How to Find Your Ancestors
Royal families of different countries usually have little problem knowing who their ancestors us. Unfortunately for the rest of us, learning about our ancestors can be just a little bit trickier. Here are some ways you can use to unearth the mystery of your ancestors.
Start with yourself. Unearthing your family ancestry can start with something as simple as using pen and paper. Make a draft tree by listing all your relatives and ancestors that you can recall based on your own memory. Include notes on where your known ancestors came from, their birth dates, their death dates (if applicable) and other details about their lives.
Ask your relatives. Once you’ve committed to paper everything about your genealogy that you know on your own, you can call up relatives or your parents to provide more information or fill in details that you may have overlooked. You can cross-check the details given by your relatives with one another, to have the most accurate information or at least enhanced details about your ancestors.
Form a database. Once you start getting information from your relatives, your information won’t be able to fit in one, or even two, sheets of paper. The best way to handle all this information is to open an digital file that can accommodate it. Programs like the Personal Ancestral File, Family Tree Maker and the like. If you’re working with several relatives on this project, you may want to use Genealogical Data Communication, also known as GEDCOM. GEDCOM recognizes different data formats of family tree programs and will enable you to read other versions of your family tree and merge them, if necessary.
Go online. The internet is also a valuable resource to find information on your ancestors, but use this resource with a grain of salt, if not sparingly. Online sites like Genforum, Find a Grave.com and Ancestry.com can provide valuable clues, but don’t immediately assume that the information the internet supplies are fact. Just think of them as clues that need to be verified.
Primary information. How do you verify information? By following the paper trail formed by birth certificates, death certificates, church records (like baptismal certificates), tax documents, titles, published books, online index census records, tax lists and the like.
Verify your information. Whether you have primary information (from documents or first-hand accounts) or secondary information (informatuion from second-hand accounts), it’s always important to verify your information. It can be done by either cross-checking your data or trying to find more information by doing more research.
Slow and steady wins the race. Do not jump to conclusions. There’s nothing more embarrassing than to find out that someone historically notable that you thought you were related to is in fact, unrelated. Take it slow when it comes to your ancestors, and do it one generation at a time, if you can. Knowing all your information while keeping an open mind is always the best way to research your ancestry. Good luck!