With all of the wonderful options for building and sharing family trees online, you may wonder whether you will have to do any digging through record books in order to trace your own family history. While it is possible that others have already done some of the research that you need to fill in the branches of your family tree, it is very likely that you will still have to do some research of your own. It is also possible that you may have to quite a bit of research on your own if the information that you find has not been properly documented.
Sometimes you can get lucky and find a published genealogy of one part of your family. Of course, there are still other parts of the family that will need to be researched. Also, just because it is published does not mean that it is completely accurate. Be sure to check (as in research them yourself) a sample of the names and dates in any published family history work before deciding whether to use the information in it to make your family history book or tree.
You can also find and access family trees online. Whether you know the relative who created the family tree or not, it is still important to check the names, dates, and places on whatever you find. You want to make sure that the information is correct and also that the tree that you have located is really from your family, not just someone with the same surname.
Starting your genealogy research with information from a published family history book or a family tree that you found online may seem like a great way to get started with genealogy. The best way to trace your family’s history is to begin with as much information that you know personally and can verify – things from your own life as well as the lives of your children like birth dates, marriage dates, names, and locations. Use this information and begin working backwards to other ancestors for whom you may only know a name, such as your grandparents. Along the way you will not only collect accurate information, you will learn how to do genealogy research and how to use the different record sources that contain the information that you need.
Photo by clarita on morguefile.com.