The objective of genealogical research is to identify ancestors and their family relationships. At a basic level you will identify and record the following for each individual in your family tree:

· Names of children

o Date and place of birth

o Date and place of marriage

o Date and place of death

· Name of parents

o Date and place of birth

o Date and place of marriage

o Date and place of death

It probably won’t be long until you will want to find out more about your ancestors. Often family researchers develop an interest in what it was like to live when and where each ancestor lived. You may discover an increased interest in history and other topics that will help you learn to know the ancestors that preceded you.

Pedigree Charts

Pedigree charts are often used to organize the information for births, marriages and deaths. Their use also helps identify missing information for your family tree.

Ancestry.com offers a free download of an ancestral chart to aid in compiling information about your family at http://www.ancestry.com/save/charts/ancchart.htm?rc=locale%7E&us=0. (For best results, set the printer to landscape format.)

Pedigree charts are also available for a nominal fee from local LDS Family History Centers and other Internet sources.

Guidelines for Beginning Family Historians

There are two guidelines for family history research and the construction of a family tree:

1. Begin with yourself and work backwards.

2. Do not skip generations. Some people get excited and jump back in time, skipping several generations. Sure, you may already know the names of your great great grandparents who lived in the 1800s, but without the proper groundwork, you may have difficulty finding them in the records, or may even end up researching the wrong ancestor. To avoid this pitfall, approach your family tree research step-by-step. Taking small steps at the beginning enables you to take bigger steps later on.

Begin your family tree by locating birth, marriage and death records that provide date and location information for you and your siblings. Identify the same information for your parents and their siblings. Continue compiling the same information for your grandparents and so forth as you work backward in time from the known to the unknown. Birth dates and locations for aunts and uncles can help identify where grandparents lived at a given point in time and aid in locating records for the grandparents.

First Places to Look for Family Information

Interview family members – especially older relatives. All too often people are heard to say, “I wish I would have asked Grandpa this when he was still alive”. Although memories may not be 100% accurate, this is the best way of getting a start on the information needed to compile a family history. Talk with as many relatives as you can to get information. In addition, ask for permission to copy any of the following that relatives may have in their possession:

· Family Bibles where births, deaths or other information is recorded

· Birth or baptismal certificates

· Marriage licenses

· Death certificates

· Obituaries and other newspaper clippings about relatives (anniversaries, birth announcements, wedding announcements, etc.)

· Burial information

· Military papers

· Photos of ancestors

Many people find digital cameras of value in acquiring copies of documents and photos. They offer a convenient alternative to traditional photocopying methods.

Vital Records

Birth, marriage, divorce and death records are the documents genealogists try to locate. They are called Vital Records in the USA and civil registration records outside the USA. Although transcripts of these documents sometimes can be found on the Internet, it is recommended that copies of the original records be obtained to avoid errors that can happen during transcription. There are many Internet sites that provide instructions for obtaining copies of Vital Records. A place to start is http://www.vitalrec.com/

Next Steps For Research

As you progress in your research, the following sources are likely to provide help in assembling information about your ancestors:

· Internet databases

· State and Federal censuses

· Court records (tax records, voter records, probate and estate records, etc.)

· Military records

· Ships Passenger Lists

· Passport applications

· Naturalization documents

· Ethnic research

· Libraries, archives, LDS Family History Centers

· Sharing, networking, genealogical queries and mailing lists

These sources are not covered in detail here as they start to go beyond the scope of a “Getting Started” page. For more information on using some of these sources, please visit http://www.cyndislist.com/beginner.htm and the Genealogy Club's "Useful Links" and for club members “More Useful Links”.

Computers and Software

It is not necessary to purchase genealogy software to start compiling a family tree. However, as more branches and leaves are added to the tree, most researchers find genealogy software a great help in maintaining, updating and adding information.

Personal Ancestral File (PAF) is a free genealogical software program available from the Church of the Latter Day Saints. It can be downloaded from the following site:

http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10151&categoryId=13669&langId=-1&cg1=&cg2=&cg3=&cg4=&cg5=-1&cg1=13669&cg2=13701&cg3=&cg4=&cg5=

An alternative path to the software is www.familysearch.org. Select the “Order/Download Products” tab.

Once the PAF software is downloaded, it must be installed. This is a simple yet important step to get the software to function.

Prior to purchasing genealogy software, you may want to visit http://www.cyndislist.com/software.htm. This site contains links to information on genealogy software packages as well as articles that compare various programs.

The Genealogy Club members are resources for club members and non-members about the software they use and what they like/do not like about it. Please feel free to contact Club members.

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Revised: 10/16/08