As I have done more family history and taken our HQRL classes and those offered other places, one of my take aways is to find sites that you like with speakers that you appreciate. YouTube has all sorts of short videos by great presenters. Google genealogy and see what you find and mess around on the big sites like Ancestory.com, MyHeritage.com, and FamilySearch.com. There is an amazing amount of information on these sites and others that suggest how to go about finding the information you need and the stuff you didn’t know you needed until you found it! They can help you get started. Don't forget RootsTech happening right now!

So where do you start? I found a list of steps on several of the above sites and one thing I noticed that they had in common……Don’t look at other people’s trees until you have some facts under your belt. What does that mean? Have you talked to your family members to see what they know? Do you know the names, dates, and locations of parents and grandparents? Are there stories that you have heard passed through the family? Have you checked any of them out? Have you checked out the box in the attic or basement (or in my case the garage)?

YOU START WITH WHAT YOU KNOW! Who do you know the most about? YOURSELF! Find your favorite Family Group Sheet and/or a 5 or 6 generation pedigree chart, you can check into HQRL and they have some available. Fill in the facts that you know starting with yourself. Next go back to your parents and do the same and then your grandparents. 

Genealogy is always done backwards. Start with the most recent and go back into time. This makes perfect sense if you think about it. We know more about, for example, our grandparent’s lives at the end of them than we did at the beginning. By working this way, you can begin to see trends and verify information. Do names of siblings match from one generation to the next where appropriate and the same with children. Are spouses, parents, dates and locations making sense? 

Before you start digging around in those enormous databases, have you interviewed the family? I know I said that before, right? What do you want to know? Remember that earlier post about why and what? Do you want to know where that family recipe came from that gets served every holiday? I heard a story once; Dad went to his wife and asked why she cut the ends off the ham before cooking. Mom said “because my mom did.” He asked grandma, “why do you cut the ends off the ham?” Her answer. “Because my mom did.” So, you guessed it, “Great grandma, why do you cut the ends off the ham before cooking?” Great grandma looked at him like he was silly, “Because my oven is too short!” Ask the people that were there what life was like, where did you live, why did you move, etc. Do realize that there may be some ham stories in the mix. People will remember what they can or in some cases want to remember or want to tell you, but you will have a start and you can check things out from there. 

Another starting point is to look around the house, grandma’s attic, etc for photos and documents. You may have all sorts of information right under your nose in the family Bible, shoebox of photos and newspaper clippings, yearbooks, etc. Again, check out HQRL. They have a list of places to search for those “in your home treasures.” Ask for the Beginners Packet.

This is enough for now. You need time to do the work and sign up for classes: 

• March 20 – French Canadians

• April 3 – Kentucky

• April 17 – Indirect Evidence

• May 1 – Google Your Way to Genealogical Gems   

Happy Hunting!

Heidi Geise – education@hqrl.com

HQRL Education Coordinator