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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.

This picture is part of the reason I started my journey into genealogy. In high school I had to make a family tree for one of my classes. My mother’s family line extended all the way down a portrait 11X14 piece of paper. My father’s line covered a fraction of that. I knew my paternal grandparents names…the two in this picture. That was it. I knew my dad’s two sisters and my cousins but no further extended family. My grandmother, Mildred, died 8 years before I was born so I never knew much about her at all. My grandfather, Hans, is still here and just celebrated his 97th birthday, but I never learned much about his family. He came to United States from Germany at the tender age of 4 with his mom and four of his siblings (one brother wanted to stay behind with relatives) to meet up with his father who had already been in the U.S for several months. As with many immigrants, family names and stories were simply memories left in the old country.

Thus started my curiosity…ok, more of an obsession with genealogy. I craved to know more about my paternal ancestors. My interest in history increased. I wanted to know how my ancestors lived, why they left their homelands. I wasn’t just interested in names and dates, but rather the whole picture.

After accumulating binder after binder of information, hundreds of old pictures, and a database with over 10,000 names I started having people ask me how to find the information I do or where do they go to get started. I had it in my head to do a genealogy blog for awhile. I wanted a place where those just starting out could go for insight and guidance. After a couple of decades I have learned a lot and hope to share that with others. No, I am not a certified genealogist (not yet anyway!) but I have practical everyday experience that I feel can help anyone jumping head first into ancestry.

Basics of Getting Started:

Ship that brought my grandfather to the U.S

1. Start with what you know

You cannot fully understand where you are going or what to look for until you have gathered information of what you do know. Make a simple family tree chart and fill it in with only what you are sure of. Ask relatives for any information they may have. I suggest only starting with direct ancestors first…ie…grandparents, great grandparents, etc. I only branched out to aunts, uncles, and cousins once I had a solid foundation of direct ancestors.

Record only the facts and leave out family folklore for the time being. When starting out it is best to simply make a family tree with names and dates to see where you need to focus your attention. Often family folklore can be wrong and may not be correct which will make your family tree inaccurate and possibly confusing later down the road.

2. Figure out a focus point(s)

After filling out a simple family tree you now need to figure out where you will focus your attention. For example, if you know a lot about your mother’s side and have pictures and stories of your great-grandparents but on your father’s side you do not even have a name for your grandfather that could be your first focal point. You could even make a list of the most important information you want to uncover and work your way down the list. This will keep you more focused. Believe me, jumping around from one side of the family to next and person to person can lead to confusion and less results because you are not focused on one area at a time.

3. Interview relatives

Find a few relatives that you feel know more about the family than you and interview them. My family knew I was doing genealogy for years and would still say (after years) “Oh, did you know Aunt Susie had an illegitimate child she gave up for adoption?” (for example). Ummm….NO! You are just telling me this now?! That has happened to me a lot. If you interview relatives and ask them for names, stories, or even memories they have you may learn a lot more than from just some old census record. Often, though, asking specific questions and getting them to understand what you are looking for is the only way to get information from your relatives. Do not expect them to just tell you something simply because they know you are now doing genealogy.

4. Figure out what records to start with

The easiest way to start gathering records is to figure out what dates and names you need. The best records to begin gathering are birth records, marriage records, death records, and census records. I will discuss these more in the future. However, a word of caution: Do not take records at true face value. Often records had errors…especially census records. I take all the records I find and go with what the majority say. Between bad hand writing, nicknames, immigrants who spoke little or no English, and simple human error, you will find that not all records are accurate.

I will get into where to look for records in upcoming posts. However, for starting purposes, I would start off with a free site that I have found very useful– http://www.familysearch.org

A family tree software program probably will not be necessary as you just start off. I will discuss that later as well. In the beginning I would keep a notebook and binder. In the binder use tab dividers to keep each family separate. Later, when you accumulate more information you can add binders and software.

6. Keep going and exploring

You will hit roadblocks. That will be inevitable. If one avenue doesn’t work then stop and figure out a different route.

Be prepared for surprises. I have had pleasant surprises like finding out I am related to Milton Hershey (yes, founder of the Hershey company), but I have also had bad revelations like my great great grandfather leaving his wife for a woman who supposedly ran a brothel or like discovering 10 suicides in my family lines over the last 140 years. Be prepared for anything.

Future posts will focus more in depth on software, records, websites, and more. You can go to my Links and Resources tab to find more information. I will add to as necessary.

Welcome!