Search for Roots Can Start at Home

‘I want to compile my family tree--how and where do I start?” The answer is so obvious it can be overlooked: Start with information and records you’ll find at home and in the memory of your relatives.

You will find some family records in baby books, Bibles, diaries and journals (ask your grandmother if she ever kept a diary or journal--you might be surprised and discover a treasure no one ever thought to ask about), old family letters, passports, memorial cards, newspaper obituaries (often inserted between pages of Bibles), pictures and school records.

Genealogical research, while enjoyable and fascinating, does require methodology. Just because it is fun, and you’re doing it only for yourself, does not change the rules for success.

You must have names, dates and places. You can’t find information about your grandpa Pierson if you don’t know his full name, birth or death dates and places he lived.

Determine which records exist that can help you. Where are they located? How can you access them?

Start by looking for information right under your nose--in your own home, at your parents’, grandma’s, Uncle Irving’s and Aunt Clare’s. Talk to the oldest members of your family first.

Living relatives can be a peculiar bunch, especially when you start asking questions about the family’s history. Some will be delighted you are undertaking this project; others will have a negative attitude. Be diplomatic in your requests.

After checking records you find at home or through your helpful relatives, the next place to go is to the records of the city or town where your families lived. There you will find information in church records, city directories, city and county histories, hospital records, mortuary/funeral home records, newspapers, cemeteries, obituaries and tombstones.

Cemeteries may be church-owned, privately owned or owned by the city or county. Their records usually show the plot where someone is buried, who is buried in the plot, who owns the plot, and sometimes the cause of death (disease or accident). However, tombstones often have information not recorded in the cemetery records, and you may be surprised to find out who is buried next to whom.

Next, tackle some county records--these are usually found in the courthouse of the county seat. They may include: births and deaths, civil and criminal suits, deeds and mortgages, guardian and lunacy records, marriage licenses and certificates, soldiers and sailors’ discharge papers, voting lists, wills and probate records.

On the state level, records are frequently found in state archives, state libraries, bureaus of vital statistics and in public libraries. These may include birth and death records, censuses (federal and state), land records, military records, state agencies and state histories.

Finally, there are federal records--among which you will discover some military records, pension records, censuses and bounty land records. Federal records will be found in several repositories, but many are available at the National Archives in Washington, or in its regional field branches.

Now you know the types of basic genealogical records available. Next you must learn where they are located and how you can access them. Then you’ll need to analyze what you find and compile the vast amount of data that you will accumulate.

At this point, I suggest you go to your local library and consult a “how-to” book on genealogical research. Next, join your local city/county genealogical society so you can meet others who also suffer from the incurable disease--genealogy--that you have contacted.