October 2018 - Rookie Genealogy

Getting started in genealogy can be overwhelming. Having a starting point can often prove challenging and confusing. Where do you go? How do you begin the research? I always believe you should start with the basics. Is there one side of the family you know nothing about? Is there one particular person that has always interested you? Is there a relative you always heard stories about and want to prove or disprove it?

Once you have a direction in mind, then what? Start with resources that are free. I don’t believe you should dive in headfirst into paying for information. Why pay for research that you can get for free?! Eventually you will, at some point, have to pay for certain records you need but in the beginning grab as much as you can for free. Going about it this way allows you to gather all the information you can and once you have exhausted all free avenues then you only pay for what you need.

This is even true with Ancestry.com. Why? Because ancestry.com has millions of records but you may not be able to find a lot of records pertaining to your family on that site. Ancestry.com also has different payment plans including a 14 day free trial. You may discover after the free trial that Ancestry.com does not have as much as you anticipated for your family and you do not need a 1 year subscription but rather a 1 month subscription. Lastly, Ancestry.com can often be accessed through your local library. Check your local library and you may be able to do research there. You just won’t have the ability to have your family tree attached but you can still search and print records.

Another reason to go for free information in the beginning is because records available online may even vary from state to state. Illinois has a great deal of birth, marriage and death certificates online at FamilySearch.org. However, my grandmother passed away in Colorado well before I was even born and they have very few of these same records digitized.

Many sites also have free trials like I mentioned with Ancestry.com. Test these sites out before you dish out money for them. Some may only provide you with limited information, so gather what you can and if you feel there is a wealth of information on a particular site then go ahead and pay for a subscription.

Here are my Rookie Genealogy ‘go to’ sites that are free or have at least a 14 day free trial. (I may delve into these sites more in depth in future).

Go free with these Rookie Genealogy website suggestions:

FamilySearch.org – By far my favorite free site. They ask you to sign up but it is free. They have a wealth of information and pictures of actual records. Again, some states are better at digitizing their records than others so it may be hit or miss depending on the locations you want to search.
Find a Grave
Billion Graves -They ask you sign up, but it is free to search. You can pay for upgrades/added features if you wish.
Cyndi’s List
U.S Gen Web
Newspapers.com (Free Trial) – I love this site, however, my family is from rural areas where older newspapers were simply not around in those areas. I have found great info on the little family I did have in Chicago. Use the free trial first to see if it provides anything for you before jumping into the subscription.
Posnan Project – A great resource for Polish marriage records.
Heritage Quest – Often free within your local library and sometimes on your own computer using your library card number and username. Ask your local librarian.
Fold3 – Military records. 7 day free trial.
Ancestry.com – Free trial or check your local library for free access to search.

Example of article from newspapers.com — Example of an article about a distant uncle I found on newspapers.com

You can always check my resources/links tab for free and paid websites.

My grandmother and my great grand father

In my first blog post I discussed the basics of getting started with your research. One of the first steps I suggested was gathering information you already know and asking relatives for information. However, asking relatives for information can have a major flaw—family lore. We all have them. Maybe you heard your grandfather had an affair and there is some illegitimate child out there somewhere that no one knows. Maybe you heard a relative was in prison because he was never around and had suddenly disappeared and no one really wanted to discuss him. Whatever it may be, we all have these family stories. Yes, some may actually be true. Some, however, are not. Take family lore with a grain salt.

Over the years stories get exaggerated, speculations are made and eventually become ‘fact’, and details get left out. I have been told that my great great grandmother was an orphan. I have this in my notes and source it as ‘according to family stories’ because I have not been able to verify this.

Accurately recording your family history requires dealing with facts. I am not suggesting you completely dismiss the family lore. Keep stories in a notebook and make sure to mark them as ‘family lore’. These little stories can be great starting points for research.

I have had relatives tell me how family members have died only to find out the real causes on death certificates. I trust death certificates more than what relatives believe.

Things to know about family lore vs. fact:

Trust in birth, marriage, and death certificates. Those records usually have information direct from hospitals/doctors, parents, or the relatives themselves. I would trust these resources over lore.
Be cautious of census records. I will do more posts on census records later, but the lowdown on census records is that they are full of inaccuracies. Often census workers would simply go door to door and get information on all residents from one person. Immigrants often could not speak English. Whomever the census taker interviewed did the best they probably could with names, dates, etc., but human error and simple inaccuracies were very common. Nicknames could be used and last names were often written how they sounded and not how they were actually spelled.
Keep family stories separate from your research. Keep a special notebook or separate folder on your computer for family stories. If you have family tree software do not enter in information until you have a resource–a document or way of proving the story is true. This will keep your facts from possible fiction. Not doing so will only lead to confusion later in your research.
If various records are not identical- take the majority. There have been instances in my research when I have a birth, marriage, death, and census record and maybe there are slight inconsistencies. I will take the majority and enter that in as fact. For example: My great great grandmother went by several different names on records- Teresa, Carissa, and Tracy. After finding all the records I could on her, I went with the majority and entered her name in as Teresa. However, I still make a note somewhere that she had nicknames because those may still come in handy when doing further research.

Bottom line– Use facts when doing your research. Use family lore to guide you, but do not believe it as fact until you have the documentation.