It can surprise you.

Pro tip! — Heed your mother’s warnings and proceed with caution: Your third cousin twice removed is still a stranger, even if you share DNA.

Other sources

• Military records 
• Census records
• Immigration records
• Newspapers
• Church records
• Cemeteries, gravestones and burial records 
• Wikipedia 
• Genealogy books
• School records and yearbooks
• Local historical societies 
• Local and college libraries 
• Library of Congress

Find Helpers

You’ll soon learn that it’s fun (and helpful) to have friends and associates to help you on your journey. Joining a genealogy club (like us!) can open vistas you never imagined.

Other helpers include:

• Historical societies 
• Facebook groups
• YouTube channels 
• Genealogy conferences (National Genealogical Society (NGS) Family History, RootsTech)
• Librarians and archivists

Repeat, repeat, repeat!