|
Quick guide to researching
your ancestry
by Evan Agresti
 Print
this Article • About
the Author • Bibliography/Sources
Introduction:
Researching your ancestry
can be one of the most valuable and rewarding experiences
that you can have, as a person's heritage is priceless. First
and foremost ancestry research starts at home, with what you
and your family members know. This kind of information is
extremely important. Due to the vast amount of information
and tools on the Internet. You will need to ask as many questions
to your family members to get as much information as possible.
This article will call that time period the resource collection
period. As my experience researching ancestry has involved
mostly my own search, this article will be most helpful to
a person born in the United States of ancestry from a Western
European nation.
Resource Collection:
The resource collection period
is most important. The information that you obtain is the
most specific. Much of your online research can't start without
basic information your grandparents. Most useful is your grandparent's
birth date and the geographical area or specific location
where they lived. As well as how many sisters or brothers
they had including their names. This information is extra
important because it helps keep your information accurate.
If you don't have this information you'll have a tough time
finding out more information online because the databases
are so large and confusing.
Important Factors Involved
in Ancestral Research Online:
Each search for a person's
ancestry is different. Some people may have an easier time
searching their ancestry online than others. There are a few
reasons why this may be. Their family may simply have been
more interested in their ancestry, and consequently, at one
point in time more information was written down or available.
Their family may be from Great Britain, Canada or the United
States. These countries have large amounts of data available
due to the stable political climate of their countries and
records. Their family may be more active in civil and social
events that may have been recorded in outside sources, such
as newspapers or books. or, the frequency of the family name
used. A family name that is not as common will lend a hand
to research as there are less people to sort through to find
out information. You still need to be wary because bad information
and confusion can still come from an uncommon name.
Don't let this discourage
you because there are often ways to help you around much of
this. For example, if members of your family were not as interested
in their ancestry you may be able to find someone online that
is a distant relative of yours that has more information for
you. That is, in fact, one of the best and closest ways to
get information.
On bad leads and information:
Bad leads and information
can happen to anyone. For example, once I was researching
a line of my tree and I came across a lead that looked correct.
However, from a proper source, a book gained from a google
search, I learned that this information was incorrect and
matched up with a person that had a very similar name to my
ancestor. Consequently it's important to know some signs that
the information may be incorrect. Sometimes you may have gathered
incorrect information yourself on your family. Thus, many
of these are more like red flags that should indicate for
you to proceed with caution.
One: Information does not match up
with your own knowledge of your family. This often happens
with ancestry.com's hints function. A hint might suggest an
ancestor with a very similar to your ancestor's name, yet
you might notice they had a different wife or children. Don't
discredit what the hint feature brings entirely. Just make
sure that the hint matches up as much as possible with your
own information.
Two: Information is somewhat exciting
and too sensational. Sometimes we can get carried away if
there an exciting bit found about an ancestor. If something
is really exciting and promising, check that information even
more to ensure that it's correct.
Three: Is the person out of the normal
area your family is in? And lastly, does the general information,
such as birth date or geographical location match up with
the person in question.
Four: Does the person have a family
name that is common in your family? (many families have first
names that are passed down from generation to generation).
Remember, your research is
ongoing! As you research more often information on your family
will begin to snowball. Information for that line will build
up and you will make major breakthroughs. Other times a line
may be dormant for a few months. Sometimes it’s necessary
to take a break for a while from a family line for a time
and investigate a different trail of information. In the end,
don't feel discouraged when you gain wrong information just
correct it as soon as possible.
Online Tools:
There aren’t the only tools
available. More sources will be added as I research and use
them.
Google (click
for link):
Google may not outwardly seem so important, for it is
not outwardly an ancestry research tool. However, Google was
my most powerful ally at many points. Once I had specific
information about my family. Google's powerful search can
steer you to specific information in a variety of sources,
Local History websites, books, and all sorts of sources can
be found with Google's search.
Ancestry.com-More than
just a family tree building tool (click
for link):
Unfortunately, this site has become the generic poster boy
of online research. Truly, this website's advertising method
is a small bit sensational, and the fee is quite steep. However,
I can assure you that this website is actually quite powerful
for researchers in the United States, especially its US census
records database and member connect function. Sometimes when
a person begins using this site they expect their family tree
to be built right be fore their eyes. This however, is not
the case. Do not dismay, this website is far more powerful
than meets the eye. The member connect function is particularly
useful, I have connected with two lines of my extended family
with this function. I will eventually write a guide on using
this website as it is very complicated and large.
Craigslist (click
for link):
This site, like Google, can be an important, yet unlikely
tool in your ancestry research. Craigslist can be used (with
great caution) to advertise in a community out of your normal
reach. You might need someone to take picture of a house in
a far away town, or maybe you'll need someone to obtain a
book or local records. An example from my own search was while
I was researching my family history I came upon a rare book
that my Great-Great-Great Grandmother wrote on her life. This
book, unfortunately, was not available on Google books. I
used a library search and discovered that the book was most
easily available in a Lincoln Nebraska Library. Instead of
flying all the way to Lincoln Nebraska for the book, I advertised
on Craigslist for someone to photocopy the book for me. That
person ended up being more useful than I thought and gave
me information that only a person local to the area could
provide.
Google books (click
for link):
This site is a great tool to flesh out your searches more
completely. With Google books you can search a specific person's
name into the database. The database then will bring up pages
of book that may match your ancestor's name. You may not think
at first that your ancestor's may be in a book, what may surprise
you is that there were many books made at the turn of the
century that detail information on a a single family or sometimes
even multiple families. These books are excellent because
they were often researched with great care utilizing hundreds
of local records. There also might be other information available
such as a book on a “who's who in business” in the area may
feature an ancestor or relative of yours. While in Google
books a researcher can enter certain terms needed,
Town and parish websites:
To get a more personal view of a town or city in your ancestry,
many towns have their own web page. Often web pages have a
guest book where a researcher may be able to ask for help
researching. Please remember, however, that these towns may
have changed in the many years that passed since your ancestors
have dwelled there. The larger the town and the longer distance
between your ancestors emigration and the present day may
leave little relatives to connect with.
War Records Websites
& National Archives:
War record websites are great for finding information about
ancestor's involvement in wars. Ancestry.com has some of it's
own records that are useful as well. But there are other sites
that are even more detailed.
Findagrave.com
This website is a great tool for finding grave sites. Entries
to the website are written by contributing members. Some graves
have detailed history about the interred while others may
not even show a picture. Many colonial American grave sites
have been categorized and are available. There is a function
to leave virtual "offerings" at a grave site. Also
works for historical figures.
British National Archives
(click
for link)
World War 1 and 2 records
(click
for link)
The Domesday book online
(click
for link):
For researchers with a long family tree of English descent
this database is essential. Retrieved documents have a cost.
________________________________________
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
Evan Agresti has a special
interest in researching ancestry, Medieval and Modern European
history, the Korean War, and the cultural and identity changes
that occur through the process of emigration and assimilation
to a new national space.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
-Original research
-See links available throughout
the article
|
• 
