How Do I Start my Family History?
By Doris Bateman
This course is designed for those beginning their family history journey. We will discuss an organized
approach to finding information, including finding records in your own home, interviewing family
members, and organizing the information you find into a detective kit. We will explore how to find the
online records and physical records that will help you find your family, use a research log, and record
and evaluate your findings and sources.
Use an organized approach to research:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Identify what you know
Decide what you want to learn
Select the records to search
Obtain and search the records
Record the information you have found
Evaluate and use your findings
1. Identify What You Know:
Gather Information about your family
A: find and organize the family records you have in your own home. You might find:
o Family group records, pedigree charts, and Books of Remembrance
o Birth, marriage, and death certificates
o Family Bibles and church record certificates
o Family histories, journals, diaries, and letters
o Obituaries, funeral programs, photos
**Initial organizing can be as simple as putting everything you find in a cardboard box, then sorting
by individual or family into file folders or binders with tabs.
B: Interview family members
Family Members are a priceless resource. Do not procrastinate doing this step, we never know
how long their memories might be available to us! It is best to begin by asking open ended
questions that lead them to stories and memories, and save the data questions, such as “When and
where were you born” to the end of the interview, as those type of questions shut off the flow of
memories. Chapter 5 of “A Members Guide to Temple and Family History Work” has excellent tips
on how to do this, and a good list of questions in Appendix B, p. 43. It is free at LDS distribution
center.
C: Check FamilySearch Family Tree plus other online databases.
See what information is there on your family. Classes on how to use them and individual help are
available at the Ogden Family History Center. Realize that the info there is only as good as the
researcher. If good sources are not attached, the information needs to be verified by looking at records.
LDS church members are now being given free memberships to Ancestry.com, My Heritage.com. and
Find My Past through an agreement with the LDS Church. In return, these sites have been given
permission to use all FamilySearch databases. If you are LDS and have not received an email inviting you
to get these memberships, you may request one by using this link:
http://familysearch.org/partneraccess.
This link allows any LDS member, age 13 and above, to initiate the process of getting a free account with
any of these commercial partners.
2. Decide what you want to learn:
Choose one person or family line to research
A: If you have only a name:
o Go back 1-2 generations or until you have good information, and start there.
o Find records that verify your info.
Write down everything you know about your beginning ancestor:
 As you write, you will find that you get ideas that would never come otherwise.
 This is the beginning of a Research Report
 Write down the things you need to find out.
B: If you have a lot of info:
o Summarize the most important dates and places, and your sources of information.
o Call it your “Key Information Sheet.” On this Key Information Sheet:
 *Write down* what info you need to find
 This is called your Research Problem.
 As you write, ideas for research may come to your mind. Record them, along with any
questions that have arisen in your mind.
3. Select the Record to Search: Organize your research efforts
Use the Record Selection Table on page 45 of The Members’ Guide.
o List the records you want to search on a research log.
Organize your detective kit: You can either do this on paper or digitally with a program such as One
Note
I use a floppy 1” binder for a family line in a certain geographic area. Then I always have the important
information I need at my fingertips. If you must put your research aside for while, then you will know
exactly where to start searching again.
Tab 1:
 Key Information sheet
 Printed copy of the pedigree
 Printed copy of the family group sheets that pertain to the info I need to find
 The Research Report
Tab 2
 Your research log. Or make an expanded research log by creating one page for each book or
record you plan to search by copying and printing:
 From an online card catalog, copy and paste the bibliographic info into word and print that
as the one page for each record.
 Make notes on it regarding the success (or failure) of your search. Add the date of your
search.
Tab 3:
 Maps of the area (new & old maps can be found online or at the FHL) & a description of the
area. Find out and record where the records for that area are held. For England, go to
http://maps.familysearch.org/
 Knowing where the government and religious boundaries are will help you find where the
records are you need to search. Knowing what towns, counties, and parishes lie nearby will
help you decide if a record you find is likely to be your ancestor. Also, understanding what
historical events may have affected your ancestor’s life will lead you to available records.
Note: It is very easy to copy and paste maps and copies of documents into One Note.
4. Obtain and search records:
Search for the records online, and make a copy/and or digital image of everything you find.:
o Search the census.
 It is free at FamilySearch.org
 Also free at Ancestry.com.
 Begin with the most recent census the person might be in.
 If you can’t find them, search for another family member’s name
 Or think of how the name might have been interpreted by an indexer reading poor
handwriting.
o Search for vital (government) records at Family Search.org and Ancestry.com
o Google for historical online records by googling the name, the location, and ‘~genealogy.’ e.g.:
“Elias Webster Dorset ~Genealogy
o Join a mailing list or message board. (Rootsweb.com)
When needed, also search books, microfilms, county records, that are not on the Internet
5. Record the Information you have found:
See chapter 4 of the Member’s Guide
Record the info from the records you find (Documentation):
o You could do this by hand, but there are free versions of some very fine programs that will save you
time, money, and effort in the long run.
 Roots Magic, Legacy Family Tree, and Ancestral Quest sync with Family Tree
 Or put your own tree on Ancestry.com, which also syncs with Family Tree
o Record full names as they exist in the record where you found them.
o Record the city, county, state, and country in full (do not abbreviate)
o Record the full date in this format: 10 April 1901.
Record where you got the info (Sources):
o Record where you found each piece of information.
o Attach digital copies of records to the event in your family history software.
o If the information is not in Family Tree, record it there.
o If you are LDS, and the ordinances haven’t been done, you get to do them.
(For more on how to record sources, see my class 41 at 1:45 today)
6. Evaluate and use your findings:
o
o
o
o
Each piece of information you find can give you clues as to where to look for further information.
Search for other sources on the Internet and in books, microfilms, and government records.
Add this info to your records and newFamilySearch.
Certain staff members at the Ogden Family History Center are experts in doing research in various
areas and countries. Come in and ask for help.
o When you run into a brick wall, choose another ancestor and begin the cycle again.
Additional Helps:
Both FamilySearch and Ancestry.com have extensive learning centers that you can access at no cost.
At Ancestry, Click on “Learning Center” in the middle of the top toolbar. Some very helpful articles are:
Starting Your Tree on Ancestry:
http://c.ancestry.com/cs/media/social-research-starting-your-tree-onancestry.pdf?o_xid=59133&o_lid=59133&o_sch=Social
Ancestry Genealogy Toolkit:
http://c.ancestry.com/cs/media/social-genealogy-toolkit-2.pdf
Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors At Ancestry.Com
file:///C:/Users/DellXPS8500/Downloads/328705imm2011_immigrant.pdf
At Family Search, click on “Get Help” in the upper right corner. The Learning Center contains many
extremely well done videos and articles. The Research Wiki gives guidance on how to search particular
places and problems, like Wikipedia for genealogy!
At the top are listed complete free genealogy courses you can take online. A little below are Beginning
Genealogy Courses, are 5 Minute Genealogy Videos. Have Fun!