Starting Your Genealogy (page 2 of 2)

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The interview:

Eventually you will want to fill in the empty spaces of your forms or add new ones. Trying to get information from family about family can sometimes be more challenging than one might think. There are so many factors that can get in the way of a factual answer to a seemingly simple question. If possible, it is recommended to ask the same question from more than one person who may know the answer.

It may seem obvious, but asking questions from anybody and everybody who might know the answer is the way to go. Examples are: parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces, great grandparents, great uncles and aunts, more distant relatives and godparents. An answer from one person is good, but getting the same answer from another person can validate your data. Of course a different answer than has been previously given can also be a very significant lead in obtaining the truth of someone's ancestry. Seemingly far-fetched  family rumors can sometimes turn out to be very true! It is a good idea to follow all leads.

Then, it's all about the questions you ask. Don't expect someone to automatically volunteer important information for your research. It usually doesn't happen that way. The person you're questioning can have various reasons to not give you a correct answer, may have forgotten the answer or may need to be asked the question in a particular way to jog his or her memory. Asking to see a family photo album can be a great way to start the process. Pictures spark a thousand memories.

Time is of the essence. Memories fade; It's a fact. Whether you're 22 or 94 years of age, memories or details of those memories will diminish over a period of time. So, the sooner you ask those important questions, the better. Most people don't like to think about it, but a genealogist also has to keep in mind that people don't last forever, at least not in a physical sense. Procrastination can lead to the loss of crucial information to your research. Sure, you may still be able to find information later, but will you ever know if you missed the chance to know the whole story? The story is what it's all about. Isn't it?

It is always imperative to eventually confirm information by obtaining corresponding documents when possible. If your family happens to be religious, a family Bible can be a significant source of important information; They tend to have prayer cards and other information that can at the very least give you a starting point for further research.

Now, buy some genealogy software. Keeping all your information organized is so much easier this way. But, the most important reason for storing information on a computer is it can be backed up! You'll still have hard copies of a lot of your genealogy data, but ink fades, coffee spills, fires happen. If you keep your information on a computer, make back-ups routinely and keep at least one back-up copy somewhere else, like at a family member or friend's house. Periodically update that back-up copy as well.

After conducting the above organizational and fact-finding tasks you'll be ready to start the next steps in the genealogy process. Finding, requesting, obtaining and deciphering desired documents can be challenging, time consuming, sometimes disappointing, sometimes expensive, but most always rewarding. If you can imagine your genealogy as something akin to a jigsaw puzzle, but far more important, you will now embark on a journey that will be extremely self-rewarding.

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