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The Ancestral Detective -
Basic How-To Tips to Researching the Family Tree
Researching your family tree can be one of the
most rewarding things you will ever do. It can help you to gain a
sense of place. It can help give you a background that you can
understand and identify with. It is, however, an arduous, and at
times, overwhelming process that will take years. When you get
ready to start your genealogy research, consider the following
four areas: the family home, your own information about important
family events, interviews with family members, and research that
has already been completed by others.
The first thing to consider when you start your research is the
family home. This may be your home or that of another relative.
While you don't necessarily have to be examining the home itself
(though you could be if it is been in the family for years), you
should be looking at heirlooms, gifts, and papers that have been
handed down from generation to generation. These things can give
you little bits of information about your relatives from the past
and their lives. They can also help to give you some context in
which to start your research.
When you begin this search, it is important not to overlook
anything, as items can have dates or manufacturer's stamps that
can help you identify places and dates. These relics can also help
you understand your relatives in the context of time in terms of
their tastes and social status within their time period. Clothing
like wedding dresses and military uniforms can help demonstrate
your relatives' sizes. Furniture is a good indicator of social
status. Jewelry is likely to be engraved and, therefore, provide
some dating clues. Books and letters can provide some clue as to
the educational status of your family members. Toys and other
kinds of collectibles can provide some level of understanding as
to the popular past times of the period you are researching
Once you've located the heirlooms that are
valuable to your research, be sure to store them properly. Light,
temperature changes in any extreme, insects, moisture, dust, and
mold are all real problems with object storage. Be sure to choose
a storage location and container that is free from these problems.
Before you do any sort of cleaning or displaying, be sure that you
know how to best care for the type of object you are dealing with.
Sometimes simply handling an object can destroy it. Do a bit of
research on how best to deal with your particular object or
consult a conservator. Once you've determined how to handle the
object, clean it carefully, and choose the best method of display
for it. Be sure to let relatives know, whether in person or on
paper, a little about the object. After all, the secret treasure
shouldn't go to the grave with you as it did with your ancestors.
Once you've found your family heirlooms, work on researching your
own memories. Start by making a simple family tree with birth
dates, death dates, and any other information you can come up
with. Start with you and your children and work back as far as you
possibly can. This list, no matter how incomplete, will help you
decide where you have gaps in your information and where you need
to start your research. Once you've made your list, consult a few
other relatives to determine where you are correct or to fill in
the missing pieces.
This brings us to our next step: interviewing family members. You
should not only interview them to discover the basic information,
you should also interview them to assemble some sense of oral
history: a story of their lives from their perspectives. Remember
that open ended questions get the best responses, and try to be
respectful at all times.
One thing you should consider as you begin the path to family
research is looking at what others have done before you. If you
already know someone in your family who is working on a family
tree, contact them to share notes. You might also try looking at
places like the World Family Tree to see what has been submitted
about your family lines.
Discovering your ancestral roots can be a challenging process, but
it is usually well worth the information in the end.
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