Getting started

1. Start with yourself and work backwards. Do not attempt to select a person from past centuries and force that person to be an ancestor of your own, just because he has the same last name.
2. Begin with what you know. Record birth dates, places of births, christening dates, marriage dates, places of marriages, death dates, places of deaths, burial places, and names of relatives and their descendants.
3. Write down stories you have heard in years gone by. They may be a good work of fiction mixed with a bit of truth, or the stories may be more truth than fiction. Clarify the parts that are fact and the parts that are fiction.
4. Search your home for information. You may have old scrapbooks, obituaries, letters, Family Bibles, address books, or other treasures waiting for you to discover.
5. Begin compiling the information. Genealogists recommend using several- generation ancestor charts or pedigree charts and family group sheets. However, you may choose to compile the information in a notebook, on the computer, or have some other method of compiling the information. Use what is most comfortable for you.
6. Contact relatives to try to find missing information. Schedule interviews, either formal or informal, to find out more information about your relatives and ancestors. Write letters. Give relatives a call.
7. Keep a record of those individuals you have contacted, what information you requested, when you contacted them, if they responded, and what information they provided you with. You may want to keep a copy of the letter you mailed. This will prove to be very useful once your correspondences increase in number.
8. Begin researching. Use the Internet. Visit a public library or record depository for the county of interest, visit courthouses, and/or historical and genealogical societies. If you are unable to travel, write letters or contact the organizations by phone or e-mail.
9. Document everything. Record the source of the information as well as the place you found the information (such as the library or the genealogical society).
10. Network. Attend conferences if you are able, or attend local Genealogical/Historical Society meetings. When visiting places, try to pay some attention to persons nearby. You never know--that person may be a lost cousin who is able to fill in some of your missing information.
11. Be willing to share information. Remember that some of the information you have gathered was made available by some other researcher who was willing to share his information. However, use caution when sharing information on the living. Respect the privacy of others.
12. Most importantly, have fun! Think of yourself as an investigator trying to solve a series of interrelated mysteries. While investigating, you find clues. These clues could either lead you astray or could lead you down the correct path. So, be a skeptic. Verify the known facts in more than one source, if at all possible. Or, think of genealogy as a large jigsaw puzzle, fitting one piece at a time in the puzzle. Do not force the pieces together. Or, think of genealogy as a treasure hunt. One clue leads to another clue. The treasure found is your compiled family history and the legacy you leave behind for future generations