To get your own free page CLICK
HERE!This site is
hosted by: To get your own free page CLICK
HERE!
This page was updated 11/17/97
Below are some general thoughts on genealogy that are our own opinions and are not written in stone. We have been down the research road and learned a few things. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Genealogy should begin in several places. The first and most important place is – your heart. You must have a great desire to learn new things, dig deep and don’t give up!!! If you plan on tracing your family back prior to court records (before 1850 or so) you might as well resign yourself to using the best source available. What I am trying to say is that prior to that time records are very sketchy. If you see something documented one time, you may not want to use it. If you see it documented more than once, it could be considered reliable. For instance, in our family history a certain Valentine Bush, according to his headstone, was born in 1807. We spoke with many family members who said he was born in 1799 and read several newspaper articles that stated he was born in 1799. We have no birth certificate or any other "official" record of his birth but we feel confident that he was born in 1799.
The second place genealogy should start is with your parents or grandparents. Check with relatives to see what they have in their attics!! An old family bible may be very important to them, yet they may have forgotten they have it up there in the attic! Ask about old letters, pictures & scrapbooks. No matter what physical documents they have, look at them carefully – is there an important date written on the back of that photo?? Listen to your relatives stories and take notes, not matter how much their story differs from another relatives story. Some of the stories may sound too outlandish to even consider researching but, remember, most stories all started out with some truth to them!
The third place to start once you have gathered some information and have a general idea of where your family came from – proceed to the capitol of your state!! Every state capitol has a "State Library" and as far as I know they all contain a genealogy room that contains many many books on your state and the ones that surround you. Most of them also will have genealogy material on the states that made up the original 13 colonies since that is where all of our ancestors began in this country!! If you end up doing research in one of those states it is very important to get a map of how the counties were formed. Even if your ancestor never moved in their lives they may have lived in 3 or 4 different counties and any records for them will be in those individual courthouses.
Plan on a trip to the area you are researching and go to that courthouse, library and historical society. Talk to the townspeople – they remember things, trust me!! Doing research from your home state and on the internet can be very useful but nothing puts you in the right frame of mind like walking the streets or crossing the same creek as your great, great, great, great grandfather did!!
When you are searching records or anything for that matter and come across your surname but don’t recognize the given name – save it!! It will tie in somewhere! It is much easier to save it than get home and find out you needed it!
If you have an unusual surname, try doing a "people find" search on the internet for that name in the town or towns where they lived. You may find a relative – we sure did! Don’t be afraid to write them a letter, e-mail or even call them – remember: kin is kin no matter who you are!!
Look for cemeteries in the general area where your ancestors lived. Remember, back then most families had their own cemeteries on their land. That does not mean the house is still there – you may find that you can see the hill in the distance and it looks like you can even see headstones……Don’t forget to ask permission to climb fences (some are electric – been there, done that!!). We have knocked on so many doors and explained who we were and when we ask for permission to their land, we have never been denied. I assume they figure if we are crazy enough to drive 7 hours, climb fences, get poison ivy and risk getting bit by a snake, then it’s no problem with them!! One small note on the snake thing: if it is a very hot, sunny day, no self respecting snake will be out, but don’t go picking up rocks or reaching under rock ledges because that’s where they will be!!
Subscribe to the newspaper in the town your research is in. It is interesting to read and you may find out about a family reunion. You can also place an ad or write a letter to the editor. It also helps if your related to the editor!!
11/17/97
Probably one of the most important things to do first is DOCUMENT where or from whom you obtained ANY bit of information, no matter how small it is!! We have learned the hard way, trust me! I have things that I know are fact and were from a proven source, but am I able to tell you what or who the source was? No, because it did not seem important then. Well, it has come back to haunt me on numerous occasions!
If you use the internet to do your research, here is a suggestion: Let's say you are on some of the mailing lists and you see your surname but you realize they belong to that "other" line! Don't delete! Create a file folder in your mailbox to store those because, I guarantee, you will see a message from someone else looking for information on that line. Pass it on to that person! If we all unite and try and help each other, even if it takes us out of our way a little, someone may do the same for you someday.
11/17/97
Don't give up!
If you reach a brick wall, sit back and give the
family tree a breather! Take some time to step back away from it
all. Let's be honest, not going anywhere!
Don't put all your trust in the IGI
(Latter Day Saints program), they have done a wonderful job on
millions of people. But, here's an analogy: if you are making 3
pies, chances are they will turn out great, but, if you try to
make a 1,000 pies, chances are they will still be pies but would
they have all the ingredients?? The IGI is a good place to get
the basic info, but you need to verify it somewhere else.
Home is where to start your
family research! Click on the house to go back to my home page!