Family History and Genealogy Success !!

You might be just starting out this new year with working on your family history — great ! You are never too young or old to begin such a project – for you will be creating a lasting legacy.

However, as the weeks and months roll along, you might get discouraged if you have not had much success in linking your ancestors and learning more about them.

The following are a few tips for success to encourage you along this journey.

FIRST – most important is to have patience. It will take time to look up things, to send away for copies of vital records, to spend time in a Family History Center, to complete interviews with relatives — even researching online takes time. After all you will be covering the decades of life on numerous people — it will take time.

SECOND – Use local hometown resources. Concentrate one one hometown at a time of a family branch. Call or write to that local genealogy society, to their local historical museum, the county courthouse, the churches, the local library and see if there are any books written at any time on the people of that community. There just might be a wealth of information in those local places.

THIRD – Keep yourself organized. So quickly as you are gathering photos and records it can become overwhelming. Have folder or file drawers for specific surnames. The best would be the two sets of grandparents — your mother’s parents and your father’s parents. Remember the females you want to use their maiden name.

FOURTH – Use resources in your own community – even if it is not the ancestral hometown. If there is a nearby Family History Center – do use its free services. Next would be a local genealogical society. Most do carry books and databases on other parts of the country.

FIFTH – Check and recheck all the details. It is so easy to get dates and names mixed up. The ancestor’s full name was Henry Walter Jones and you start looking for Henry William Jones. Yes, you might find such a person, even with a similar birth year or hometown, but it doesn’t mean that person is your ancestor. So check and check again the details. Be willing then to make corrections if necessary.

Related FamilyTree.com genealogy blogs:

Tips to Make Genealogy Frugal

Tips on Organizing Your Research

Ideas to Get Back on Track