LEARNING CENTER

While you’ll have to blaze a trail to find long-lost relatives, the actual search process is well documented. There’s much to learn from us and genealogy experts. Even better, it’s all right here.

Calculating Relationships

Gregorian Time Change

What is a "dit" Name

Reseach for Beginners (Nine Part Series)

1. Genealogy - Getting Started

2. Personal Experiences and Interviews

3. Searching the Internet

4. Trip to the Library

5. Searching for Microform

6. Census Research

7. Vital Records

8. Wills and Probate Records

9. Other Helpful Records

Ten Research Tips

Helpful Books

by "Encyclopedia of Genealogy"

Thursday, September 21, 2004 (added 5/30/2008)

In modern usage, a cousin shares a grandparent with another person, AKA a first cousin. The term is also used for a person who shares any common ancestor though it would not usually be used in place of aunt, uncle, nephew, niece and other terms for close familial relationships.

In colonial America, a cousin could be a nephew, a niece, the spouse of a nephew or niece, or any person who shares a common ancestor.

Second cousins are related through common great-grandparents. Third cousins are related through common great-great-grandparents, etc.

Once removed, twice removed, etc., are used to indicate that the cousins are not the same number of generations from the common ancestor. If the common ancestor is a grandparent of one cousin, but the great-grandparent of the other, then there is a one-generation difference and the two people are 1st cousins once removed.

Blood relationships are determined by computing the shared ancestry of two individuals. Typically, people express such relationships using terms that reflect the most direct relationship. That is determined by counting the generations from each individual to the closest common ancestor; siblings share a parent, first cousins share a grandparent, etc.

In contrast, consanguinity usually refers to a calculation of shared ancestry that includes all common ancestors.

Most cultures and languages have special terms to describe close blood relationships such as mother, father, parent, child, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, and cousin. Those relationships are well-understood and it is not necessary to actually count the generations to know the relationship. Terms in common use for more distant relationships are generally less precise. In English, people who share an ancestor more than two generations back may simply be called cousins or distant cousins. Many people, for example, could not express the precise relationship between the Subject and the Cousin's Child as shown in the chart below:

In the diagram below the closest common ancestor is the Grandparent of the Subject (two generations) who is also the great-grandparent of the Cousin's Child (three generations).

When the number of generations to the common ancestor is not the same for both the subject and the relative, the first part of the relationship term is determined by the lesser of the two distances to the common ancestor. In this case, that is two, and so the first part of the relationship is "First Cousin". The second part of the relationship term is determined by the difference between the two distances to the common ancestor. In this case, that is one (three minus two), and so the relationship term is First Cousin, Once Removed.

After reading the above, one might be tempted to call a niece or nephew a "sibling once removed", but I don't recommend it!

Please note that a descendant of your first cousin can never be a second cousin to you. The number of times removed increases with each generation. As shown below, a second cousin is related through one of your great grandparents.

The chart shows an interesting characteristic of relationship terms. Most of the terms for near relations are not reciprocal: mothers and fathers have daughters and sons, aunts and uncles have nieces and nephews. The most common reciprocal term is cousin: cousins have cousins. Note that "1st Cousin Once Removed" appears twice in the chart. The child of your 1st cousin and the child of your great aunt or uncle are both your first cousin once removed. Note that the number of generations difference is the same:

The relationship from a child of your great aunt or great uncle to you is the same as the relationship from you to a child of your 1st cousin.

You can use the chart below to calculate the relationship between two people.

• Count the generations between the common ancestor and person 1. Use that number to find the proper column.

• Then count the generations between the common ancestor and person 2. Use that number to find the proper row.

The relationship is shown at the intersection of the column and row.

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by Ken Aubuchon

Thursday, September 21, 2006 (added July 2007)

Beginning in 45 B.C., many parts of the world used the Julian calendar to mark the passage of time. According to the Julian calendar, March 25th was the first day of the year and each year was 365 days and 6 hours long. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII determined that the Julian calendar was incorrect: each day was just a little bit too long. This meant that the human calendar wasn't keeping up with nature's calendar, and the seasons kept arriving slightly earlier in the year. To solve the problem, Pope Gregory XIII created the Gregorian calendar. This is the calendar that we use officially in the United States. As you know, this new calendar changed the first day of the year from March 25th to January 1st. Pope Gregory also had everyone jump ahead by 10 days to make up for the days that were lost when the world was using the old Julian calendar.

The practice of writing double dates resulted from this switch from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar, and also from the fact that not all countries and people accepted the new calendar at the same time. For example, England and the American colonies didn't officially accept the new calendar until 1752. Before 1752, the English government still observed March 25th as the first of the year, but most of the population observed January 1 as the first of the year. For this reason, many people wrote dates falling between January 1st and March 25th with both years, as in the following examples:

Julian	Old Style Gregorian	New Style Double Date
December 25, 1718	December 25, 1718	December 25, 1718
January 1, 1718	January 1, 1719	January 1, 1718/19
February 2, 1718	February 2, 1719	February 2, 1718/19
March 25, 1719	March 25, 1719	March 25, 1719

By the time England and the colonies adopted the new Gregorian calendar, the discrepancy between the two calendars was eleven days, instead of ten. To resolve the discrepancy, the government ordered that September 2, 1752 be followed by September 14, 1752. Some people also added 11 days to their birth dates (a fact which is not noted on their birth certificates).

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by Ken Aubuchon

Thursday, September 21, 2006 (added July 2007)

The word "dit" is a French word meaning "say", or in the Genealogy context, meaning "called." A person’s name might be Jean Aubuchon dit L'Esperance, which means that his legal name by birth was Aubuchon, but at some point he as taken on an additional name of L'Esperance. In most cases this was not a legal name.

An individual might take a dit name to distinguish their family from another family of the same name living nearby. Where there is one dit name there is usually more to be found. Surnames can have several different dit names associated. They help distinguish who's who among descendants. Don’t be fooled though. In many cases dit names were used to distinguish between unrelated families with the same name.

There were many different reasons why dit names were given. Often times it was used more as a nickname, picked up during military service or even given by a parent. In some cases it referred to the place in France where the family originated. In other cases it was the mother's surname, or the father's given name. For whatever reason, very often the dit name was passed down to the next generation, either in place of the original surname, or in addition to it.

Many times children would split between the surname and dit name, some keep the original surname (e.g. Aubuchon), and taking the dit name L'Esperance. In time, it's not uncommon for the dit name to become the surname because the original surname is long forgotten. In some cases both names are used in a hyphenated manner, as in François Hudon-Beaulieu. It is always a good idea to investigate hyphenated names as dit name and surname combinations prior to the turn of the 20th century.

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by Ken Aubuchon

Thursday, September 14, 2006 (added July 2007)

Genealogy – Getting Started

Anyone with experience researching their family tree will have their own opinions on how to get started. There is no single way of getting started as there is no single way to conduct your own research. The following article just represents my opinion on how to get started. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s jump in.

Before you even get started, it is important to remember to document your sources.  This includes you as a source, also.  Each time you record something, document where you obtained the information.  Most of the software packages provide a way for you to document your sources, but in a very free-form format. AGES-online provides excellent screens for you to document your sources based on the type of source.  Using the standards established by Elizabeth Shown Mills, in Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian, the screens provide the required fields for each source type.  That way you don't have to think about what the citation should look like, the software formats for you.  If a source type is not supported by the screens, the software provides a free-form screen also.

The first step is to determine what you really want to research. By that, I am referring to nothing more than a high level idea. Deciding more than a high level is ok, but you’ll change your mind down the road. You may want to research one side of the family. You may want to research your whole ancestral tree.

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Personal Experiences and Interviews

You will want to write down everything you already know about your family. The best way is to purchase a software package or web-based online application subscription. There are so many on the market, which is the best for you? There are several ways to find that out. Some companies have done the research for you and I recommend going to one of those websites and review the features. I personally prefer to manage my information online. As the AGES-online.com mission statement will tell you, you can access your information from any where, at any time and in any way. You can even access your data using your mobile phone. Another benefit for maintaining your information online is that you can share the data with family members so much easier.

You now have the means to save your data. We’ll refer to that as your database from here on out. Make sure you enter all of the information you already know. Don’t forget yourself, your parents and their birthdates, grandparents and their birthdates and so on. Make sure you write down any family stories you know. I think it’s the family stories which make it fun.

The next step is probably the most important. It is an ongoing process—as is everything that I will discuss in this article—and you should make sure you keep it that way. Interview your family members and do it often! Life is too short and I don’t necessarily mean yours. You have family members that are aging and you need to make sure you obtain every piece of information they have. The more often you discuss what you’ve been able to find out, the more information they will have for you. One of the greatest benefits of this process is how much closer you will become with those family members. I’ll say it again—and it won’t be the last time I say it—make sure you document from who/where you obtain the information.

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Searching the Internet

What I do next is work the internet. Although I never take the internet information as gospel, I do use it as my resource for leads. Very little of the information on the internet is documented with sources, so using it for leads is about all you can do. When I find any information that I consider relevant to my research, I jot it down so I can verify it later. The only things I take as gospel are images of original documents. The online images are usually digitized form (microfilm, microfiche, etc.). Probably the best free sites to go to are the GenWeb sites. The master site is USGenWeb and you can use the links to go to the appropriate state and county. To my knowledge, each state and county have their own sites.

If you are willing to spend some money, I suggest subscribing to one of the “MyFamily” websites. MyFamily is a conglomerate which owns MyFamily.com, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.ca, Ancestry.co.uk, Rootsweb and Genealogy.com. I have a single subscription to one of those and it is all I need. If you are brand new to genealogy, then I suggest starting out small and obtaining a small subscription of just census information. Census information is probably one of the more valuable sources. In case I forgot to mention it, don’t forget to document your sources!

The first U.S. census was in 1790. Between 1790 and 1840, only the name of the head of household was provided and just numbers of others living there. The censuses from 1850 to 1870 include names of others living in the household as well as ages, gender, color, occupation, state of birth and some other odds and ends. The 1880 census includes the relationship to the head of household, such as Wife, Son, Daughter, etc. It also includes the birth state of parents. The 1890 census was damaged by fire and water so you won’t get much from that. There are records out there, but it’s pretty much hit-and-miss. There are ongoing efforts to restore the 1890 records, but I am not aware of the status. The 1900 census includes birth month and year, number of years of present marriage, and year of immigration. The 1910 through 1930 censuses dropped the birth month and year and went back to just age. You can see how valuable the information can be.

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Trip to the Library

At this point a trip to the library is in order. Hopefully you have a genealogy or LDS library within driving distance. I will discuss alternatives later in this article. Have a good idea what you want to look up and have a fall back plan. If it is your first trip to that library call ahead and make sure they have what you want. Once you get there, ask for help or for a tour of the library. Library personnel are probably the nicest people you will ever meet. It is incredible how much help they can provide. They can explain all the ins-and-outs. I’ve been using the genealogy library for about 15 years and I still require their help, so don’t think you’ll look foolish.

Usually these libraries will have a multitude of microform to review. Some of the most helpful microform information to me is as follows:

• Census
• Vital Records (Birth, Marriage, Death)
• Divorce
• Baptism
• Probate/Will Records

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Searching for Microform

Before heading to the library, make sure they have what you need. So, how do you find the microform (microfilm, microfiche, etc) that you need? One of the easiest ways is to go online to www.familysearch.org.

Once you’ve reached the site, click on the Library tab at the top, then the Family History Library Catalog link also at the top. From there you can search on any number of items. If you were to try a Place search, you can key in a county and state and it will pull back publications on that location. Drill down on the topic you want to research and it will identify whether microform is available. If it is, click on the “View Film Notes” button at the top right and it will provide the Location Film numbers.

Call the library at which you are planning to research to verify they have the film you want. Most libraries have an inter-library loan policy if another library has the microform that you need. Many libraries have websites and may provide their content online.

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Census Research

The census is by far the best place to start as described above. Hopefully, you’ve retrieved enough information from your relatives and your own memory that you have a good place to start. The last census to which you’ll have access is 1930. Start with that census and look for what you know. You or your parents or grandparents, whoever would be in that timeframe. Work from the known to the unknown1. Be logical about your research. If you know a person was born in 1925, then you know they won’t be in the 1920 census. Likewise, if you know someone died in 1925, then you know they won’t be in the 1930 census.

The internet is an excellent place to start when trying to research census. Many of the subscription sites offer census indexes for easy searching by individual name. You have to be careful here also. The indexes are transcribed from aged, handwritten documents. Mistakes do happen. My hat is off to transcribers, because it is very tedious work. I would say that their level of accuracy is phenomenal. The indexes are only tools to help reduce the research time, but they can be life savers. You can easily search for a single individual with very little effort, relatively speaking.

If you’re going to the library to look through microform, there are aids that can help. There are many books that have indexed names. Make sure you know what the book is providing. Some books only provide an index of the head of household, while others provide an index of every individual in the household. I use the indexes only to lead me to the actual census image recorded on microform. Soundex is another indexing scheme. It is a process for indexing names using their phonetic English pronunciation. Any genealogy librarian can help you with Soundex.

How reliable is the census? It is an excellent tool, but don’t take the census as gospel, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. The information is potentially provided in any number of languages, interpreted by the census taker and hand written. The point is that spelling can cause a problem here. The census taker did not always retrieve the information from the household in question. If the family was not home, the census taker could have obtained the information from neighbors. Spelling, ages and given names can be incorrectly recorded, so be careful. Verify this information with birth certificates. Likewise, if you can’t find an individual it is possible that they were not counted at all. I have read where for any given census about 15% of the population is uncounted for various reasons, about ten percent of the urban population and five percent rural.

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Vital Records

As described above, vital records are Birth, Marriage and Death, but I've also included in the section, Baptism and Divorce since they are so closely related. Catholic Sacraments, for example, place more emphasis on baptism and will occasionally include the birth date. As another vital note, some religions do not recognize Divorce, but do have an Annulment process.

The nice thing about Catholic Sacraments is that the Catholic Church kept excellent records. The Sacraments are almost all found on microfilm. That is not to say that all records are intact. As with anything, time will take its toll in some way, accidents happen; fires, floods or even general mistreatment. Many of the records are written in Latin so be prepared to translate.

There are cases in French held territories where the local Catholic priest was granted the authority by the King to perform marriage ordinances for non-Catholics. This was usually in the cases where the appropriate church denomination was not available in the region. Although it wasn’t a common practice it did happen.

Unfortunately, the collection of general vital records in the United States is more inconsistent and in many cases absent or lost. Vital records prior to 1900 are difficult to come by and are kept in varying places from state to state. Also keep in mind that county boundaries change and although your ancestor may have been born in one county, due to changing boundaries the records may be kept in another county.

Another issue in researching U.S. vital records is Manifest Destiny. As the United States expanded through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Florida Cession of 1819, Texas Annexation in 1845, Mexican Cession in 1848 and Gadsden Purchase in 1853, there were at least two other languages thrown into the mix; French and Spanish. Transition to English was not an overnight process. One of my research specialties is Midwestern States with an emphasis on Missouri. I have had to interpret French documents as late as the 1850’s.

In many cases if documents do exist in foreign languages, there is a transcribed copy in English and you’ll just have to look for it. Once again, you have to be careful because transcribed documents always have a chance for error.

Where can you find Vital Records? As explained above, you can find many vital records on microform. Here are some other places you may have to look:

• Internet (State or County websites)
• Books (transcribed from original records)
• County Clerk’s Office
• County Courthouses

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Wills and Probate Records

Wills are a good source of information. They can tell you names of heirs and the relationship to the deceased. Sometimes the will indicates how the deceased felt about the heirs, such as leaving them one dollar only. Wills give information such as where a person resided at the time the will was written and the fact that the person is still alive on the day the will was written. Witnesses who signed the will could be family members or friends. Wills can also tell you about society at the time, such as there were times in history where women could not inherit her husband’s estate or only the first-born son inherited the father’s estate.

Probate records include settlements, administrator bond books and executor bond books. These records include information regarding the deceased’s property at the time of death and how it was distributed. The listing of property at time of death tells a lot about people. I look at it as archaeology in a way, digging up what people used, how they lived and what they cared about.

You can infer other information from data in a will or probate record. You can narrow down date of death between the date of the will and the date of the settlement. You can determine spouses and family members. You can sometimes determine family dynamics from will information.

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Other Helpful Records

There are many other records that can help. Below are a few of these records and why they are helpful. This is not an all-inclusive list.

Obituaries can be extremely helpful.  Not only will they contain death date, but will almost always include the interment date.  Other information that can sometimes be included are birth date, family members—spouse, children, parents, siblings, grandchildren—and whether they are surviving.

Ship Passenger Lists can help someone figure out when their ancestors emigrated or migrated to a country or region. Many passenger lists will also identify the country of origin which can be an extremely important lead in your research.

Historical Books can be excellent sources for family stories. One of the things I do when I go to any local genealogy library and time permits, I go to the section which contains books on the state or county I am researching. I look for books like Early Settlers of… or History of…County and go to the index to see if any of my surname variations show up.

Cemeteries and Tombstones can be a good source of birth and death dates. It also gives you a good idea of where the person was living when they passed. Some will include the parents and spouse. Some indicate cause of death or organization affiliations. I personally take photos of the tombstones and keep them on record.

Naturalization records can obviously give you information on when someone became a citizen of a country. They will also provide the country of birth.

Historical Maps and Plats can provide context to living conditions or travel. As an example, I had ancestors that migrated west from Kaskaskia, IL, to Ste. Genevieve, MO, in the late 18th century. Back then the Mississippi river ran in between the two towns. To get from one to the other they had to cross the river. Today the Mississippi River runs on the east of Kaskaskia. Historical maps also go well with Land and Property Records, and Tax Records.

Tax Records are yearly records and can fill in residence information between census years. Tax records also indicate the property someone owns in a given year, including land and livestock.

Land & Property Records are very straight-forward. They indicate the buying and selling of land and personal property. They provide written evidence of people’s entitlement to land and property. In America land and property records apply to more people than any other type of written record. Land records are probably the most well preserved records in the genealogical arsenal. They date back further than virtually any other record a genealogist might use, including marriage records which are the second oldest.

Civil & Criminal Court Records can add color to your family history and give you stories you can tell at family reunions. For example, I found a civil court record on one of my ancestors. In a barroom dispute, my ancestor broke an egg over the other person’s head, who, in turn, sued him. I don’t know how the case came out, but I do know that the case went to trial. Other civil and criminal court records include divorce, custody, stealing, murder, etc. The criminal court records could show you one or two black sheep in your family tree.

Social Security Death Index provides the social security number of the deceased, when they were born, their last known residence, when they died and the state and year they received their social security number.

Military Records can give a wealth of information about someone in the military. The different types of information you can find out includes when they mustered in, where they enlisted, each of their promotions, when they mustered out or how and where they died. There are some websites that have limited military records available online. To get the full data, you would need to write or visit the National Archives in Washington, DC, for veterans of wars prior to World War I. Records for veterans of wars in the 20th century, write or visit the National Archives in St. Louis, MO.

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by Ken Aubuchon

Thursday, June 29, 2006 (added July 2007)

10. Family Legacy

Every Genealogy or Family History book will give you a number of reasons to record your family’s legacy. But, what happens to all of that family research after you’re gone? After all you don’t want your hard work to fade away and be forgotten.

Get a research partner. For starters it makes it so much more fun. Discovering something new and having no one with whom to share it is rather disheartening. Most importantly, if your partner is younger than you, such as a son or daughter, they can carry on your research legacy. If you don’t have a research partner, try to designate a younger family member to pick up where you leave off.

Share your research and findings. Data can be shared in several different ways. You can publish your information on the internet. Such places as AGES-Online.com are perfect for that. You can also create a scrap book for your family members which contains all of the stories, pictures and trees you have compiled. Another option is to publish your own book, but make sure you donate copies to such places as the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, or the Library of Congress.

9. Spelling

When doing your research, always search for alternative spellings of names.

Many documents were hand written and completely dependent on the writer’s spelling abilities. Since literacy rates were so much lower in the past than they are today, the individual may not have been able to correct the writer.

The Americas were founded and settled by immigrants of a many languages. As an example, when the U.S. purchased Louisiana, we did not make the transition from French to English over night. I have had to interpret many Missouri records, written in French, dating well into the 1840’s. To make things more fun, there may have been an illiterate French speaking person being interpreted by an English speaking person who didn’t do well spelling names. If you’re Catholic, many records were written in Latin which does not always translate directly to the real spelling of a name.

You also have to contend with just ordinary mistakes. Something as simple as transposing letters in a name can create difficulty. Names as simple as Jones have been spelled Joens in documents. If that particular record was transcribed into another document, it could have been interpreted as Joans.

Soundex, which is a process for indexing names using their phonetic English pronounciation, can be a helpful tool. Unfortunately, it is far from perfect, so don’t rely on it with only one spelling of the name.

It also helps to understand how a name was pronounced in its native tongue. Understanding this will help you unfold more alternative spellings. I have seen the name Pelagie recorded as Eliza. Knowing that the syllable “Au” is pronounced as a long “O” in French can help you figure out for which spellings to search.

One last thing on Spelling, check yours. Make sure your spelling is accurate too. Especially if you are transcribing an original document, make sure you spell it exactly how the original author spelled it, even if you know the author is incorrect. Feel free to provide a note, but don’t deviate from the original.

8. Spend time

Be prepared to spend time on your research. It is not something you can compile overnight. You may have ancestors that might not have wanted to be found. You may have spent months researching a line only to discover it wasn’t the line you thought it was.

Another issue which can be time consuming is there is no such thing as one-stop-shopping when it comes to family history research. There are so many different places to go to do your research and each one has a specialty. Just to name a few; the internet, genealogy libraries, local churches, local courthouses, the list can go on. This will trigger travel in some capacity, even if it’s to a local library.

The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, is one of the best places for research. The sheer number of microfilms/fiche is phenomenal. It is made up of five stories of genealogical history. I recently spent a week there, discovering so much information and still never came close to tapping their vast resources.

If you’re looking for pure convenience, the internet is for you. The issue you’ll find there is that it’s completely dependent on digitized records. The process of converting microfilm to appropriate--jpeg or gif--format for the internet can be expensive, so don’t count on finding everything you need.

7. Stories

Find the stories behind the names and dates. Recording the stories will be of more interest to other family members and may inspire them to join in on the research. Always make sure your stories match the personal facts and local histories. When you don’t have enough facts and are speculating on incidents, indicate clearly in the story that it is speculation. The following example is purely fictional, but it shows how a story can be built.

You have discovered that the “three sons of Jonathan Smith”—your ancestor—showed up in a small village in Kentucky and you also know they were in New York City previously. Based on these clues, you research land grants and deeds to find out when they settled in Kentucky. You then find there are land grants for each of them in March 1777.

Now you start researching migration patterns of colonial settlers. In doing so, you discover that the King’s Highway ran from Boston through New York City and Philadelphia on its way down to Charleston, South Carolina. You then discover that the Pennsylvania Road went from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and that the Ohio River was also a primary highway to the West.

If you research what was going on in New York just prior to their appearance in Kentucky, you’ll discover that in the fall of 1776, General George Washington had just given up control of New York City to the British. Further research can tell you how loyalists were treated by the patriots and how patriots were treated by the British.

A beautiful story of the “Three Smith Brothers” has just emerged.

6. Be Organized

Being organized aids in all the topics previously discussed. An outline of your tasks will save you time in the long run by keeping you focused and knowing what you need to do next.

First and foremost, set a research goal and stick to it. Are you going to research your personal ancestral tree or a specific branch of your tree? Are you going to build a descendant tree and if so who will be your trunk? You could research a particular story as described above. Having this goal will help you stay focused. Of course, this doesn’t mean that if you do hit the proverbial brick wall, that you shouldn’t shift gears. After all, part of the fun is the research itself.

Determine what is required to accomplish that goal and write those steps down. Again, an outline can be very useful.

If you are traveling somewhere, research the location first. Make sure you understand the rules and what records are kept at that location. You may not have access to all records or be able to make copies or take photographs. My first trip to a cemetery was an eye opening experience. Many of the flat stones were covered up by time and I didn’t have anything but my hands to uncover them. Needless to say, I now take a small gardening spade and water to wash off the stones once I dig them out.

When recording your information, make sure you are using genealogy standards such as fact sheets or a good family tree software package. These can really help guide you through the information you need to collect on any given excursion.

Have a back up plan. In case you hit that brick wall while you’re out of town. Make sure the entire trip isn’t wasted.

5. Internet

The internet is by far the most convenient way to conduct your research, right from the comfort of your own home. It provides a wealth of information. But, can you trust the information?

As a rule of thumb, it is not reliable as the only source of research. Everyone and their brother can upload data to the internet, whether the data is accurate or not. There are no rules as to what genealogy information can be put out in cyberspace. The only things I consider reliable are images of original documents. These can be found at subscription websites. Very few family history records uploaded by individuals are sourced and therefore should not be taken as fact.

I use the internet as a resource for leads only. Even if an individual has cited their data, I still consider it only a lead. In fact I use their citation as a lead. I have found many a book that way.

4. Be Open-minded

Be open-minded about your research. Don’t take offense if someone tells you that you have something wrong. I look at it as a gift. I’d much rather find out I’m wrong so I can correct it, than have my information considered unreliable and not worthy of anyone’s time. As a result of this philosophy, I get e-mails daily providing me with additional information (leads), mostly becaused I am so pleased and thank them for the information.

It’s not a contest, or competition to prove that you’re right and they’re wrong. Genealogy is, for most people, a hobby and should be a collaborative effort. There are many knowledgeable people out there, so use them. I have found very few—in my extensive experience—that don’t want to help out. Be sensitive to someone else’s masterpiece. Don’t make anyone mad by insulting their work. You may just run into them at the next family reunion.

Don’t be too surprised when a theory about your family or member proves wrong. Whatever you do, don’t twist the facts to get the answer you want. Let the facts lead the way. My overriding goal in my family tree is; “To provide the most accurate information possible”. The only way to do that is by being open-minded and using the resources available.

3. Interview relatives

This should be the first step in everyone’s genealogy. A first interview can help you decide what kind of research you want to do as described in number six, Be Organized. You may have a favorite uncle who wants to know the story of his grandparents’ immigration to America.

Gather everything you can from your interviewees. Ask open ended or leading questions. Get them talking and don’t interrupt if you can avoid it. It might be good to tape or even video record the interview for future reference.

Interviews do not have to be a one time thing. Share your information with the story tellers to show your progress and you will probably spark additional memories.

The most important thing to remember is that life is short and unfortunately those that remember the stories won’t be around forever. If you don’t do it now, you may never get the chance again.

2. Document sources

These are the questions we must ask of our information. “Where did it come from? Who produced it?”¹

I can’t stress this enough. Document your sources! Not only does this help others, it bestows you with credibility. There is no greater compliment than when someone imitates you. That goes for your work as well. I am always complimented when I see someone has used my work in their tree or story. The reason they use it? I have documented my sources to the best of my ability.

Several books have been published on source citation. One of the handiest books on this subject is called Evidence! Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian, by Elizabeth Shown Mills. She provides excellent examples on what source data to collect and how to record your source/citations.

1. Have fun

For 99% of the researchers out there, this is a hobby. Have fun with it. Help others and let them help you. Don’t become obsessed. You will burn out and probably turn your family away from helping you.

Find out about the black sheep of the family. The best family stories are about the rogues and black sheep. They are the most fun to talk about, too.

You’ll be surprised at how many friendly people with whom you will come in contact. You’ll find and meet so many cousins, distant and near.

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Monday, May 15, 2006 (added July 2007)

County Courthouse Book by Elizabeth Petty Bently
This books contains—to my knowledge—every county courthouse in the US. It also contains some city courthouses. It identifies for each given courthouse the address, organization/incorporation date and what records are kept there. Go for the latest edition when purchasing.

Courthouse Research for Family Historians by Christine Rose
This book is a “how to” for courthouse research. It provides explanations of the types of documents that can be found and definitions. At the end of each chapter is “Chapter Points to Ponder” which identifies a few important points in the specified chapter.

Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian by Elizabeth Shown Mills
This book tells you the different types of sources and how to analyze their relative worth. For example, a birth certificate is a primary source document regarding the person being born, but is considered a secondary source document regarding the birth dates of the mother and father. This book also shows you how to document your data, citing the different sources you’ve collected.

The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America published by Everton Publishers.
The Handybook for Genealogists gives information on the history of the state and formation of the counties. It gives names, addresses and phone numbers of organizations that may have various documents. The Eleventh Edition was just published in 2006 will all updated information.

Land & Property Research in the United States by E. Wade Hone with Heritage Consulting and Services.
This book contains a comprehensive look at land research and what researchers are up against, the nature of land and property, and how to access the records. It provides an excellent historical background of pre-U.S. possessions. This book also provides comprehensive indexes of record types so you can start anywhere in the book. It also contains extensive references.

Redbook: American State, County, and Town Sources edited by Alice Eichholz Ph.D., C.G.
For each state, this book gives information on the history of the state and various records pertinent to genealogy, such as vital records, census records, land records, etc. The Redbook also lists out other books that would give background information on the state and its people. It gives names and addresses of Archives, Libraries and Societies in the state. The book also gives information on counties.

Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy by Val D. Greenwood.
The Researcher’s Guide provides information on how and where to research, both online and off, how to evaluate data and the different types of records.

Your Guide to Cemetery Research by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack.
This book gives you information about searching for cemetery records, where these records might be kept, also what some of the symbols on headstones might indicate about the person buried there.

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^{1 Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence! Citation and Analysis for the Family Historian (Baltimore, MD: Genealogy Publishing Co., Inc., 1997), pg. 17.}