By Dorothy A. Daskam Sargent
It matters not at all why you are searching for your family tree, what matters is that you have fun and that it’s accurate. A wise man once said, "If your genealogy won’t stand up in a court of Law, it is not worth the paper it is written on." Truer words were never uttered. It is better to have three generations proven then to be back to 1600 on a line that really isn’t yours.
Starting on this fascinating quest to find who you really are and why you are like you are starts right at home. Take paper and pencil and write down your own family complete with names, dates, places, birth, marriage, death and where buried if any. Now PROVE it. Look around your home for such as certificates of birth, christening, marriage, divorce, death, burial, naturalization papers, report cards, insurance policies, lodge memberships, autograph books and photo albums. Carefully, verify what you have written down and note the source from which you have proven it. Correct anything you may have missed or omitted.
From here, fan out to include other relatives. Ask questions about them all. See what odd bits and pieces of information they may have stored around their homes. Older relatives keep such items as family Bibles, old letters, military discharge papers, passports, pictures, city directories and telephone books from areas in which they formerly lived. The list of HOME SOURCES is endless. Usually someone in the family has jotted down Birthday Book entries or made a sketchy pedigree of the family. This all takes some digging but it is worth the effort.
By now you have accumulated lots of seemingly unrelated notes and items. It is time to GET ORGANIZED if you haven’t already. The FAMILY GROUP SHEET (FGS) is an indispensable aid in recording what you know about your family . FGS can be found in any good genealogical book in a library, on the Internet, or in book stores with genealogical interests. They can also be ordered by mail or printed by Genealogical Computer Programs. Look them over and see which one fills your needs best. Some even go so far as to include medical information.
The PEDIGREE CHART goes hand in hand with the FGS. Most Pedigree Charts list four to six generations on them. Those names will be your ancestors. Aunts and uncles will be listed as siblings of your ancestors and will appear on the FGS. Except for the first name on a Pedigree Chart a male will always be on the top line with his spouse listed below.
The usual way to keep a Pedigree Chart is to fill it as you work on the FGS. Sources are listed on the FGS and not commonly on a Pedigree . If you hurriedly jot down information on a Pedigree Chart and forget to list the source, you will sooner or later have data you don’t know from where it came. Use the FGS FIRST, PEDIGREE CHART SECOND. We all violate this rule at times and we are often sorry later.
When you are starting to talk with family members, a Pedigree Chart is often the only way to keep up with the conversation. Go home and IMMEDIATELY fill out the FGS before you forget who goes where and from whom or where the information came.
For those computer buffs there are several very good genealogical programs to make record keeping easier. Personal Ancestral File (PAF) and Family Tree Maker (FTM)are two of the best and most commonly used . They both have their good points and both have short comings. Your genealogical purposes will determine which one to use. CAUTION: CHEAP OR DOWNLOADED PROGRAMS may soon not fill your needs. Make certain whatever program you use has GEDCOM capabilities.
Now would also be a good time to get acquainted with your local library.. No one can do genealogy very long without running into the need for a good MAP. Libraries have good ATLASES AND GAZETTEERS for many time periods. They also have COUNTY HISTORIES which often contain much older maps. They always have at least one County map showing TOWNSHIPS OR PARISHES and one showing all counties in the STATE. A current road map will help you to not find yourself on dead end roads when trying to find an elusive cemetery or new relative. Make more copies of county maps before you start writing on the only one you have. Most libraries also have INTER LIBRARY LOAN SERVICE to aid in searching later. If one finds obtaining a County Road Map difficult, writing to the County Highway Department in the county seat of interest will usually net one. There sometimes is a small charge for this service, just as there is for copying in a library.